The Low Anthem, fresh off a two-week tour across the American Midwest with The Avett Brothers, kicks off its first headlining tour of the States with not one but two shows in Washington, DC, tonight. First up is an early show at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, part of the Center's series of free live performances. The show will be webcast live, starting at 6 PM ET, at kennedy-center.org. Later tonight, the band will take the stage at DC's famed 9:30 Club with Vandaveer opening. For more information on these and dates on The Low Anthem's spring tour, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

The Washington City Paper's Steve Kolowich previews tonight's shows with a look at the band's fondness for an eclectic array of instruments and sounds. That "eclecticism seems to be working for The Low Anthem," says Kolowich, who spoke with band members Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky about their Nonesuch debut album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, and the forthcoming follow-up. You'll find it at washingtoncitypaper.com.

The Washington Examiner's Nancy Dunham says of Oh My God, Charlie Darwin that "critics were rightfully awed by the elegant, intricate stylings of the songs" on the album. She spoke with Prystowsky about touring and the positive effects it has had on the band's sound as it prepares its next album. "We have been on the road and touring together so much," says Prystowsky, "that our band's sound is more closely knit than it has ever been." Read more at washingtonexaminer.com.

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The band begins its epic five-performance run at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas, a week from today with an afternoon stint at the Paste magazine party at the Galaxy Room, followed by the official Rolling Stone showcase at Beauty Bar Ballroom at the Palm Door. The succeeding days bring the HearYA Day Party, an official SXSW showcase at St. David's Sanctuary, and a SX San Jose performance at the Hotel San Jose to close things out.

Spinner is covering the whole festival and has already published an interview with Ben Knox Miller in the lead-up to the SXSW events, in which he discusses his favorite instruments among the many the group plays; the band's origins; the story behind the video for the song "Charlie Darwin" (which you can watch at nonesuch.com/media); and the ins and outs of touring. Spinner's Jesse Ship prefaces the interview by saying: "The Low Anthem could be one of the most diverse bands on today's folk rock circuit." Read the interview at spinner.com.

In a separate article for Spinner, contributor Justin Jacobs explores how Oh My God, Charlie Darwin has "pushed the band to the forefront of the burgeoning indie-folk scene," and looks ahead to the forthcoming album, which the band recorded in the cavernous space of a former pasta sauce factory prior to the tour with the Avetts. "The sound was unbelievable," Miller says, and the album they created there "sounds like the space it was recorded in." You'll find that article at spinner.com as well.

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The latest two episodes of the band's Trala-lala Radio Hour show on WOXY, themed "Modern Hymnals" and "Being & Nothingness," respectively, are streaming online now at woxy.com.