Bombino, who closes out the current leg of his European tour in Portugal this weekend before heading to the States on tour, is the subject of a piece on BBC Africa. "What I like about rock and blues music is that I can transmit emotions through this type of music to my fans, and that's really important to me," he tells the BBC. "Rock music is similar to the traditional Tende music; it is very popular in Niger. Nomads enjoy rock because they love dancing like crazy to it." 

Sam Amidon makes his Nonesuch Records debut with today's release of his new album, Bright Sunny South. The album receives four stars from the Guardian, Mojo, Q, Blurt, and musicOMH, which notes "his wonderfully rich, expressive voice." Drowned in Sound calls it his "most emotionally and tonally complex LP to date ... Amidon has taken a huge step forward as a folk artist, creating arrangements which preserve his musicianship, while deepening the maturity of his interpretive skills." Scripps Howard Newsire says the "transcendent" opening track "sets the tone."

On June 25, Nonesuch Records releases Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle, which features highlights from three concerts in honor of the late singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, held in London, Toronto, and New York following Kate's death. The double-disc set was produced by Joe Boyd, who curated the concerts, and features performances by Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Antony, Norah Jones, Teddy Thompson, and others. Net proceeds go to the Kate McGarrigle Foundation for sarcoma research. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include instant downloads of the album tracks “Kiss and Say Goodbye” and “I Am a Diamond.”

Iron and Wine, which is currently touring the US East Coast in support of the new album Ghost on Ghost, has announced a number of new tour dates for the US and Canada this September. The 11-city tour includes stops in Minneapolis, Chicago, Madison, Winnipeg, Calgary, Toronto, and more. Fan pre-sale begins on Wednesday via Artist Arena; general on-sale begins on Friday. Iron and Wine will perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live on June 24.

Emmylou Harris has been nominated for three awards at the 2013 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards show including Artist of the Year. She is also nominated with Rodney Crowell for Album of the Year and Duo/Group of the Year for their acclaimed 2013 collaboration, Old Yellow Moon. The duo, currently touring Europe in support of the album, will resume its US tour in June including two shows with special guest She & Him. The Americana Honors & Awards returns to the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on September 18, 2013, as part of the Americana Music Festival.

Audra McDonald, whose first solo album in seven years, Go Back Home, is due May 21, performed songs from the album and more at Lincoln Center's spring gala last week. The concert will be telecast on PBS presented by Live From Lincoln Center on May 24. "Absolutely thrilling," raves the New York Times' Stephen Holden. "The very sound of the word 'thrilling,' with its suggestion of an embedded trill, evokes qualities inherent in Ms. McDonald’s soprano, which seemed to unfurl in ever-richer textures as she imbued songs with a sense of bursting possibility ... A defining voice of our time."

California-based singer/songwriter Nataly Dawn launches a tour of Europe for the first time, in support of her critically acclaimed new album, How I Knew Her, including two UK headline shows in London (Slaughtered Lamb, May 15) and Nottingham (Rescue Rooms, May 16), and seven shows in the UK supporting Lord Huron, starting at Junction 2 in Cambridge tonight. The European tour also includes dates in France, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. 

The music of Donnacha Dennehy's 2011 Nonesuch debut album Grá agus Bás, which NPR called "a revelation," will be performed by the artists featured on the album—Crash Ensemble led by conductor Alan Pierson with vocalists Iarla O’Lionáird on the title piece and Dawn Upshaw on the song cycle That the Night Come—at The Kennedy Center this Tuesday and in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall on Friday. The concerts mark the US and New York premieres of That the Night Come.

Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile and guitar maven Michael Daves launch a week-long duo tour of the US West Coast, featuring music from their 2011 album Sleep with One Eye Open, with a performance at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco tonight, followed by shows in LA, Portland, and Seattle; they reunite in July for the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in upstate New York. The duo makes for "a rip-roaring partnership," says the New York Times. "Bluegrass, in their hands, gets roughed up in the best possible way, with skill and fervor, and a touch of abandon." Thile and his fellow Punch Brothers perform at a number of bluegrass festivals starting later this month.

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have kicked off their European tour in support of their new duets album, Old Yellow Moon. These special "An Evening With Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell" shows feature the acclaimed artists (and longtime friends) performing material spanning their vast catalogues. Following last night's concert in Manchester, England, the tour makes additional stops throughout the UK and Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland before concluding in Hamburg, Germany, on May 31. The next leg of their US tour begins on June 15. 

Randy Newman, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month, was a guest on NPR's Talk of the Nation yesterday. He spoke with host Neal Conan about his career in music, his songwriting process, writing for film scores, and more. Listeners of the show wrote in to pick their favorite Randy Newman tune. Their choice: "Political Science." The 28th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be presented on HBO on Saturday, May 18, at 9 PM ET/PT. Newman has a number of live shows scheduled later this spring and summer.

Iron and Wine was the musical guest on Conan last night. Singer-songwriter Sam Beam and his band performed "Low Light Buddy of Mine" off their Nonesuch Records debut album, Ghost on Ghost. They also gave a web-exclusive performance of two other album tracks, "Caught in the Briars / Sundown." Watch the performances here. Iron and Wine kicks off an eight-city US tour at the Bottle Rock Napa Valley festival in Napa, California, this Saturday, followed by a run of shows along the East Coast with special guests The Secret Sisters.