Natalie Merchant, who celebrates a birthday today—happy birthday!—joins the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra to perform songs from Leave Your Sleep ... Laurie Anderson brings Dirtday! to LA ... Timothy Andres performs with ACME in Brooklyn ... The Black Keys' Australia tour hits Brisbane and Perth ... Billy Bragg's in Brisbane and Sydney ... Carolina Chocolate Drops cruise the Caribbean ... Shawn Colvin holds residency in NYC ... Nataly Dawn is in LA ... Dr. John, Blind Boys of Alabama tour Midwest ... Einstein on the Beach makes West Coast debut ... Gidon Kremer tours Japan ... Joshua Redman plays Coltrane in NYC ... Sara Watkins joins Jackson Browne in Chicago ... and more ...

k.d. lang performs at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit Concert in California, streaming live online ... Laurie Anderson brings Dirtday! to Seattle ... The Black Keys and Billy Bragg kick off tours of Australia ... Carolina Chocolate Drops are in the Netherlands ... Shawn Colvin tours UK with Mary Chapin Carpenter ... Dr. John, Blind Boys of Alabama are in Kansas and Nebraska ... Emmylou Harris plays Magnolia Fest ... Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica tour South Korea ... Kronos Quartet performs Reich's WTC 9/11 in Italy ... Punch Brothers close out US tour in Alabama ... Sara Watkins joins Jackson Browne in Midwest ... and much more ...

The Black Keys and Punch Brothers play the sold-out Austin City Limits Festival ... Laurie Anderson brings Dirtday! to Long Island ... Billy Bragg launches New Zealand tour ... Carolina Chocolate Drops take show from UK to France ... Ry Cooder celebrates Woody Guthrie at The Kennedy Center ... Jeremy Denk tours with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center ... Dr. John & Blind Boys of Alabama take Spirituals to Funk tour to San Diego ... Pat Metheny's Unity Band closes out tour in NYC, Boston ... Sara Watkins tours Virginia and Ohio ... and more ...

Emmylou Harris and Sara Watkins perform at the 12th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park ... The Black Keys play two nights at LA's Staples Center ... Carolina Chocolate Drops launch European tour in Galway ... Fatoumata Diawara closes out US tour in North Carolina ... Gidon Kremer & Kremerata Baltica play Esterházy Palace in Austria ... Kronos Quartet opens for Amon Tobin, joins Santa Rosa Symphony ... Jessica Lea Mayfield is in Birmingham ... Brad Mehldau has four solo sets at NYC's Jazz at Lincoln Center ... Pat Metheny's Unity Band tours the South ... Punch Brothers are at The New Yorker Festival ... and more ...

The Black Keys, Neil Young, and Foo Fighters headline The Global Poverty Project's Global Festival concert in NYC's Central Park, streaming live online ... Laurie Anderson talks happiness in NYC ... Shawn Colvin is in the Midwest and can be heard on HBO's Treme ... Fatoumata Diawara makes her NY headline debut ... Richard Goode plays at Smith College ... Kronos Quartet joins Fall Free for All at Berkeley ... Lianne La Havas opens for Alicia Keys at London's iTunes Festival ... k.d. lang closes out Sing it Loud tour in Montreal ... Pat Metheny's Unity Band is out West ... Punch Brothers head from Toronto to upstate NY ... and more ...

Timothy Andres, Sara Watkins perform at the "magnificently enlightening" (Los Angeles Times) Carlsbad Music Festival ... Laurie Anderson alights in Austin and Albuquerque ... Billy Bragg joins Woody Guthrie Brooklyn birthday bash ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play from Raleigh to MASS MoCA ... Fatoumata Diawara is a "must-see" (Sun-Times) at Chicago's World Music Festival ... Einstein on the Beach concludes run at BAM ... Kronos Quartet performs Steve Reich in Düsseldorf ... k.d. lang plays three-night run in Toronto ...Pat Metheny concludes Yoshi's residency, plays Monterey Jazz Fest ... Chris Thile, Michael Daves headline Brooklyn Bluegrass Bash ... and more ...

