Randy Newman kicks off his two-week tour of Australia tomorrow night in a performance with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane, followed by two nights with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and two more at the iconic Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony. In the 1970s, Newman's "edgy, narrative-rich songs were part of an explosion of youthful talent bursting from the US west coast," says The Australian. "So much music from the era has been forgotten but Newman is still going strong ... He's long been acknowledged as a master songwriter: critics applaud the musical depth, edge and literary quality of his lyrics."

Chris Thile and Michael Daves will be the guests on WNYC's Soundcheck today at 2 PM ET, performing songs from their debut duo album, Sleep With One Eye Open, before a live audience at the Greene Space in downtown Manhattan. Also performing are the Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The show is sold-out and will be webcast live. The New Yorker, in a preview of their show at The Bell House in Brooklyn tonight, says: "Expect the pair to deliver a high-spirited bluegrass-infused performance full of inspired harmonies."

Emmylou Harris is the musical guest on tonight's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Tune in to see Harris and her band perform "New Orleans," off her new album, Hard Bargain. Harris performed in NY's Central Park on a double bill with the legendary Levon Helm last night and joined in on the finale: The Band's "The Weight." She recently spoke with the A.V. Club, which says: "Her voice has a mournful quality that reaches back before the West was won, a sound that’s come to the fore over the last couple of decades as she’s definitively departed from the land of fiddles and pedal steel."

The Low Anthem announces new US headlining dates for September and October 2011 in support of their latest album, Smart Flesh. The band will also rejoin Iron & Wine on October 13 to open their show at NY's Terminal 5. Tickets for the fall headline shows are available for pre-sale beginning today at 10 AM ET and include a free download of two versions of the Smart Flesh outtake “Glitter." Hear those tracks here.

Jessica Lea Mayfield is featured on SPIN magazine's tribute to the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind. She performs the album track "Lounge Act" on Newermind, on which SPIN asked some of its "favorite contemporary artists to cover the influential album's 13 songs, in their original order." Newermind is available as a free download till July 25 on SPIN's Facebook page. Mayfield concludes her tour with the Avett Brothers in Oakland tonight, then continues her own headline tour. Tune in to hear her perform on KFOG this afternoon.

Emmylou Harris brings her North American summer tour to NYC for a special performance, in which she joins the Levon Helm Band for a concert in Central Park to benefit SummerStage. She performs on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Tuesday night. "The Road," the opening track on her new album, Hard Bargain, is the Free MP3 of the Day today at MP3.com. The New York Times, recommending tonight's show, calls Harris "the reigning queen of smart, fluent Americana."

Carolina Chocolate Drops, Wanda Jackson, Emmylou Harris celebrate the Green River Festival's 25th ... Cleveland Orchestra pairs John Adams with Bruckner at Lincoln Center Festival ... Björk closes out Manchester Biophilia residency ... Ben Folds plays Vegas ... Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman are in France ... k.d. lang hits the Appalachian Summer Fest ... Jessica Lea Mayfield goes Northwest with the Avett Brothers ... Punch Brothers perform in Winter Park ... Allen Toussaint celebrates Louisiana in Denver ... Sara Watkins joins the Paul F. Tompkins Show in LA ... and more ...

Emmylou Harris is the subject of a feature interview in Relix magazine, in which she discusses her new record, Hard Bargain, and the many unforgettable artistic collaborations Harris has made over the years, not least with Gram Parsons, about whom she wrote the album's opening track, "The Road." She is currently touring North America. Of her set at the Dave Matthews Band Caravan, the Chicago Tribune writes: "Achy, sympathetic and warm, Harris' quivering whippoorwill voice was the most effortlessly beautiful sound heard at the festival."

Chris Thile and Michael Daves have a number of live performances in the coming weeks, starting with a set at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival this Thursday. Audiophile Audition gives their album Sleep with One Eye Open a perfect five stars, saying: "If the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack raised the mainstream awareness of bluegrass, then Sleep with One Eye Open delivers on its promise." Sequenza21 calls it "beautifully simple ... an object lesson in how to do it right."

Laurie Anderson recently participated in a lecture/performance and discussion at the Venice Biennale titled "A Short Talk on Places." She also sat down for a video interview on a wide range of subjects, including technology, music, the cultural ties that connect the world's cities, the art scene, the nature of dreams, the power of language, and her husband, Lou Reed. Watch the talk and the interview here. Laurie Anderson performs at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival in NYC next month.

The Black Keys will be among the headliners at the Virgin Mobile Freefest, taking place September 10 in Maryland. The line-up also includes TV on the Radio, Cee Lo Green, Patti Smith, and more. Free tickets will be given out this Friday. Despite heavy rain at the Ottawa Bluesfest last Friday, The Black Keys' audience was given "a night for the Bluesfest history books," says the Ottawa Citizen. The National Post, reviewing Thursday's show at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre says: "The set is bigger. The lights are bigger. But it’s their sound and their showmanship, which used to rattle the walls of little clubs, that is now shaking stadiums."

Canada's summer festival season is in full swing with The Low Anthem, Wanda Jackson, and The Black Keys at Quebec Summer Fest; Jackson and the Keys at Ottawa Blues Fest; Emmylou Harris at Mariposa Folk Festival; k.d. lang at Winnipeg Folk Fest; Audra McDonald at BlackCreek Summer Music Fest; Randy Newman at Vancouver Island MusicFest ... Afrocubism plays in Portland, San Francisco ... Björk continues Manchester Fest Biophilia residency ... Carolina Chocolate Drops join Béla Fleck at Wolf Trap ... Ben Folds, Emmylou Harris play Chicago's DMB Caravan ... Jessica Lea Mayfield joins the Avetts in Salt Lake City ... Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman duo in Denmark, Netherlands ... Natalie Merchant and orchestra are at Chautauqua ... and more ...