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."

Pianist Tigran Hamasyan has released a video that goes behind the scenes in the recording studio in Meudon, France, where his new album, Mockroot, was recorded in May of last year. The video shows Hamasyan with his trio—Sam Minaie on electric bass and Arthur Hnatek on drums and live electronics—and vocalist Gayanée Movsisyan as they record the new album. Watch it here.

The song "Hero" by Family of the Year, featured on the soundtrack to Richard Linklater's film Boyhood—and heard throughout the telecast of the Golden Globes as the film picked up three awards last Sunday—can now be heard in a new music video as well. Not long after the film received six Academy Award nominations and shortly before it won four Critics Choice Awards, the video, which includes footage from the film, premiered on BuzzFeed, which describes the song as "anthemic." You can watch it here.

Singer-songwriter Olivia Chaney has unveiled the first new music, the song "Imperfections," from her forthcoming Nonesuch Records debut album. You can hear it here. Details on the album and pre-order information are coming soon. Chaney will visit select cities in the US and Canada starting February 4.

The much-lauded film Boyhood was the focus of a TimesTalks conversation earlier this week. Filmmaker Richard Linklater and cast members Ethan Hawke and Ellar Coltrane spoke with New York Times reporter Cara Buckley about the unique project; you can watch the discussion here. Linklater is also the guest on the latest episode of WTF with Marc Maron. He talks with Maron about Boyhood and number of his other films.