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.

Joshua Redman joins The Bad Plus in residence at the Blue Note ... Sérgio and Odair Assad join Garrison Keillor for A Praire Home Companion live from NYC's Town Hall ... Alarm Will Sound performs 1969 in Denver ... Tony Allen concludes his North American tour in Minneapolis ... The Low Anthem has sold-out shows with Iron and Wine in DC and Georgia ... Jessica Lea Mayfield is in Texas ... Randy Newman plays SFJAZZ ... Fernando Otero tours Israel with vocalist/composer Sabrina Lastman ... Sara Watkins is in Michigan with the Decemberists ... and more ...

Emmylou Harris brings the music of her forthcoming album, Hard Bargain, to LA's El Rey Theatre tonight. The Los Angeles Times says Harris, on the new album, "very firmly takes center stage with wistful, heartrending tunes." The Wall Street Journal, previewing her album release day show in NYC, says: "Her voice remains an open channel for otherworldly beauty, earthy and ethereal in equal measure, and her style retains a rootsy grounding even when she strays from the confines of country." Harris spoke with ESPN about her music and one of her other passions, baseball.

Wanda Jackson hits the road for her second nationwide tour in support of her latest album, The Party Ain’t Over, which was produced by her friend Jack White. Jackson opens for the young British singer/songwriter Adele for nine sold-out performances in May and June. She says of these shows, “I was thrilled to learn that my music has been an influence on such a talent as Adele. I am looking forward to the concert tour with her. We’re gonna have a party!”

The worldwide celebrations of Steve Reich's 75th birth year have come to NYC, starting with tonight's NY premiere screening of the documentary Steve Reich: Phase to Face at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts; Reich and the film's director will be there. Carnegie Hall presents an all-Reich concert on April 30 featuring Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can, eighth blackbird, So Percusssion, and three NY premieres; enter to win tickets and more. Tune in to Q2 this Monday to hear some of the performers discuss the concert.

Ben Folds, who is set to tour Australia and Asia next month, has just announced several new US summer tour dates, including performances in Tulsa, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Tucson, Tempe, Anaheim, San Francisco, Birmingham, and Minneapolis, as well as sets at the XPoNential Music Festival in Philadelphia and the DMB Caravan in Chicago. Folds has released a cover of Ke$ha's "Sleazy" to support Japanese relief efforts and will join Damian Kulash, Amanda Palmer, and Neil Gaiman at the Rethink Music conference in Boston for a songwriting/recording marathon.

Kronos Quartet joins Bang on a Can for a mini-marathon at MIT ... Tony Allen continues his North American tour ... Laurie Anderson gives a reading in the Hamptons ... The Black Keys headline at Coachella ...  Wanda Jackson heads South ... The Low Anthem tours the Northeast with Iron and Wine ... Jessica Lea Mayfield plays her home state ... Randy Newman performs in the Pacific Northwest ... Punch Brothers play p-Bingo in NYC ... Dawn Upshaw, Donnacha Dennehy conclude Carnegie Hall workshop ... Sara Watkins tours with the Decemberists ... and more ...

The Low Anthem began their US spring tour last night with the first of several sold-out shows with Iron and Wine. This weekend, The Low Anthem can also be heard on NPR stations across the country as their recent performance on Mountain Stage premieres; Lucinda Williams is also on the show. The band closed out its European tour at a sold-out show at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, to which the Guardian and the Independent both gave four stars. You can now watch the video for "Boeing 737" here.

The Black Keys have been nominated for three Billboard Music Awards: Top Alternative Artist and Top Rock Album and Top Alternative Album for their album Brothers. The guys are back on the road, performing at the Mesa Amphitheatre tonight. They play the first of several upcoming festival headlining appearances at Coachella tomorrow, which will be webcast live on YouTube. Additional upcoming performances include headlining sets at The Hangout Festival, Summerfest, Bonnaroo, and Outside Lands. Check out a behind-the-scenes look at their unforgettable "Howlin' for You" video here.

Tell Me, the highly anticipated sophomore release from Jessica Lea Mayfield, is out now on Nonesuch Records. In celebration of the record, Mayfield will continue to tour the US and Europe throughout 2011, including an appearance at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival as well as a newly announced series of special shows with The Avett Brothers.