The Black Keys are back in the US after a European tour, ready to launch their North American summer and fall tour. Before they hit the road, the band performs "Tighten Up," off their latest album, Brothers, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight. Also featured on tonight's episode are actor Zac Efron and "supernatural entertainer" Lior Suchard. Tune in at 11:35 PM ET on NBC.

Punch Brothers' US tour takes them far north to the Alyeska Resort in Alaska this weekend. The Huffington Post compares the band to the Beatles as artists who "redefine a genre of music for the ages," calling Chris Thile "a compositional genius" and saying all five band members "play with an energy and a passion of trailblazers." Billboard says the band "is building a case for bigger fame" with their new album, Antifogmatic.

Natalie Merchant's summer tour continues this week, as she and her eight-piece band head to Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. Merchant will sign copies of her new album, Leave Your Sleep, at Borders in Chicago on Thursday. The Chicago Sun-Times says the album "is as gorgeous as it is ambitious ... Leave Your Sleep reawakens the soul to the spirit of poetry."

The Carolina Chocolate Drops brought the latest leg of their US summer tour to a close with a free outdoor concert in Milwaukee and return to the States in late August. Up next, the Drops head to Europe for a brief festival tour, with stops in the UK, Norway, and Belgium. The trio sat down for a quick video chat about the tour you can watch here.

Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass perform his Dracula score in Germany ... Alarm Will Sound are in residence at Mizzou New Music Fest ... Laurie Anderson brings Homeland to The Birchmere ...  Ben Folds guests with Utah Symphony ... Marlboro Music opens under Richard Goode's artistic direction ... Gidon Kremer's Lockenhaus Fest concludes ... The Low Anthem, Allen Toussaint play Green River Festival ... Audra McDonald debuts at Tanglewood ... Natalie Merchant continues at Town Hall ... Punch Brothers tour Michigan ... Joshua Redman's Double Trio tours Europe ... and more ...

Laurie Anderson created an unforgettable four minutes of late-night television when she performed "Only an Expert," from her album Homeland, on Late Night with David Letterman last night, adding new references to the BP oil disaster. At the song's end, Letterman exclaims: "Exactly. That's exactly what I was thinking." The performance is featured on The Daily Beast's Video Cheat Sheet. BlogCritics says: "If there's one CD so far this year that's a must buy—Homeland is it."

Natalie Merchant continues the first week of her summer tour with two nights at The Town Hall in New York City. The Hartford Courant, reviewing Tuesday's show, says Merchant's "distinct voice remains an instrument of power and beauty." She and her band can be heard performing on the latest episode of NPR's eTown, her first appearance on the show in a decade. The Washington Post's Express Night Out calls Merchant's Nonesuch debut album, Leave Your Sleep, "her most ambitious effort to date."

The Low Anthem kicks off its summer tour this weekend, starting three weeks of shows along the US East Coast, from Virginia to Vermont. Following a Sunday set at the Green River Festival in Massachusetts, the Providence-based quartet heads back to its hometown to headline a benefit concert for Congressional candidate David Segal. The band returns to Rhode Island at the end of month to perform on the Newport Folk Festival's Main Stage.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops perform a free concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland this evening, launching the Hall's Summer in the City series of free concerts. Fans outside of Cleveland can enjoy a bit of the band's live sound tonight as well, as Seattle radio station KEXP airs an in-studio performance the trio recorded during their recent tour stop in the Pacific Northwest.

Laurie Anderson brings the music of Homeland back home to New York City. Anderson performs a song from the album on the Late Show with David Letterman Wednesday night. The Washington Post picks her concert at The Birchmere this Friday as the must-attend concert this week. Interview says "Anderson proves that time has only sharpened her critical eye," calling Homeland "harrowing and hilarious ... a gift of perspective."

Natalie Merchant launches an extensive summer tour across the United States, performing songs from Leave Your Sleep and throughout her career. "At the root of her success are two qualities," says The Guardian, "an unwillingness to compromise, and total sincerity. In a world of glib, heavily produced pop stars, Merchant stands out."

Laurie Anderson has began a short tour of the East Coast with music from her new album, Homeland, in two shows at Philadelphia's World Cafe Live, one at New York's (Le) Poisson Rouge, and one at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. She was recently featured on PRI's Studio 360 and appears on PRI's Echoes today. The Philadelphia Inquirer says Anderson's "current projects suggest that, at 63, she's at a late-middle-age creative peak."