Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters have announced a tour of the American South for this March. The tour kicks off at the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival on March 4 and includes additional stops in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, culminating in a show at ACL Live at Moody Theater in Austin. "I'm always eager to return to the hospitality of the Southern states," Plant said. "Towns and cities that hold fond memories for me personally, places that gave birth to so much of the music I love." Tickets go on sale this Friday, January 15.

The line-up for the 2016 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has been announced, and among the artists performing are The Arcs, St Germain, and Mbongwana Star. Coachella is held at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California, and will take place over two weekends, April 15–17 and April 22–24, with The Arcs performing each Saturday, April 16 and 23, and St Germain and Mbongwana Star performing each Friday, April 15 and 22. Passes go on sale Wednesday, January 6, at 11 AM PST.

The Arcs conclude inaugural North American tour in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville … Laurie Anderson presents a dog-friendly double feature in Los Angeles … Timo Andres joins fellow ACME members at National Sawdust in Brooklyn … Mark Morris Dance Group's week-long run of The Hard Nut at BAM in Brooklyn comes to a close … Brad Mehldau gives a solo performance in London … Punch Brothers end 2015 US tour with two nights in Knoxville … and more …

Emmylou Harris, Punch Brothers, and Chris Thile will be among the performers at the 43rd annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, taking place June 16–19, 2016, the weekend before the summer solstice. The preliminary lineup for the much-loved southwestern Colorado event was announced earlier today, just before the winter solstice.

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman close out tour with SFJAZZ Center run … Sam Amidon stops in Nashville … Laurie Anderson talks Heart of a Dog in Santa Fe … Timo Andres joins Attaca Quartet in NYC … The Arcs play Boston … Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell give an intimate benefit show in DC … Mark Morris Dance Group performs The Hard Nut at BAM in Brooklyn … Audra McDonald is in Barbados … Natalie Merchant talks Paradise Is There in Chicago … Punch Brothers play the Northeast … and more …

Lianne La Havas, whose new album, Blood, has just been nominated for a Grammy Award, will return to the US for a series of intimate solo club dates starting at The McKittrick Hotel in New York City on Monday, February 1, 2016, followed by stops in Boston, DC, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Oakland, culminating with a show at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles on February 11. Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 11.

The Arcs take their inaugural North American tour to Columbus and Detroit … Sam Amidon tours North America with San Fermin … The Bad Plus Joshua Redman goes west … Tyondai Braxton plays solo shows in Brazil … Emmylou Harris celebrates a Wainwright Noël in Montréal … Brad Mehldau Trio wraps up its tour in Italy … Punch Brothers hit the road for a two-week US tour … and more …

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman kicked off the final leg of its 2015 tour in Boulder last night, with stops in Arizona, New Mexico, and California in the coming week, culminating with a four-night residency at the SFJAZZ Center. The quartet's eponymous debut album has been named the No. 1 Best Jazz Album of 2015 by PopMatters. "Together," says the site, "the band is particularly wonderful."

The Arcs kick off their first-ever North American tour with a sold-out show at First Ave in Minneapolis tonight, with special guests Mariachi Flor de Toloache. The three-week tour continues with shows in Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Akron, New York, Toronto, Boston, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Charlotte, culminating at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on December 20. 

Punch Brothers begin a three-week US tour at Overture Hall in Madison, Wisconsin, tonight. The shows feature songs from the band's latest album, The Phosphorescent Blues, and new EP, The Wireless, sung around a single mic. The tour stops in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina, culminating with two nights at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. Chris Thile closes out the year in duo shows with label mate Brad Mehldau in NYC and upstate New York.

Kronos Quartet will make its first tour of the UK in many years, starting with the group's return to the Barbican in May 2016. The program includes Terry Riley’s One Earth, One People, One Love; the world premiere of a new piece by Martin Green of Lau; works by Laurie Anderson and Komitas; and arrangements including The Who’s Baba O’Riley. The evening also features three UK premieres of works by Fodé Lassana Diabaté from Trio da Kali, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and Garth Knoxas part of the Kronos Fifty for the Future commissioning project.

Record Store Day has premiered The Arcs' new track "Young," which was co-written by David Berman of the Silver Jews. "We've been meeting at night, writing together for a few years," says The Arcs' Dan Auerbach. "This is the first time we've shared any of that. The Arcs have recorded more songs from the collaboration and we hope to release more of it very soon." You can hear the track here. The song appears on the band's limited-edition six-song recording, The Arcs vs. The Inventors Vol. I, featuring Dr. John and David Hidalgo. The 10" vinyl is out this Friday, November 27, for Record Store Day's Black Friday event. A digital version will be available December 11. The Arcs kick off a North American tour December 1.