k.d. lang and her new album, Sing it Loud, were featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday this past weekend. lang spoke with host Liane Hansen about the making of the album and collaborating with co-writer and producer Joe Pisapia. "The second everybody walked into the room, the energy was palpable. It was an amazing session," says lang, of the July 4th recording session, with her band in Nashville with her band, the Siss Boom Bang. k.d. lang is currently in London celebrating the local release of Sing it Loud, with live interviews on television, and a review in the Observer describes the album as "jazz and country-flecked songs [that] brim with confidence."

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang round out a week of celebrations marking the release of their new album, Sing it Loud, with a performance of the album's opening track, "I Confess," on ABC's The View this morning; watch it here. The song is today's Free Song of the Day at Amazon. They stop by WFUV to talk with host Rita Houston this evening and head next to the UK for a week of appearances marking the release of the new record there.

Carolina Chocolate Drops were featured on Wisconsin Public Television's 30-Minute Music Hour last Saturday. You can watch the performance here. The band is launching a worldwide campaign to find the perfect Carolina Chocolate Drops logo to be included in their new summer merchandise. Everyone is encouraged to enter; fans will be able to vote on the top five designs.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang have moved the celebration of their new album's release to the East Coast, performing "I Confess," the opening track to Sing it Loud, on Good Morning America this morning, which you can watch here, and appearing on The View tomorrow. They perform the entire album at New York's Poisson Rouge tonight. USA Today says "lang ranks among our finest purveyors of dreamy, creamy, country-tinged torch songs, picking up the mantle from Roy Orbison and Peggy Lee with these perfect vehicles for her vibrant voice." KCRW named the album's title track yesterday's Top Tune, saying lang "sounds as strong as ever." The Arts Desk has named Sing it Loud Album of the Day, and MusicOMH gives it four stars.

Emmylou Harris's new album, Hard Bargain, is due out on Nonesuch April 26, less than two weeks away. A deluxe edition includes a DVD featuring six performances interspersed with interviews. The video for "Goodnight Old World," from the deluxe edition of the album, received its exclusive world premiere on CMT this morning. You can watch the video, directed by Jack Spencer, here.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang's new album, Sing it Loud, is out today. To celebrate, lang and the band performed the album opener "I Confess" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night. Watch the complete episode here. The Los Angeles Times says: "The big, beautiful voice of k.d. lang swoops, purrs and soars through the 10 songs on Sing it Loud.” With her new band, lang "has found her guitar groove again." The Ottawa Citizen calls the album "a torch-and-twangtinged stunner."

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang will perform "I Confess" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight. The song is the lead single from Sing it Loud, due out tomorrow on Nonesuch Records. USA Today says the album "nods to lang's alt-country roots while reinforcing her reputation as a singer of genre-defying dexterity and beauty." To celebrate its release, lang and her new band will play the album in its entirety tonight at Los Angeles's Troubadour and at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City this Thursday, April 14. They'll appear on Good Morning America on Thursday and The View this Friday morning, April 15.

Pat Metheny and his Orchestrion were featured on CBS Sunday Morning this past weekend. The guitarist-composer explained the inner workings of the cutting-edge instruments and performance methods he used on his latest Nonesuch album and subsequent world tour. Watch it here. Metheny will lead a five-day workshop this summer in Connecticut with his trio, featuring Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez, that also includes nightly concerts.

Wanda Jackson was featured on the CBS Evening News last night in a look at her five-and-a-half decades of music making. "You're as hot now as you've ever been," says CBS's Anthony Mason. Watch the segment here. The Denver Post, reviewing a recent Jackson concert, says "her signature rock ‘n’ roll bad girl growl sounds just as sexy at 73 as it must have at 17." KDHX says of another: "It was truly a pleasure to watch one of the first and feistiest ladies of rockabilly (really it's hard to place Wanda Jackson in just one category) work her magic."

The Civil War, the five-part film by Ken Burns, deemed one of the most popular offering ever presented on public television, is airing anew on PBS stations across the US this week. Nonesuch released the official soundtrack recording to the film back during its original run in 1990; it went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. Featuring traditional American music ranging from brass bands to gospel choirs, “the music in The Civil War achieves an eloquence parallel to that of the narration," wrote GQ, "and it reinforces the visual illusion of aching, coming-to-life immediacy."

Pat Metheny and his Orchestrion will be the subject of a profile on CBS Sunday Morning this weekend. On the show, the guitarist-composer will give a behind-the-scenes look at the Orchestrion, the one-man band featured on his latest Nonesuch release, and explain the inner workings of the cutting-edge instruments and performance methods he used on the album and on tour. Metheny will also discuss his personal inspiration for the project.

Sing it Loud, the new album from k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang, was released earlier today in Australia, and lang and the band celebrated with a number of early morning TV appearances there. They kicked things off with a performance on Sunrise, offering their own take on an Aussie classic: the Little River Band's hit "Reminiscing," which you can watch here. That was followed by interviews on Today and One Plus One, with a Weekend Sunrise performance to come this weekend.