Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig brought her solo project, Daughter of Swords, to the Paste Studio Austin live from the Riverview Bungalows during SXSW. She performed three songs: "Gem," the first music released from the debut Daughter of Swords album, due later this year on Nonesuch; "Grasses," another of her songs; and the shape-note tune "What Wondrous Love Is This." She also talks a bit about the tarot-card origins of the band name and working with producer Nick Sanborn of Sylvan Esso on the forthcoming album. You can watch the session here.

The Black Keys have confirmed an extensive, thirty-one-date arena tour of North America. The "Let's Rock" Tour will hit cities including Chicago, Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and Austin. Special guests Modest Mouse will provide support on all dates, and Shannon & The Clams, *repeat repeat, and Jessy Wilson will each open select shows on the tour. The band also headlines 2019's Life Is Beautiful festival in Las Vegas on September 21.

Punch Brothers begin a US tour in Ithaca, NY, on Thursday, with label mate Gabriel Kahane joining as special guest along the way for all but two festival dates. The tour, featuring music from its Grammy-winning album All Ashore, includes shows all along the East Coast and into the Midwest, culminating at the Savannah Music Festival on March 30. Punch Brothers also have a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall in May with Nickel Creek and festival sets at Big Ears, Savannah, Spoleto, Telluride, and RockyGrass ahead. Gabriel Kahane is also at Big Ears and The Kennedy Center this month, and heads to Europe in April.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi spoke with RTÉ Lyric FM's Culture File about their current tour of Ireland, the many instruments they've brought along, and the repertoire they're performing, including some classical tunes that Giddens has adapted for the folk idiom. Hear the conversation here.

Mountain Man resumes its first US tour in six years in Texas this week, with sets at South x San José in Austin today and Willie Nelson's Luck Reunion on Thursday, and a headline concert at the Heights Theater in Houston on Saturday. The trio takes music from its new album, Magic Ship, to venues across the country this spring and festivals including Big Ears next week and Newport Folk and Pickathon this summer. 

The Philharmonie de Paris has announced its 2019–20 season, and featured among the performers taking the esteemed venue's stages are a number of artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal, including Laurie Anderson, Rokia Traoré, Kronos Quartet, and Pat Metheny, as well as works by Steve Reich.

In celebration of International Women's Day and Women's History Month, we're listening to our updated playlist of music performed and written by some of the women who inspire us at Nonesuch every day, including Laurie Anderson, Olivia Chaney, Daughter of Swords, Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris, Lianne La Havas, Lake Street Dive, k.d. lang, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Natalie Merchant, Joni Mitchell, Gaby Moreno, Mountain Man, Caroline Shaw, The Staves, Rokia Traoré, Yola, and others.

Chris Thile hosts Live From Here from Carnegie Hall in NYC … John Adams’s new piano concerto is performed by LA Phil … Tyondai Braxton is in Berlin … Olivia Chaney continues UK tour in Southampton … Jeremy Denk concludes tour with Academy of St Martin in the Fields … Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi tour Ireland … Kronos Quartet is in Poland … Gaby Moreno tours Australia … Rokia Traoré performs in France …

The Black Keys return with the song "Lo/Hi," the first new music from the band since its 2014 album, Turn Blue. "Lo/Hi" was written and produced by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, and recorded at Nashville's Easy Eye Sound studio. Hear it here.

Daughter of Swords, the solo project of Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, has released the track "Gem," the first peek into her solo output. The song is the first music from the debut Daughter of Swords album, due later this year on Nonesuch. While album details are still to come, "Gem" can be downloaded on iTunes now and heard streaming here. Daughter of Swords will open for Sylvan Esso at NYC's Beacon Theatre in November.

Chris Thile is the guest on NPR's The Thistle & Shamrock. He talks about bringing Live From Here to Carnegie Hall this Saturday for the hall’s Migrations: The Making of America festival, and, says host Fiona Ritchie, he explores "how his music traces his roots into Scots and Irish traditional music, and like all American music has been enriched by the movements of people, learning, sharing, and exchanging with one another."

Kronos Quartet and Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA) will present its fifth-annual, three-day hometown music festival, Kronos Festival 2019, at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, May 30–June 1. This year, the festival highlights the voices of singers, storytellers, and activists over three evening concerts—including one with Nonesuch label mate Sam Amidon—a Saturday morning family concert, and Kronos Labs, free public events that are new this year.