Tune in to The Late Late show with Craig Ferguson to see Sara Watkins perform "Where Will You Be," off her self-titled Nonesuch debut album tonight on CBS. She, Garrison Keillor, and the cast of A Prairie Home Companion bring their Summer Love Tour home to the Minnesota State Fair for a live radio broadcast of the show on Saturday. Watkins promises a song by Harry Nilsson and one by Randy Newman.

Natalie Merchant has contributed a moving and personal interview to the new BBC World Service series Striking a Chord, in which musicians talk about  songs they have written that “struck a chord with a nation, or a generation." Merchant discusses her song "Wonder" and the impact it has had, as well as the unique power of music. "It's hard to unite people in one feeling and one frame of mind," she says. "I feel like music is a way to do that. It's one of the only ways."

Laurie Anderson will be the guest on NPR's World Cafe today to talk about her latest album, Homeland, which the show describes as "hard-hitting yet humorous," and perform songs from the album. Listeners around the world can tune in online at 2 PM ET on xpn.org.

Carolina Chocolate Drops are featured on the latest episode of BBC Radio 2's The Mike Harding Show, which includes songs off the album Genuine Negro Jig and an interview with the band from the Cambridge Folk Festival. "The Carolina Chocolate Drops went on an absolute storm at the Cambridge Folk Festival this year," Harding reports, "with their blend of banjo, jug, and fiddle and their fire and showmanship."

Though Punch Brothers have a few weeks off from their tour, Chris Thile takes the stage for a solo set at New Yorks' Rockwood Music Hall this Saturday. The band was featured on the BBC World Service's The Strand. Noam Pickelny tells host Mark Coles, "We really are just trying to create something new and bring all of our favorite styles and influences to the table and just throw them into a melting pot."

Björk is the latest artist to be chosen for NPR's 50 Great Voices, the weekly series featuring "awe-inspiring voices from around the world and across time." In the segment, titled "Björk: A Celestial Voice," host Guy Raz says of that voice: "There is something celestial about it, as if it comes from another world, a fantastic and colorful and utopian world." The New Yorker's Alex Ross tells NPR: "I cannot think of another voice like it in pop music, in classical music."

The Low Anthem and Punch Brothers recently performed at the legendary Newport Folk Festival; both bands' sets were streamed live in full on NPR.org. The Low Anthem's home state performance garnered great reviews, including one from the Boston Globe, which wrote that a "fiery spirit imbued the Low Anthem’s set earlier on the same stage, with the Providence band once again proving its quick ascent was warranted." In their review of the festival, American Songwriter magazine called Punch Brothers' set "a deft fusion of old and new."

Punch Brothers were featured on the latest episode of NPR's Weekend Edition. Host Jacki Lydon describes their latest release, Antifogmatic, as "10 delectable tunes," and comments that though the band members have their roots in bluegrass, the album is more varied in its sound; she notes that "the band takes bluegrass instrumentation and combines it with elements of classical music and rock 'n roll."

The Black Keys have kicked off their North American tour, offering the home-state crowd in Cleveland their "most superlative-sapping local performance to date," raves the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Eardrums were ravished. Minds were blown. And when singer-guitarist Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney finally made their exit, sweat-soaked and utterly spent, it was no small wonder that the downtown skyline was still standing." Pat and Dan's fathers appeared on WKSU radio to offer their unique perspective on the band.

Laurie Anderson created an unforgettable four minutes of late-night television when she performed "Only an Expert," from her album Homeland, on Late Night with David Letterman last night, adding new references to the BP oil disaster. At the song's end, Letterman exclaims: "Exactly. That's exactly what I was thinking." The performance is featured on The Daily Beast's Video Cheat Sheet. BlogCritics says: "If there's one CD so far this year that's a must buy—Homeland is it."

The Carolina Chocolate Drops perform a free concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland this evening, launching the Hall's Summer in the City series of free concerts. Fans outside of Cleveland can enjoy a bit of the band's live sound tonight as well, as Seattle radio station KEXP airs an in-studio performance the trio recorded during their recent tour stop in the Pacific Northwest.

Ben Folds and Nick Hornby appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today show, the station's flagship news and current affairs program, this morning. They discussed their songwriting collaboration, which resulted in the forthcoming Nonesuch album Lonely Avenue. The BBC describes it as "a series of short stories on subjects ranging from awkward relationships to the isolating process of writing itself."