Kate McGarrigle, who died of sarcoma last year, will be celebrated in a two-night tribute at New York’s Town Hall tonight and tomorrow, with performances by her children Martha and Rufus Wainwright, her sister Anna, Emmylou Harris, Antony Hegarty, Norah Jones, Teddy Thompson, and others. Tell My Sister, a three-disc set comprising Kate & Anna McGarrigle's first two albums plus previously unreleased songs, is out now. The Philadelphia Inquirer says it "captures the McGarrigles in their prime, when they made their own brand of frisky, tough-minded, and sexy folk music."

Chris Thile and Michael Daves kicked off their three-night run of sold-out shows at Rockwood Music Hall in New York City last night, performing songs from their new album, Sleep with One Eye Open, released yesterday. No Depression calls the album "a smartly-paced and well-varied set of tunes, performed with celebratory vigor and and passion for the material." We're happy to announce the winner of the Martin 000X1AE acoustic guitar in the album pre-order contest: Morgan Mecaskey of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Congratulations!

Steve Reich was the guest of honor at the Barbican in London for Reverberations, a weekend-long music marathon exploring his music and influence, featuring Kronos Quartet in the European premiere of his WTC 9/11. The Daily Telegraph gives Reverberations a perfect five stars, saying that while Reich's "influence has been massive ... it was the innocence and shy ecstasy of Reich’s own music that left the deepest impression." The Times and Evening Standard give the festival four stars. Kronos gives the Scottish premiere of WTC 9/11 this Friday for the weekend's Kronos in Glasgow festival.

Ben Folds launches a month-long tour of Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea this week in Canberra. He returns to the US to tour this summer. Folds recently recorded Ke$ha's "Sleazy," a tour favorite, to support the Japan tsunami relief efforts. He has now released a video for the song. MTV describes Folds as "a musician's musician: someone who knows everything one needs to know about the craft of songwriting" and calls the cover "a welcome experiment." Perez Hilton says: "This is just flat-out EPIC." Watch it here.

The Low Anthem perform songs from their new album, Smart Flesh, on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic in LA this morning, in advance of their show at The Autry tonight. The LA Times calls the album "a gorgeous, inventively arranged set of reverb-rich roots ballads in which the music's frayed edges add emotional weight." LA Weekly says "These four aim for timelessness with a brand of Americana that nods as much to high-energy gospel and gritty blues as it does to rustic, autumnal hues." The split 12" vinyl of The Low Anthem's Daytrotter Sessions, with Iron and Wine on the flip side, is now available for pre-order.

Steve Reich is the guest of honor at the Barbican in London for Reverberations, a weekend celebration of his music and influence; Kronos Quartet gives the European premiere of Reich's WTC 9/11 ... David Byrne introduces a discussion of "The Sustainable City" in NYC ... Carolina Chocolate Drops perform in the South ... Wanda Jackson plays the Pacific Northwest ... The Low Anthem is in Arizona ... Jessica Lea Mayfield is out West ... Punch Brothers, Allen Toussaint join Jazz Fest ... Sara Watkins joins John Prine ... and more ...

Laurie Anderson launches an international spring and summer tour at the Donau Festival in Austria tonight. The tour includes performances at venues and music festivals in Germany, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Israel, Norway, and Ireland. Anderson returns to her home city of NYC to perform at the River to River Festival and Lincoln Center Out of Doors later this summer. She recently spoke with the BBC about technology in music. "The Laurie Anderson sound has evolved as she grasped new technologies," says the BBC, "adapting instruments and software to suit her genre-defining artistic vision."

Carnegie Hall celebrates Steve Reich's 75th with an all-Reich concert featuring the NY premiere of WTC 9/11 performed by Kronos Quartet ... Laurie Anderson emcees Poetry: The Second Skin at NY's PEN World Voices Festival ... Timothy Andres plays from Shy and Mighty in NYC ... Carolina Chocolate Drops have two shows in Virginia ... Emmylou Harris heads to Norway ...  Wanda Jackson, k.d. lang, Punch Brothers play the Stagecoach Festival ... The Low Anthem, Sara Watkins play New Orleans Jazz Fest ... Jessica Lea Mayfield is in California ... Dawn Upshaw sings in Boston ... and more ...

Jessica Lea Mayfield will perform songs from her new album, Tell Me, on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic in LA this morning, in advance of her show at the Troubador tonight. "Jessica Lea Mayfield knocked our socks off at KCRW's SXSW showcase last month," says the station, "and we're excited to feature a live performance with this talented new artist." Mayfield was recently interviewed by Playboy magazine for its annual "Rock the Rabbit" feature and designed a t-shirt for the occasion.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang have returned home to California after several weeks' celebration of their new album, Sing it Loud, with TV and radio appearances around the world. They close out this weekend's Stagecoach festival in Indio, California, with a Sunday night set. lang can be heard on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live this weekend, talking about her passion for martinis. Watch her performances of the Sing it Loud song "Inglewood" from the CBC's Q and ABC Australia's Art Nation here.

The second annual L.A. Bluegrass Situation gets under way at Largo tonight and continues through the weekend with sold-out shows each night. The event kicks off with a performance from the Watkins Family Hour, featuring Sara and Sean Watkins. Punch Brothers headline tomorrow night. Ed Helms, the festival's curator, and Steve Martin, both friends of Punch Brothers, perform the following nights. "We’re both fans of the band," Helms tells the Los Angeles Times.

Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley, has announced its 2011–12 season, which will feature performances from a number of performers familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Dawn Upshaw and Rokia Traoré, each in a collaboration with director Peter Sellars, the latter also with novelist Toni Morrison; Kronos Quartet in the Bay Area premiere of Steve Reich's WTC 9/11; Sérgio and Odair Assad; and Richard Goode.