Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have sat down for a chat about their new collaborative album, Old Yellow Moon. In the video, the duo partners discuss the roots of the album, their first official collaboration together since Crowell joined Harris's Hot Band in 1975, and offer a few intimate acoustic takes on some album tracks. “Rodney and I have been talking about doing a project together probably almost since we met," Harris says in the video. "It seemed like it was inevitable that we would do it. But as the years went by, one day I just thought," she laughs: "It’s getting late.” Watch it here.

Devendra Banhart recently spoke with France’s arts and culture website PUREchannel about his forthcoming album, Mala, and performed intimate, solo acoustic takes of two songs off the album, “Golden Girls” and "Never Seen Such Good Things." You can watch the PUREchannel interview and two song performance videos here. Banhart is set to perform at KCRW's Official SXSW Day Showcase in Austin on March 13. 

Nataly Dawn makes her Nonesuch debut with today's release of her solo album How I Knew Her. She has also unveiled a video for the title track, which you can watch here. The album comprises 12 autobiographical, introspective songs by Dawn, one half of Pomplamoose, and was produced by her longtime partner Jack Conte. "While she retains a lot of the whimsy and charm of Pomplamoose," says NPR's All Things Considered, "the music here reveals a whole different side of Nataly Dawn that Pomplamoose fans might not have known was there ... It's funny, and it's challenging. It's poignant, spiritual." Listen to her recent performance on Portland's KINK FM here.

Last summer, John Adams’s Harmonielehre was performed in a disused multi-story car park at the Peckham Rye train station in London by a group of young musicians from the UK known as TROSP, The Rite of Spring Project orchestra, led by conductor Chris Stark. A short video of the event was captured by Joanna Beaufoy; watch it here. 

Devendra Banhart, whose new album, Mala, is due out on Nonesuch Records on March 12, has unveiled a second track off the album. "Never Seen Such Good Things" premiered on NME earlier today and can now be heard here via Banhart's YouTube channel. "It's a gentle, dreamy, guitar-driven ballad with military-style drums," says NME. "'Love, you're a strange fella,' sings Banhart, above dreamy backing vocals and synth effects. Very pretty indeed."

In response to the current situation in Mali, Fatoumata Diawara has gathered together over 40 of Mali’s most renowned musicians in a studio in Bamako to record a song and video calling for peace titled "Mali-ko" (Peace / La Paix). Known collectively as Voices United for Mali, the group includes Amadou & Mariam, Oumou Sangare, Toumani Diabate, Afel Bocoum, Bassekou Kouyate, Vieux Farka Toure, and others. Watch the video and read the lyrics and their translation here.

Lianne La Havas, who is currently on tour in Australia, is set to return to North America for an 18-city tour starting March 17 in Dallas. Even before then, La Havas will make a brief trip to LA to perform at the Grammy Foundation's Play It Forward concert and to be fêted by Essence magazine at its Black Women in Music event. When she was in LA last September, she performed songs from her new album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, at Amoeba Music. Watch the complete set here.

Nataly Dawn has premiered her video for "I Just Wanted You to Get Old," the closing track from her forthcoming Nonesuch Records debut album, How I Knew Her, out on February 12, 2013. Watch it here. Dawn, who launches her tour with Ben Folds Five in Denver on Wednesday, January 23, was recently in London, where she performed live on BBC London's Jo Good show, and the title track to the album won the BBC 6 Music “Rebel Playlist” listener poll, earning a spot on every BBC 6 Music daytime show this week. Dawn is also featured on Drunken Werewolf and on the latest episode of the Monocle Radio Culture Show.

Fatoumata Diawara performed a set at the 10th annual Globalfest at NYC's Webster Hall on Sunday. The event is the subject of this week's episode of NPR's All Songs Considered, focused on the festival's "highlights and favorite discoveries," Diawara among them. "Undoubtedly one of the breakout stars of this year's edition of globalFEST, the Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara had the crowd wrapped around her finger," reports NPR. "Gifted with enormous stage presence and great looks, Diawara put on a tightly choreographed set that screamed with energy and edged towards rock and funk." The New York Times includes her among "this year’s superb African contingent at Globalfest." Watch an excerpt of her performance here via NPR.

Dr. John released his Nonesuch Records debut album, Locked Down, in April 2012 to great critical acclaim and, more recently, numerous year-end-best accolades and a Grammy nomination for Best Blues Album. Locked Down was produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and features a band of young musicians Auerbach hand-picked to make the album. Dr. John and the band celebrated the album's release last spring with shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The video of their BAM performance of the track "Ice Age" premiered on Rolling Stone last week. Watch it here.

Fatoumata Diawara's debut album, Fatou, was released earlier this year to critical acclaim. Now comes the release of a new music video for the album track "Clandestin," which addresses issues of immigration. "They are called 'illegals,' but I call them warriors as it’s not easy to leave everything behind and to trust in the unknown. In Bambara, we call them nomads," says Diawara. "This song is dedicated to all the brothers who die on this trip and to those who have already left!" Watch the video here.

Mandy Patinkin continued the holiday sing-along at The Colbert Report when he joined Stephen Colbert and REM's Michael Stipe to sing the traditional carol "Good King Wenceslas" on Comedy Central last night. Watch the performance here. The trio performance closed out an episode of the show in which Patinkin and Colbert engaged in a spirited discussion of his role as Saul Berenson on the hit Showtime series Homeland and much more. It also follows the previous night's duet between Colbert and Audra McDonald on "Baby It's Cold Outside."