Kronos Quartet closes out Kraków's Sacrum Profanum festival with a celebration of Polish composers and a double bill with Sigur Rós ... Laurie Anderson brings Dirtday! from Uppsala to Portland ... Billy Bragg celebrates Woody Guthrie in the UK ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tour the Northeast ... Rhys Chatham gives A Crimson Grail its UK debut ... Shawn Colvin is in Texas ... Einstein on the Beach opens at BAM ... Adam Guettel performs in London ... k.d. lang plays the Pantages in Winnipeg ... Pat Metheny's Unity Band is in residence in Seattle ... Joshua Redman tours Ireland ... Chris Thile solos in NYC ... Sara Watkins presents the Watkins Family Hour in LA ... and more ...

Pat Metheny's Unity Band heads West, performing in Denver, Aspen, and Salt Lake City ... Jeremy Denk opens the Louisville Orchestra season ... Dr. John plays Beaver Creek, Colorado ... Philip Glass goes inside Einstein on the Beach in NYC event videocast live on Q2 ... Lianne La Havas makes her Bestival debut ... k.d. lang kicks off her Canadian tour in Victoria, British Columbia ... Joshua Redman Trio headlines Rosslyn Jazz Festival outside DC ... Dawn Upshaw closes out Ravinia's summer season with The Knights ... and more ...

As Labor Day weekend brings the summer to its unofficial close, late summer festivals abound. Allen Toussaint performs The Bright Mississippi at Curaçao North Sea and Chicago jazz fests ... Joshua Redman is at Curaçao with James Farm ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play Rhode Island's Rhythm & Roots ... Dr. John plays Wyoming's Snowy Range Music Fest and St. Louis' Big Muddy Blues Fest  ... Emmylou Harris returns to the Greenbelt Harvest Picnic ... Lianne La Havas is at Dublin's Electric Picnic ... k.d. lang closes out US tour in California ... The Low Anthem is at End of the Road ... Pat Metheny resumes Unity Band tour ... Sara Watkins plays Four Corners Folk Fest in Colorado ... and more ...

The Black Keys close out their European summer tour with three festival sets this weekend: two in the UK—Leeds and Reading—plus Paris' Rock en Seine ... Billy Bragg plays three UK festivals: Shambala, Solfest, and Galtres ... Dr. John hits Gulf Shores for SEC BeachFest ... k.d. lang closes out East Coast tour in Atlantic City ... Jessica Lea Mayfield has two shows in the Midwest ... Pat Metheny concludes his Summer Music Workshop ... Punch Brothers are on VH1's Hard Rock Calling special ... and more ...

Emmylou Harris hosts the inaugural Woofstock in Nashville, a day of music and more to benefit her dog rescue, Bonaparte's Retreat ... The Black Keys continue their European tour with three festival sets: Lowlands, Pukkelpop, and Highfield ... Lianne La Havas plays Lowlands as well, and Summer Sundae Weekender ... Billy Bragg plays Summer Sundae too plus Strummer of Love and Beautiful Days ... Jeremy Denk performs Bach and Elgar at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival ... Dr. John plays San Francisco and Los Angeles ... k.d. lang is in New England ... Jessica Lea Mayfield concludes her Langhorne Slim tour in Louisville ... Punch Brothers are in Kentucky too and Wisconsin ... and more ...

Pat Metheny, who celebrates a birthday on Sunday, closes out the current leg of his US tour with the Unity Band with shows in PA and NY ... Amadou & Mariam are at SF's Outside Lands ... Björk, The Black Keys, Billy Bragg play Nordic festivals ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play NYC's Cental Park SummerStage ... Shawn Colvin is in Denver with Loudon Wainwright III ... Dr. John, Emmylou Harris are at Edmonton Folk Festival ... Lianne La Havas plays UK's Wilderness Festival ... k.d. lang has two shows in NY state ... Jessica Lea Mayfield joins Langhorne Slim out West ... Punch Brothers close out Australia tour ... Sara Watkins joins Jackson Browne in Ohio and Kentucky ... and more ...