The Low Anthem will be making its US television debut with an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight. The band will be performing "Charlie Darwin" off its Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. The episode is sure to be additionally special, as Letterman will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of his successful quintuple bypass heart surgery by speaking his surgeon, O. Wayne Isom.

The Low Anthem performed at Saturday's multi-artist Hot Stove Cool Music benefit concert in Boston; the Boston Globe included the set among the event's highlights, calling the group "a dazzlingly talented bunch." Now comes word that the band will be headlining its first North American tour this spring and making its US television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman this Thursday. It will also spend much of February supporting The Avett Brothers on the road.

Oumou Sangare and Audra McDonald have been nominated for NAACP Image Awards: Oumou for her latest album, Seya, and Audra for her work on the ABC series Private Practice. Audra will be performing on ABC tonight, singing "God Bless America" during the pregame show at the National Championship football game in Pasadena's Rose Bowl Stadium.

Allen Toussaint is set to make his long-awaited debut on the PBS series Austin City Limits this Saturday, January 9. The hour-long episode kicks off a string of new shows for the award-winning concert series. Toussaint and his band perform interpretations of jazz classics from his Grammy-nominated Nonesuch debut, The Bright Mississippi, as well as beloved Toussaint originals like “Working in the Coalmine” and “Southern Nights.”

Earlier this year, Elvis Costello was a guest performer at Allen Toussaint's Village Vanguard performances in celebration of his Nonesuch debut, The Bright Mississippi. Tonight, Toussaint returns the favor as he joins Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson, and Levon Helm for a once-in-a-lifetime jam session on Costello's Sundance Channel interview and performance show, Spectacle: Elvis Costello with ...

Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau will perform together at the official National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC, this evening starting at 5 PM EST, joining fellow performers Sheryl Crow, Common, Jordan Sparks, and Ray LaMontagne, as well as President Obama and his family. The whole ceremony will be streamed live online and will be broadcast on PBS stations across the country tomorrow night.

The latest episode of Studio 360 celebrates the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, including word from The Low Anthem's Ben Knox Miller on the origin of the title of the band's Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. The Rough Trade staff puts the album at No. 2 of the year's best, calling it "essential." After the band's show in London last week, Uncut calls it "the year's breakout album," not least for its "supernaturally beautiful title track."

The Low Anthem makes its TV debut tonight with a spot on the famed UK performance show Later ... with Jools Holland. The trio will perform "To Ohio," off their Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. Fans in the UK can tune in on BBC2 tonight at 11:45 PM GMT, while fans across the globe can catch a sneak preview by watching the band's performance of "Charlie Darwin" online.

Sesame Street celebrated its 40th anniversary on Tuesday, and Kronos Quartet has offered its own best wishes by revisiting its appearance on the show. In 1987, the group stopped by Sesame Street to talk with Big Bird about the string quartet, becoming in the process one of the few groups who could possibly perform "Purple Haze," the Jimi Hendrix classic, so fittingly on the show.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are on tour in California this week, performing at UC Santa Barbara tomorrow night. The Santa Barbara Independent spoke with band member Don Flemons to preview the show and discuss the resurgent old-time string band music scene. Fans across the country can catch the group's performance on Later ... with Jools Holland on Ovation TV tonight.

Wilco begins its European tour next week in the UK, where Q magazine has just named Wilco (the album) among the year's best, and where Channel 4 is broadcasting Ashes of American Flags, the documentary film about the band's 2008 tour, tonight. Following the final show on Wilco's recent US tour, JamBase said the band was "clearly having a blast." You can read Nels Cline's take on it all in Paste magazine.

When John Adams's City Noir received its world premiere early this month in the gala Opening Night concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under its new music director Gustavo Dudamel, it was met with rave reviews and an adulatory audience response. The performance, which was paired with Mahler's First Symphony, airs tonight on PBS's Great Performances. On his new blog, Adams praises Dudamel as "the genuine article."