Sara Watkins recently completed an extensive tour across the UK and Ireland, with her brother Sean on guitar. You can watch a video of highlights from the tour here. They will appear in the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles's production of Much Ado About Nothing, performing music by Lyle Lovett, starting this Wednesday, December 1, and running through December 19. Starring in the production are Helen Hunt as Beatrice and Tom Irwin as Benedick.

Ben Folds continues his Lonely Avenue tour stops in Montclair, New Jersey, Charlotte, and Atlanta. The New York Times describes him as "a witty, engaging songwriter possessing both chops and humor, a rare combination." The Londonist, looking forward to February's UK tour, says his "live performances are full of energy, bite, irony and good humour." Folds spoke with Nashville Public Television about his upcoming benefit concert with the Nashville Symphony in a video you can watch here, along with a preview of the upcoming season of NBC's The Sing-Off.

Punch Brothers continue their US tour with stops outside DC, and in Charleston, West Virginia, for a live Mountain Stage performance. The Washington Post calls their music "dazzling." Last week, Steve Martin awarded banjoist Noam Pikelny the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass and performed with the band on The Late Show with David Letterman. Punch Brothers also performed at WFUV in New York. Watch videos of it all here.

Ben Folds, currently in the midst of his US tour, is now set to tour Europe in February and March 2011 in support of his latest album, Lonely Avenue, a collaboration between him and Nick Hornby. The 14-date tour begins in Dublin on February 18 and includes concerts in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Austria, and Holland. Tickets go on sale to Ben Folds Fan Club on Wednesday and the general public on Friday. Folds and Hornby spoke with CNN in an interview you can watch here.

John Adams's Slonimsky's Earbox will open the LA Philharmonic's January 9 concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It's the first of three concerts that will be broadcast live to movie theaters across North America as part of LA Phil LIVE. Also on the program are works by Bernstein and Beethoven. In a video posted here, LA Phil Music Director Gustavo Dudamel calls it "a program with a lot of spirit and a lot of energy and a lot of joy."

When Ben Folds and Nick Hornby came to New York City last month to celebrate the release of their album, Lonely Avenue, they met up at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe to discuss and perform a few songs off the album. It was the latest in the "Liner Notes" series from SPIN and raised $10,000 for Housing Works. You can now watch six exclusive videos from the evening at spin.com. Folds launches his fall tour this Friday in Chicago.

AfroCubism is set for its North American release on Nonesuch this Tuesday, November 2. The band comes to North America for just three nights of live shows the following weekend in Montreal, Boston, and New York City. AfroCubism made its first live appearance at the Mar de Musicas festival in Cartagena, Spain, this past July. You can watch the band perform the album track "Nima diyala" at the festival in a video here.

Ben Folds and Nick Hornby appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night, with Folds performing "Saskia Hamilton," off their album Lonely Avenue. Watch the episode here. The two will be in Washington, DC, next week for a PEN/Faulkner event. Following Folds own US tour, he returns to DC for a National Geographic Live! event in December featuring his photos, which he discusses on National Geographic Weekend, now online.

Rhys Chatham made his Nonesuch debut last month with the release of A Crimson Grail, featuring the 200-guitar version recorded at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival. The New York Times says: "It might justly be considered 'music to pray to.’” Now you can experience that music through a short film set to music from the album, shot on rolls of expired, unexposed Kodachrome Super 8mm film. Watch it here.

Wanda Jackson, whose new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over, in January 25, performs outside Boston tonight. The Boston Globe quotes Rosanne Cash, who described Jackson "as the prototype, the first female rock star," adding that "Jackson is still kicking out the jams." She performs at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on Friday, leading The New Yorker to note "her growly vocals, remarkable energy, and boundless good humor." Jackson spoke with Y'all Wire at last month's Americana Honors & Awards for an interview you can watch here.

There's just over a week to go to submit entries in the contest to remix "Beyond Reason" off Philip Selway's solo debut Familial. Rolling Stone, in its album review, writes, "News flash: Radiohead officially have another songwriter." The Wall Street Journal takes a look at Selway's dual roles as Radiohead drummer and singer-songwriter and says: "The thoughtful 43-year-old has a way of making the unexpected decision seem just right ...  Selway's compositions echo elements of Radiohead, but their themes tell us they are his own."

UK internet sensation Charlie McDonnell offers a video of Ben Folds and Nick Hornby's song, "Saskia Hamilton" from the album Lonely Avenue. Time Magazine spoke with Folds and Hornby about the project and tracks "the beauty of Lonely Avenue," back to the special pairing of the English novelist with the American singer-songwriter.