Devendra Banhart launches a four-concert tour of Australia with a performance at the Factory Theatre outside Sydney Wednesday night, followed by a show at the Prince Bandroom outside Melbourne Thursday, and two sets at the 25th annual Byron Bay Bluesfest (pictured) this Saturday and Monday. The weekend's sets mark Banhart's Bluesfest debut. Also performing at the festival are Iron and Wine and Dr. John. In May, Banhart joins Rokia Traoré to kick off the Barbican's month-long celebration of Nonesuch at 50.

John Adams leads LA Phil in three concerts of contemporary works, including his own Naive and Sentimental Music ... Sam Amidon is in Belgium ... Bombino is a "must-see" (Rolling Stone) at Coachella ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tour New England ... Shawn Colvin is in Northeast ... Jeremy Denk plays Peoples’ Symphony Concert in NYC ... Fatoumata Diawara tours the US ... Dr. John plays two Louisiana festivals ... Richard Goode joins Toronto Symphony Orchestra ... Emmylou Harris takes Wrecking Ball to DC, NYC, Boston ... Kronos Quartet plays San Fran's Switchboard Music Fest ... Brad Mehldau Trio tours South ... Natalie Merchant sings in New Hampshire ... Joshua Redman is in Austin ... Rokia Traoré tours France ... and more ...

The Barbican's Contemporary Music Podcast offers a taste of what's to come in the Barbican's marathon weekend, Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records, and wider Nonesuch celebration in May. The latest edition of the podcast is devoted to these events, featuring interviews with Nonesuch Records President Bob Hurwitz, Carolina Chocolate Drops' Rhiannon Giddens, and composer/pianist Timo Andres. "Musical visionaries and true pioneers have been recorded by the label in the last 50 years," says the Barbican, "and here we celebrate their legacy, their free spirit and what's still to come." Listen to the podcast here.

Nickel Creek's new album, A Dotted Line, debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200, the band's highest chart position to date! It's been a busy week for the group, with performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, WNYC's Soundcheck, CBS This Morning Saturday, and A Prairie Home Companion. Nickel Creek, which begins its first US tour in seven years next week, has announced a new batch of tour dates for this summer. A limited pre-sale for most of the newly announced dates begins Wednesday, April 9, at 10 AM local time.

Nickel Creek performs on CBS This Morning Saturday and A Prairie Home Companion live from NYC ... Bombino, Fatoumata Diawara play Savannah Music Festival ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tour Northeast ... Shawn Colvin plays two nights outside Chicago ... Jeremy Denk makes Tucson Symphony debut ... Emmylou Harris takes Wrecking Ball to San Francisco ... Kronos Quartet premiere multimedia work at Berkeley ... Brad Mehldau Trio tour out West ... Joshua Redman is in Albuquerque ... Rokia Traoré tours France ... and more ...

Bombino kicks off the latest leg of his world tour with two sets at the Savannah Music Festival in Georgia, tonight, alongside Fatoumata Diawara. His month-long North American tour heads next to the TransAtlantic Festival in Miami, out West and back down South, including festival sets at Coachella, New Orleans JazzFest, and more. Bombino also plays a number of European and North American festivals this summer.

Emmylou Harris’s groundbreaking album Wrecking Ball will be reissued on Tuesday, April 8. In celebration, Harris and producer Daniel Lanois, along with Jim Wilson on guitar and Steven Nistor on drums, kick off an international tour at The Wiltern in LA tonight. The Los Angeles Times says: "Wrecking Ball provided an ambitious and richly textured template for the coalescing Americana music movement before it took on that name." The tour continues with stops in San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, DC, Brooklyn, Boston, and Toronto, followed by European shows in the Netherlands, Belgium, and UK.

The Pat Metheny Unity Group—Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez, Ben Williams, and Giulio Carmassi—concluded the North American leg of its world tour, performing music from the debut album, Kin (←→), and much more at New York's Town Hall on Friday. "Metheny is one of the most industrious creative engines in jazz, and his relentless breadth has become a calling card, if not a selling point, among his fans," says the New York Times. "New York was his final stop on a grueling North American tour, which meant that the structure and pace of the production had been nailed down tight." The Group begins a months-long European tour at the end of April. 

Steve Reich is Artist-in-Residence at Knoxville's Big Ears Festival, where Jonny Greenwood performs as well ... Darren Aronofsky’s film Noah opens in theaters and IMAX ... Carolina Chocolate Drops are in the Northeast ... Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle round out first leg of tour ... Jeremy Denk, Richard Goode perform Janáček’s on opposite coasts ... Iron and Wine is in Alaska ... Kronos Quartet celebrates its 40th at Carnegie Hall ... Pat Metheny Unity Group tour culminates in NYC ... Punch Brothers close out tour in Northeast ... Rokia Traoré performs in France ... and more ...

Kronos Quartet, now celebrating its 40th anniversary, was the subject of a feature profile on NPR's Morning Edition today titled "Kronos Quartet: Still Daring After All These Years." Kronos will perform in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium this Friday, March 28, featuring collaborations with many close colleagues and longtime artistic partners. On the program is the world premiere of Terry Riley’s The Serquent Risadome, as well as works by Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Clint Mansell, and more. Special guests include Bryce Dessner, Wu Man, Jherek Bischoff, four young string quartets from Face The Music, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Q2 rebroadcasts its recent 24-hour marathon stream of Kronos music on Saturday.

Kronos Quartet is the subject of a feature in the Sunday New York Times looking back in the group's 40th anniversary season and ahead as it continues to innovate and inspire. Kronos performs a program in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium this Friday featuring collaborations with many of its close colleagues and longtime artistic partners. Q2 Music launches KRONOS AT 40, a 24-hour, Kronos marathon stream on Monday. Nonesuch releases Kronos Quartet's A Thousand Thoughts and the five-disc Kronos Explorer Series box set April 8, and the soundtrack to the new film Noah, on which Kronos performs, Tuesday.

Punch Brothers play Southern festival sets at Savannah Music Festival and Suwannee Springfest ... Timo Andres makes Twin Cities debut with Work Songs ... Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle share the stage in Indianapolis and Atlanta ... Emmylou Harris plays benefit in Montana ... Kronos Quartet is in residence at Duke University ... Natalie Merchant joins New Jersey Symphony Chamber Orchestra ... Pat Metheny Unity Group tours mid-Altantic ... Joshua Redman Quartet closes out European tour ... Sara Watkins takes Watkins Family Hour to Santa Barbara ... and more ...