Jessica Lea Mayfield launches a late-summer US tour that will include headlining dates, summer festivals, a supporting set with John Prine, and a double bill with label mates Punch Brothers. The tour kicks off tonight when she headlines a show at Mohawk Place in Buffalo, New York, and continues with additional stops in upstate New York, Vermont, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois, and California. Consequence of Sound says that "seeing Mayfield live makes you understand her songs even better."

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free annual outdoor music festival held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, returns for its 11th run this September 30 through October 2. The line-up has now been announced and include four Nonesuch artists: perennial favorite Emmylou Harris, returning performers Punch Brothers and Jessica Lea Mayfield, and, making their Hardly Strictly debut, The Low Anthem.

Steve Reich performs at London's Royal Albert Hall tonight as part of an all-Reich program with Ensemble Modern for the BBC Proms. The concert, which marks the composer's 75th birthday year, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3. "His work using looped taped voices was not only original," writes the Guardian, "but created stunning, fluid sounds which still impress today ... In a Proms season that contains many treasures, Reich's performance ... stands out." MusicOMH gives Reich's forthcoming album four stars, calling its WTC 9/11 "a stark and fascinating addition to his oeuvre."

Laurie Anderson gives a free performance at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park Bandshell in NYC tonight for the Lincoln Center Out of Doors series. "Often imitated but never duplicated, Anderson is the beatific mother of downtown avant-garde performance art," says the Village Voice. "She practices the dying art of enchantment, insidiously propagating a politically charged message through trance-inducing electronic mantras." The concert also features fiddler/composer Todd Reynolds with Carolina Chocolate Drops beat boxer Adam Matta and Luminescent Orchestrii's Sxip Shirey. Time Out New York names the show a critics' pick.

Björk continues to roll out Biophilia with today's release of the "Virus" single and as a special feature on the Biophilia App, both available exclusively through iTunes. The app feature is part musical instrument, part sonic artwork, and part scientifically informed educational animation. SPIN calls "Virus" the album's "most intimate song yet," adding that "never has a song about human ailment sounded so seductive or beautiful." Björk discusses the project on the BBC World Service's The Strand. The two custom-made editions of the Biophilia album must be ordered by the end of the day this Thursday, August 11.

Stephen Sondheim has been named the recipient of the 2011 Chicago Tribune Literary Prize for lifetime achievement and will accept the award at the Chicago Humanities Festival in November. "'Writing' seems an inadequate word to describe what Stephen Sondheim has done," suggests the Tribune, "yet it is the breadth, impact and influence of his writing that have won him" the award. Marquette University has established the Stephen Sondheim Research Collection after acquiring a vast collection of materials relating to his works from a co-founder of The Sondheim Review.

Wanda Jackson, who has been busy touring North America this summer with a number of headlining dates and festival sets, launches a two-week, 10-city tour supporting Adele on the British phenom's North American tour. The pair perform at Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre tonight, followed by shows in Portland, Seattle, Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and St. Paul, Minnesota. Jackson continues her own headlining and festival tour next month.

The first recording of John Adams's Son of Chamber Symphony was released on Nonesuch earlier this year, performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, paired with his String Quartet, performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet. The Boston Globe says the former piece "has a madcap wit, an infectious rhythmic energy and vitality, and a beautifully wrought slow movement." The Detroit Free Press gives the album a perfect four stars, calling the latter piece "a major addition to the repertoire." The New Haven Advocate says it's "a first recording that seems likely to remain the benchmark."

Pat Metheny will be the guest on this week's episode of BBC Radio 2's Jamie Cullum show tonight. In this hour-long special, Metheny talks with Cullum about his career and its impact on the role of guitar in jazz. Metheny's new album, What's It All About, earns a perfect five stars in BBC Music magazine, which says: "Laymen and players alike will love this personal solo album from their personable hero."

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free annual outdoor music festival held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, returns for its 11th run this September 30 through October 2. The festival's organizers are announcing the line-up through a series of music medleys. Among the already-announced performers are Punch Brothers, who performed last year, and Emmylou Harris, who will have performed at each of the festival's 11 years. Just added to the festival roster: The Low Anthem.

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, is due out in just over three weeks, on August 30. The album track "El Corrido de Jesse James," which uses the Mexican corrido tradition to comment on the Wall Street bailout, was featured on NPR's All Things Considered yesterday in a look at some favorite new sounds. NPR contributor Betto Arcos says of Cooder: "He's able to discern and bring together musical styles like no one else can."

James Farm plays the Newport Jazz Fest, webcast live on NPR Music ... Laurie Anderson celebrates Shel Silverstein in NYC's Central Park ... The Black Keys inaugurate the Kanrocksas Music Fest ... Carolina Chocolate Drops open for Dylan, celebrate the Carter Family ... Wanda Jackson, k.d. lang play Edmonton Folk Fest ... Randy Newman concludes Australia tour in Sydney ... Punch Brothers play outdoors in MA ... Allen Toussaint joins Rita Coolidge at Telluride Jazz Celebration ... Sara Watkins joins the Decemberists at the Ryman ... and more ...