Rostam is the guest on the latest episode of the Song Exploder podcast. He talks with host Hrishikesh Hirway about "Bike Dream," breaking down the music and lyrics of the track from his debut album, Half-Light, which is out Friday on Nonesuch Records. You can hear what he has to say below, where you can watch the lyric video for "Bike Dream" as well.

Mandolinist/singer Chris Thile and pianist Brad Mehldau begin a five-city US tour, performing songs from their 2017 debut duo album, Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau, at The Town Hall in New York City tonight. The duo is at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on Thursday, then heads to California this weekend for concerts at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles and Miner Auditorium at SFJAZZ, and a closing-night set at the Monterey Jazz Festival on Sunday.

Randy Newman begins a fall tour of the United States featuring music from his new album, Dark Matter, at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach tonight. The tour continues in New Jersey, upstate New York, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, before heading West to California, Oregon, and Washington. Newman has two sold-out shows at the Chicago Theatre in mid-October, then heads South to the Carolinas, Atlanta, and Florida, and will play in Austin in December.

The full line-up for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has been announced, and, as is often the case, featured among the performers are a number of artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal, including Emmylou Harris, Randy Newman, Conor Oberst, and Dan Auerbach. The free, annual outdoor music festival returns for the seventeenth year to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, and will take place October 6–8, 2017.

The Magnetic Fields conclude UK 50 Song Memoir tour … Devendra Banhart is in Brazil … Lake Street Dive concludes summer tour in Florida … k.d. lang continues Canadian Ingénue Redux Tour in the Maritimes … Conor Oberst brings Salutations to the Midwest … and more …

Rostam gives a quick look inside the vinyl package of his debut album, Half-Light, out next week, in a new video here. The vinyl includes the album on two discs and a fold-out poster with the album art on one side and handwritten lyrics on the other. Nonesuch Store pre-orders also come with an additional, limited-edition, autographed print and instant-downloads of six album tracks, including the just-released title track.

Rostam has shared the title track to his debut album, Half-Light, due September 15 on Nonesuch. You can watch a lyric video for the new track here. The track is available to download now with pre-orders of Half-Light, along with five previously released album tracks. Rostam will mark the album's release with events at Amoeba Hollywood and Seattle's Easy Street Records, and in concert at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Offa Rex (Olivia Chaney and The Decemberists) was featured on PBS NewsHour. Chaney and The Decemberists' Colin Meloy discuss the origins of the songs on the group's debut album, The Queen of Hearts, and the different perspectives the artists brought to them. "I think that was the beauty of the project," says Chaney; "we came from different cultures and different relationships to the history of the music." You can watch the interview and an excerpt from Offa Rex's performance of "The Old Churchyard" at the Newport Folk Festival here.

Randy Newman has added shows in the Netherlands, France, and Belgium to his previously announced European tour in early 2018 featuring music from his new album, Dark Matter. The new dates—with stops in Paris, Amsterdam, Groningen, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht, Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent—are part of the previously announced tour that includes stops in the UK, Ireland, and Germany in February and March.

Robert Plant has released a new song, "Bones of Saints," from his forthcoming album, Carry Fire, due October 13. The song is available to download now with pre-orders of the album, along with the recently released opening track, "The May Queen." Watch the "Bones of Saints" lyric video here.

Lake Street Dive kicks off final week of US summer tour … Sam Amidon is in Switzerland … Devendra Banhart begins South American tour … Emmylou Harris performs in Virginia … Kronos Quartet is in Singapore … k.d. lang continues Ingénue Redux Tour in Québec … The Magnetic Fields bring 50 Song Memoir to Bristol, Liverpool … Conor Oberst plays Pacific Northwest … and more …

Conor Oberst, with the Felice Brothers as his backing band, has returned to North America to begin the next leg of his Salutations tour. They perform a sold-out show at The Wild Buffalo in Bellingham, WA, Friday, followed by shows in Seattle, Portland, Milwaukee, Chicago, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and more over the next few weeks. The tour picks up again in October with stops back West and across the South.