Sara Watkins kicked off her tour with The Decemberists last week and continues through the coming months. Prior to the launch of the tour, Watkins was given the very special opportunity to serve as guest host of the beloved radio show A Prairie Home Companion. Her appearance on WNYC's Soundcheck, in which she discusses her guest-hosting gig, was originally slated to air last week but will air today instead.

The Black Keys will be the guests on today's episode of NPR's Fresh Air to talk about their music, not least their latest Nonesuch release, 2010's Brothers, which is nominated in six categories at next month's Grammy Awards and recently garnered the band a Gold record. On The Black Keys' tour schedule are two sold-out shows in Las Vegas and the Coachella festival. Rolling Stone placed Patrick Carney at No. 3 among the 50 Top Tweeters in Music.

There's just one more week to go before the release of Jessica Lea Mayfield's Nonesuch debut album, Tell Me, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach. "Auerbach brings out the best" in Mayfield, says the Cleveland Scene; "this is Mayfield’s strongest record, an alt-country torch storm that rivals Neko Case’s best." Pre-order here with an exclusive signed 7” of the album’s first single, “Our Hearts Are Wrong.” Mayfield kicks off a tour with Justin Townes Earle this weekend.

Wanda Jackson gave a free hometown show in Oklahoma City on Friday. "The enduring power of the 73-year-old's voice was on full display," says the Oklahoman. "And yes, by all accounts, Wanda Jackson ripped it up. Ripped it to shreds." Clash Music has made her take on Dylan's "Thunder on the Mountain" today's Track of the Day, calling the album "a stunning return." PopMatters says Jackson "is positively incendiary." The Ottawa Citizen gives four-and-a-half stars to "this outstanding comeback." Jackson opens the latest episode of public radio's Dinner Party Download.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops released a new EP collaboration with the New York City–based Romanian gypsy punk band Luminescent Orchestrii and beatboxer Adam Matta earlier this week. All of the performers played together at New York's Bowery Ballroom late last year; Paste magazine premiered a video of "Short Dress Gal" from that concert earlier today. You can watch it here. There's also a short documentary about the making of the EP.

Tune in to NPR's Fresh Air today to hear Wanda Jackson's 2003 interview on the show. Consequence of Sound gives Jackson's new Jack White-produced album four stars, saying "The Party Ain’t Over proves to be a bold success." The Louisville Courier-Journal calls Jackson "the hottest thing that ever came out of Oklahoma, counting oil-well fires and Wayne Coyne," and says with her new album, she "proves there's no age limit on fun." Jackson gives a free concert in her hometown of Oklahoma City tonight.

AfroCubism, the project featuring some of Mali and Cuba's finest musicians, finally came together 14 years after its conception, resulting in one of the best-reviewed albums of 2010. The band gave a brief tour of North America last fall, followed by a number of shows in Europe. The final show of AfroCubism's 2010 tour took place at the Bataclan in Paris, on December 5, and was captured on video. You can watch the complete concert here.

John Adams's groundbreaking 1987 opera Nixon in China will be given its Metropolitan Opera premiere this Wednesday, also marking Adams's Met conducting debut and what the New York Times calls "a tardy house debut" for director Peter Sellars. The Times looks at just what an achievement the opera was for a composer and a librettist, Alice Goodman, who had never undertaken anything like it before. The Times also looks at the state dinner thrown for Nixon in Beijing and recreated in New York. Adams and Sellars spoke with Time Out New York for an interview titled "Vote Nixon."

Carolina Chocolate Drops have been named among the year's best in the 2010 Nashville Scene Country Music Critics' Poll. Their album Genuine Negro Jig comes in at No. 7 on the Best Album list. The band itself is also listed among Best Groups (as are Punch Brothers), Best New Acts, and Artists of the Year, and Rhiannon Giddens among Best Female Vocalists. Nashville Scene says that "no country act rocked harder or shouted more contagiously in 2010 than this one."

Wanda Jackson celebrates the release of her new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over, with a free show in her hometown of Oklahoma City tomorrow. She is featured on the latest edition of the New York Times Popcast. The Huffington Post calls her "every inch an Elvis," who, with the new album, is "cementing her status as royalty ... Wicked Good!" The Montreal Gazette gives the album four stars, calling the pairing of Jackson and White "an inspired one." ClashMusic exclaims: "The Queen of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson is back on her throne."

Wanda Jackson celebrated yesterday's release of her new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over, with a performance of the song "Funnel of Love" on Conan last night with White and The Third Man House Band. As the Conan site puts it, "Jackson kicked so much butt last night!" Jackson and White also spoke with Conan about the new album, and Jackson had some kind words for Elvis Presley. Watch the performance and interview clip here. Jackson is the subject of an AP article that recognizes the importance of the "diminutive dynamo's knives-out vocal delivery" in rock 'n' roll history.

The Konserthuset in Stockholm kicks off Steve Reich's 75th birthday year with Tonsättarfestivalen: Steve Reich, five days of concerts, starting tonight, featuring the Stockholm Royal Philharmonic, Kroumata, Amadinda, Synergy Vocals, and the composer himself, who performs Clapping Music on tonight's program. The concerts will be broadcast on Swedish Radio P2. This week's festival is the first of a year's worth of events around the world honoring the composer's 75th birthday on October 3.