The Low Anthem and Carolina Chocolate Drops have been selected to perform as part of Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook, which returns in January for its 13th season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 16 nights of pop, folk, cabaret, country, rock, and show tunes, the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today’s most dynamic songwriting.

The Low Anthem will play the second show of the season, on January 13; Carolina Chocolate Drops perform on February 2. The shows take place in the spectacular Allen Room of Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Allen Room, located on the southwest corner of Central Park, offers spectacular views of the Park and the Manhattan skyline and an unbeatable backdrop for the performers.

News of the American Songbook performances comes as The Low Anthem prepares to embark on a US tour with Emmylou Harris in November, followed in short order by a series of dates in December with none other than Carolina Chocolate Drops. The Chocolate Drops are off to tour Europe next month, starting with a show at London's famed Union Chapel on November 8. For more on these and other upcoming performances, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

Among the other highlights of the 2011 American Songbook season are a performance by Broadway star Raύl Esparza, who is featured on the 2007 Nonesuch cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's Company, and a multi-artist tribute to the music of George and Ira Gershwin.

Tickets for the 2011 season go on sale November 1, 2010, at Lincoln Center’s website americansongbook.org. Tickets for The Friends of Lincoln Center go on sale today for six days prior to the public sale.

Since it was launched in 1998, American Songbook has been dedicated to celebrating the extraordinary achievements of the popular American songwriter from the turn of the 20th century to the present day. Spanning all styles and genres from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway to the eclecticism of today’s songwriters working in pop, cabaret, rock, folk and country, American Songbook traces the history and charts the course of the American song from its past and current forms to its future direction.

Among the artists who have appeared on the American Songbook series are Fred Hersch,  k.d. lang, Audra McDonald, Punch Brothers, and The Magnetic Fields. The series has also presented concerts highlighting the music of composers and lyricists such as Leonard Bernstein, Ricky Ian Gordon, Adam Guettel, Duncan Sheik, and Sondheim.