Punch Brothers stopped by NPR to give a Tiny Desk Concert. The concert opens with a special surprise for Thile, who happened to be celebrating a birthday that day, followed by a performance of four songs from their new album, The Phosphorescent Blues. Thile, "along with this versatile and talented group, rocked our world," says host Bob Boilen. "Punch Brothers mixes bluegrass, pop and classical music. It's a tough combination to imagine, and an even harder one to make work, but this band ... makes the unimaginable contagious and fun. They push boundaries and make music like no one else." Watch the Tiny Desk Concert here.

The Staves unveiled a live performance of "Make It Holy," off their forthcoming Justin Vernon–produced album If I Was. You can watch it here. The album version is available to download now with album pre-orders, along with three additional tracks: "Blood I Bled," "Steady," and "Black & White." The Staves will perform at the Eaux Claires Festival, curated by Vernon and Bryce Dessner, held in Eau Claire, July 17 and 18, as will Sam Amidon, among others.

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters performed songs from his new album, lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, at the 2014 iTunes Festival in London last September. Their live take on the album track "Turn It Up" from the festival premiered via The Guardian, which says Plant's new album and tour made for "one of the marvels of 2014." Watch the performance here. Robert Plant and the band will tour Latin America in March and play a number of festivals in the US and Europe this summer.

Rhiannon Giddens recently stopped by Q104.3 in New York City for an appearance on Out of the Box. She spoke with host Jonathan “JC” Clarke about her recently release solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, and about working with producer T Bone Burnett on that and the Lost Basement Tapes project. She also performs the song “Angel City,” which closes out Tomorrow Is My Turn. Watch the interview and performance here.

The Staves unveiled a live performance of "Black & White," off their forthcoming Justin Vernon–produced album If I Was. You can watch it here. The album version is available to download now with album pre-orders, along with two additional tracks: "Blood I Bled" and "Steady." The Staves will perform at the Eaux Claires Festival, curated by Vernon and Bryce Dessner, held in Eau Claire, July 17 and 18, as will Sam Amidon, among others.

Rhiannon Giddens, whose debut solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, was released yesterday on Nonesuch Records to critical acclaim, celebrated the record's release with a performance of the song "Waterboy" on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman last night. "Oh my god," Letterman exclaimed following the performance. "Oh my god, that was unbelievable." Watch for you yourself here. "Tomorrow Is My Turn confirms the arrival of a significant talent whose voice and distinctive approach communicate the simmering emotion at the core of the songs," says the Wall Street Journal. "Thus, she may prove indispensable."

Punch Brothers recently stopped by the CMT studios for a Live @ CMT session, performing what CMT Edge calls a "sparkling" set of four songs off their new album, The Phosphorescent Blues: “Julep,” “Magnet,” “I Blew It Off,” and “Boll Weevil.” You can watch the performances here. The band was featured on NPR's World Cafe yesterday. They spoke with host David Dye, who calls them "some of the very best acoustic musicians anywhere," and performed three songs from the new album: "I Blew It Off," "Magnet" and "Boll Weevil."

Punch Brothers were the musical guests on Conan last night on TBS, performing "Magnet" from their new album, The Phosphorescent Blues. They were also the musical guest on a special episode of A Prairie Home Companion on Saturday, guest-hosted by none other than Chris Thile. Watch performances from both shows here. And tune in to NPR's World Cafe today to hear the band perform. 

Tigran Hamasyan has unveiled an animated video of the song "Kars 2 (Wounds of the Centuries)," off his new album, Mockroot. The video, which premiered on Les Inrocks, was created by his sister, Melanya Hamasyan. You can watch it here. The song was written about the town of Kars, the ancestral home of Hamasyan's maternal grandparents, a place that became part of Turkey in the years that followed the Ottoman genocide of Armenians during the First World War.

Punch Brothers, the Evening Standard noted in a four-star review of their recent London show, "sounded as sharp as they looked." All the rarer then to find the band dressed casually in a new video that goes behind the scenes of the writing of their new album, The Phosphorescent Blues, which you can watch here. The band previews their forthcoming tour as musical guests on A Prairie Home Companion this weekend, guest-hosted by none other than Chris Thile. Following Rolling Stone's recent exclamation that "Punch Brothers are astoundingly skilled, non-show-offy, and pretty much pushing at the vanguard of really great music you need to listen to right now," PopMatters calls their new album "another triumph for the quintet." No Depression calls it "tremendous," explaining: "These are, after all, five of the most dexterous, creative, imaginative musicians working in any area of music today."

The Black Keys' latest performance on Austin City Limits (ACL) premieres this Saturday on PBS stations across the US. The band's set includes songs from their latest album, Turn Blue, and more. You can watch their ACL performances of "Fever" and "Little Black Submarines" here plus web-exclusive videos of "Too Afraid to Love" and "Howling for You." This is the band's second appearance on ACL.

Tigran Hamasyan, whose new album, Mockroot, is out now in France and coming soon to the rest of the world, recently sat down with Le Figaro in France to discuss the new album and to perform two songs from it—"Kars" and "Lilac"—as well as the Johnny Green tune "Out of Nowhere." You can watch all three performances here. "It's been several years now that Tigran Hamasyan has stood out in the world jazz scene," says Le Figaro, through translation. "For this prodigy, it is not only his technique that is impressive, but the way in which he literally dives into the notes ... whirling his fingers in a breathtaking ballet."