Chris Thile has released a new song, "Dionysus," from his forthcoming album, Laysongs, due June 4 on Nonesuch; you can hear it here. Laysongs is his first truly solo album: just Thile, his voice, and his mandolin, on new recordings of six original songs and three covers, all of which contextualize and banter with his ideas about spirituality. The album was recorded in a converted upstate New York church during the pandemic.

Composer/multi-instrumentalist Jeff Parker will tour on a double bill with guitarist/singer-songwriter Steve Gunn in December. The fifteen-city tour begins at Thalia Hall in Chicago, heads throughout the Midwest and East Coast, and culminates at Bowery Ballroom in NYC. You can find details here.

The Black Keys have released "Going Down South," the second single from their forthcoming tenth album, Delta Kream. The album celebrates the band’s roots and features eleven Mississippi hill country blues songs by R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, among others. Auerbach says of the song: “That was one of R. L. Burnside’s hits! We strayed a little from the original on our version with the falsetto and percussion, but we liked how it sounded in that moment. It’s become one of my favorites on the album.” You can watch the video, directed by Ryan Nadzam and filmed at Jimmy Duck Holmes’ Blue Front Café, the oldest active juke joint in America, here. The band will perform on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and BBC Two's Later... with Jools Holland on the album's release day, May 14. 

In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Day this Tuesday, May 4, the children at Irving Park Elementary School in Greensboro, NC, chose to thank their teachers with a special performance of Natalie Merchant's "Kind and Generous" you can watch here.

The Staves performed three tracks from their new album, Good Woman live from the BBC's Radio Theatre for BBC Radio 6 Music's Shaun Keaveny show. “Like warm buttermilk and honey siphoned into my ear canal," says Keaveny. You can hear the performances here. The band's album-release livestream show from February will be rebroadcast with a special new encore recorded from the sisters' family home in Watford on May 20. "We loved playing this show and wanted to give you all another chance to see it," says the trio, "or watch it for the first time before the real thing comes back later this year (fingers crossed)." 

Lake Street Dive's NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert is out now via NPR Music. Recorded at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn, the intimate performance includes four songs from the band's new album, Obviously: "Hypotheticals," "Same Old News," "Anymore," and "Making Do." You can watch it here.

The original motion picture soundtrack for the acclaimed film Sound of Metal, winner of Academy Awards for Sound and Editing, is out now. The album features a score by Abraham Marder and Nicolas Becker, with music written specifically for the film and pre-existing works. The world-renowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie is featured on three pieces; other performers include Marder and Becker; actors Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, and Mathieu Amalric; Carolina Santana, Arthur H., and Martha Wainwright. “With its immersive sound design and understated storytelling," says Pitchfork.

Jeremy Denk is on 30 Bach: The Goldberg Variations Podcast. Denk, who recorded the Goldberg Variations for Nonesuch in 2013, takes part in a discussion of the episode's focus, Variation 25, led by host Lowry Yankwich, who says: “Amidst the exuberance, love, and joy of the final variations, Variation 25 is what makes the Goldbergs honest. It’s the dark center of the piece, the 'black pearl.'" The episode closes with Denk performing the variation. You can hear it here. Denk recently performed Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, in a Cal Performances livestream; it's available to watch again through July 14.

Sound of Metal was the focus on the April 10 episode of the podcast Soundtracking with Edith Bowman. The guests on the episode are the film's star, Riz Ahmed; Darius Marder, the film's director; and Abraham Marder, who co-wrote the film with his Darius. Abraham Marder also scored the film with Nicolas Becker, who won an Academy Award for Best Sound. "It's an incredible film," says Bowman. You can hear the episode here.

Lake Street Dive, whose new album, Obviously, recently topped the Non-Commercial / Public Radio chart, could be heard in sessions for three such stations this past week. For The Current, 89.3FM out of Minneapolis/St. Paul, the band performed three songs from the new album, and Rachael Price and Akie Bermiss spoke with host Bill DeVille about the album and some tour bus memories. For WYCE in Grand Rapids the band performed two songs, and Mike Calabrese and Mike "McDuck" Olson spoke with WYCE music director Shane German. And for WNRN in Virginia, the band played two songs, and McDuck spoke with host Patrick Coman. You can watch the sessions here.

The Jazz Journalists Association has announced the 2021 JJA Jazz Awards nominations, including three for Rob Mazurek for the new Exploding Star Orchestra album, Dimensional Stardust; all four members of the RoundAgain quartet, Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade; performers on Pat Metheny's album From This Place, including Metheny, Linda May Han Oh, and Grégoire Maret; Jeff Parker for Suite for Max Brown; and Cécile McLorin Salvant, whose Nonesuch debut album is forthcoming.

Sam Amidon was the subject of a profile on PBS NewsHour Weekend. "Amidon has developed a shining reputation for taking something very old and making it sound brand new," says host Hari Sreenivasan. Amidon talks with special correspondent Tom Casciato about his career in music, from his earliest days immersed in the music of his performer parents to his 2020 self-titled album. You can watch their conversation and a new performance of the album track "Maggie" here.