When Sara Watkins was in New York City earlier this month, she stopped by public radio station WFUV's Studio A to record an episode of Words and Music, out now. Watkins spoke with host Claudia Marshall about her life in music and performs a few songs off her new album, Sun Midnight Sun, with her brother Sean. Watch their performance of "Take Up Your Spade" and "The Foothills" and listen to the complete Words and Music episode here.

Singer/songwriter Fatoumata Diawara’s debut album, Fatou, is out now in North America. Diawara has been receiving rave reviews since the album’s release in the UK and Europe last year. The Telegraph says “this stylish debut doesn’t put a foot wrong,” while the Times of London says “the air of wistful, understated beauty draws you in,” and Mojo calls her a “spell-weaving new voice.” The New York Daily News includes Fatou among the Top 10 Things on CD this week. Diawara will tour the US in September, following a tour of the UK with Africa Express.

Punch Brothers will make their Austin City Limits debut when the band's performance airs on PBS on Saturday, November 3, 2012. Watch a preview of the show here. Also on the episode will be a set from The Civil Wars. The following week, ACL presents highlights from the Americana Honors & Awards Show; Punch Brothers, Chris Thile, and Carolina Chocolate Drops are all up for awards. The new ACL seasons begins October 6 with an hour of music from Radiohead. Punch Brothers perform live at the ACL Music Festival in Austin October 13.

The Black Keys have announced new UK dates in December 2012. The tour includes concerts in Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham, and Manchester, culminating with a night at London’s O2 Arena on December 12. The tour also includes dates in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, and Germany. Tickets for the UK shows go on sale this Friday, August 31.

Nonesuch Records wishes Lianne La Havas a very happy birthday. The British singer, who turns 23 today, saw her first album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, debut at #1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. Today, she premieres a new video for the album track “Forget,” directed by Alex Southam and shot in early August on location in Brooklyn. Watch it here. La Havas has added a San Francisco headline show, at the Rickshaw Stop, on an off date from her fall tour supporting John Legend.

Ry Cooder is the guest on today’s episode of the BBC World Service's The Strand. He talks about his new album, Election Special, and what motivated him to speak out through its songs. "Here we are in the middle of an incredibly critical Presidential campaign ... and all these issues are brought to the front," says Cooder. "Martin Luther King used to say do something if you can, something you could do. If it was writing a speech or a book or singing or marching, do it, when the need is there. So that’s what I’m doing."

Punch Brothers were in London to perform at the 2012 Hard Rock Calling festival in Hyde Park this past July. Among the other artists performing at this year's festival were Paul Simon, Tom Morello, Allison Krauss, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul McCartney. Tune in this weekend to see highlights from the festival, including a song from Punch Brothers' set, airing in the US on VH1 and Palladia and in the UK on Sky Arts. The band resumes its North American tour in September.

Nonesuch Records has signed California-based singer/songwriter Nataly Dawn, one half of the duo Pomplamoose. Dawn’s solo album, How I Knew Her, which was financed by the more than $100,000 raised from her Kickstarter campaign, is scheduled for release on January 22, 2013, with a tour to follow. Pomplamoose, whose other half is Dawn’s partner Jack Conte, has released numerous original songs and covers since 2008 as “VideoSongs” via their YouTube channel; Dawn has released solo VideoSongs and collaborations on her YouTube channel as well.

Ry Cooder’s new album, Election Special is out now in the US. "A guitar great takes a shot at political satire and hits the mark," exclaims Rolling Stone in a four-star review. "Election Special is protest music delivered with a patriot’s gifts—the American-roots beauty and expert fire in Ry Cooder’s playing—and long memory." The album earns four stars from MSN as well, where it is streaming in full this week. Cooder, says MSN, "has returned to early, deep roots in American folk to forge the most impassioned music of his 50-year career."

Sara Watkins is today's guest on NPR's World Café. On the show, Watkins talks with host David Dye about her new album, Sun Midnight Sun, and is joined by her brother Sean to perform three songs from the album as well as two tunes from her self-titled debut solo album. Earlier this month, Watkins appeared on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show; listen to it here.

With the recent release of Unity Band, Pat Metheny introduced a new ensemble featuring Chris Potter on sax and bass clarinet, Antonio Sanchez on drums, and Ben Williams on bass. All About Jazz described the record as "unequivocally one of Metheny's finest—an album that's sure to find its way to 'best of' lists for 2012." Now, All About Jazz has dedicated a week to the project, offering Catching Up With feature articles on all four band members. The Unity Band resumes its US tour on Saturday, September 1.