Rachael & Vilray conclude US tour in Philadelphia, Brooklyn … Devendra Banhart hosts pop-up experience in Los Angeles … Olivia Chaney tours UK … Jeremy Denk is at 92Y in NYC … Emmylou Harris plays tribute concert in DC … Caroline Shaw joins Roomful of Teeth at the Guggenheim in NYC … Chris Thile hosts Live From Here from NYC … Vagabon concludes US tour with Angel Olsen … Yola rings in the New Year in Nashville …

Rhiannon Giddens is the latest guest on Come Hear North Carolina's In the Water series. She visits Wilmington, NC, to discuss the massacre that occurred there in 1898, in which a democratically elected, biracial government was overthrown by a mob of white citizens. She also performs three songs—"Pretty Saro," "At the Purchaser's Option," and "He Will See You Through"—and discusses the importance of storytelling in her own music. You can watch it here.

NPR Music has published its year in review of the best music to have been released in 2019, and among the artists featured across its lists are Caroline Shaw, Attacca Quartet, Vagabon, Yola, The Black Keys, Brad Mehldau, Gaby Moreno, Van Dyke Parks, and Daniel Wohl.

Devendra Banhart will present Other Flowers, a multi-medium pop-up retail experience at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles this Saturday and Sunday, December 14 and 15, 2019, as part of the gallery’s third annual Holiday Market, featuring more than forty local makers, artists, performers, and nonprofit organizations. Banhart will offer visitors access to his work in art, song, and curation, including apparel, books, personalized vinyl, photography, and paintings. Other Flowers will also feature live performances, including a solo set from Banhart.

Paste magazine has made a list of The 40 Best Folk Albums of the 2010s, and among them are four albums familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Punch Brothers' The Phosphorescent Blues, Rhiannon Giddens' there is no Other, the Inside Llewyn Davis film soundtrack, and Fleet Foxes' Crack-Up.

Yola released a deluxe digital version of her multiple Grammy-nominated album Walk Through Fire with two new bonus tracks, including a Dan Auerbach–produced cover of Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," which premiered via Elton John's social media. The deluxe album also includes the song "I Don't Wanna Lie," which was co-written by Yola, Auerbach, and legendary keys player Bobby Wood. 

"We’ve spent the last couple years writing songs and recording demos in various places round the world, assembling the bones of what will be our next album," say The Staves, who have released a new demo track, "Nothing's Gonna Happen." "This song was written in a bedroom in east London and, later, recorded in a studio in Wisconsin. It’s been a while since we put new music out and we thought that seeing as this is the season of giving, we’d let one of these demos surface for anybody who is interested to hear ... We appreciate our wonderful fans so much and thought it would be a cool thing to show you a small sliver of the process."

Natalie Merchant leads John Lennon Tribute in NYC with guest Sam Amidon and others … Devendra Banhart concludes North American tour … Daughter of Swords tours Midwest … Jeremy Denk is in St. Louis … Rhiannon Giddens continues European tour … Gabriel Kahane joins Oregon Symphony … The Magnetic Fields perform in Brooklyn … Gaby Moreno joins NSO, Ben Folds in DC … Mandy Patinkin performs in New York … Rachael & Vilray head West … Steve Reich curates Lincoln Center Nightcap … Chris Thile hosts Live From Here from NYC … Vagabon plays Oakland … The McGarrigle Christmas tradition continues in London ...

Pat Metheny has released “You Are,” a new track from his forthcoming album, From This Place, due February 21; it can be heard here. This follows the release of the album’s opening track, “America Undefined.” Both songs can be downloaded now with pre-orders of From This Place on vinyl and CD in the Pat Metheny Store and Nonesuch Store, and are available to stream.

Early James, an Alabama native and the latest signing to Dan Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound roster, releases his debut album, Singing for My Supper, via Easy Eye and Nonesuch Records on March 13, 2020. The album spans hard-charging blues, wistful folk, and ages-old pop crooning, anchored by the singer's voice that moves from gravel-gruff shout to a honey-smooth whisper. James' inspirations run from Fiona Apple and Tom Waits to the Southern Gothic poets, as heard in the album's darker themes and in the wry humor with which he writes about them. The video for the album track "Blue Pill Blues" premiered on American Songwriter earlier today and can be seen here.

Yola spoke with NPR member station 88Nine Radio Milwaukee for its Yours Truly series of up-close artist interviews. She talks about meeting Mavis Staples—with whom she performs at Holiday Cheer for FUV in NYC next week—and surrounding herself with "golden people." "The environment that I've built for myself—it is so important to connect," she says. "Certainly you'll hear this from women far and wide that there are environments that don't let them self-actualize, and that was definitely No. 1, people that accepted me as I was." Watch it here.

Rolling Stone has published its list of The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s, including two Nonesuch releases: The Black Keys' Brothers at No. 14, "one of their most emotive and cathartic records ... set to beautifully smudgy R&B, soul, and low-fi funk," and Randy Newman's Dark Matter at No. 36, "a gem, perhaps Newman’s most mordant assessment yet of his fellow man."