"Here's a video dedicated to a great world leader," Randy Newman says of his new video. "I hope all of you like it. I know he will." You can watch it here.

Chris Thile spoke with PBS NewsHour about his new role as host of A Prairie Home Companion. "I’m obsessed with the good things that people make to give to one another," Thile says. "This show is a place, has been one of America’s most consistent sources of good things for 40 years. And I feel like it’s imperative that it continue." Mike Olson of Lake Street Dive, which was a musical guest on Thile's first show as host, tells PBS: "The desire to have a vinyl record and the desire to listen to a variety show and these kinds of things goes beyond nostalgia. And that’s a very visceral experience. And there’s something I think directly transferable to a show like this." Watch the piece here.

Devendra Banhart took the Marketplace Quiz, answering the public radio show's questions and offering insight in his own inimitable way. "It's okay not to know, and it's okay to ask for help," Banhart says when asked what advice he wished someone had given him before he started his career, advice he doesn't feel he took at the time. "I feel like it was all about 'No, I know, I know, I know, and I don't need anyone's help. I need to prove I can be independent.' But that isn't really how it works and you definitely don't know everything, and not only that, but it's okay not to know everything, and asking for help doesn't suddenly make you intrinsically dependent or co-dependent. It's a dance." You can hear the Quiz here.

Conor Oberst celebrated the release of his new album, Ruminations, by performing the record in its entirety at New York City's Housing Works Bookstore Cafe last Friday. The performance, co-presented by NPR Music's Bob Boilen and WFUV Radio's Rita Houston, was webcast live via NPR Music's Facebook page. You can now watch the full album set here via NPR Music. "Ruminations is one of Conor Oberst's most personal records," says Boilen, "a collection of brave, dark songs ... that are unmistakably moving and contain some of Oberst's best lyrics and imagery."

Confessions, a collaboration between the acclaimed American composer Nico Muhly and the Faroese singer/songwriter Teitur, is out now; the vinyl is due November 4. The two musicians began work on the project when Muhly was composer-in-residence at Muziekgebouw Eindhoven in the Netherlands. The songs' lyrics were inspired by or culled from video and commentary the pair found on YouTube. Confessions was recorded with Holland Baroque. Muhly and Teitur perform the album with New York Baroque Incorporated at (le) Poisson Rouge in NYC tonight.

Portuguese singer Mariza, who is currently touring North America with songs from her Nonesuch debut album, Mundo, was the guest on NPR's World Cafe yesterday. She spoke with host David Dye about Mundo and performed two songs from the album, "Rio de Mágoa" and "Saudade Solta," from what Dye calls a "triumphant" concert in Lisbon. Find out what Mariza has to say about her music and hear the performances here.

Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau tour Australia with new duo album, Nearness … John Adams’s Scheherazade.2 is performed by Minnesota Orchestra, violinist Leila Josefowicz … Devendra Banhart plays California's Beach Goth fest … Jeremy Denk tours with Florida Orchestra … Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant close out Lampedusa tour in DC … Mariza plays sold-out Massachusetts show … Natalie Merchant gives benefit concert in upstate NY … Nico Muhly, Teitur perform Confessions in NYC … Chris Thile hosts A Prairie Home Companion in Saint Paul … and more …

Lake Street Dive, which plays the Iceland Airwaves Festival and tours the UK and Ireland in November, will return to Australia and New Zealand to tour in December and January. The band will be taking in Woodford Folk Festival, Summer of Soul, and Fremantle Arts Centre New Year's Day Concert and will headline dates in Melbourne, Auckland, Adelaide, and more. 

Conor Oberst performed his new album, Ruminations, in its entirety at NYC's Housing Works Bookstore Cafe last Friday; the performance was webcast live via NPR Music's Facebook page. You can now watch three songs from the set: "Tachycardia," "Gossamer Thin," and "A Little Uncanny." "Ruminations is one of Conor Oberst's most personal records," says NPR Music's Bob Boilen, "a collection of brave, dark songs ... that are unmistakably moving and contain some of Oberst's best lyrics and imagery." NPR Music will soon post the full concert, but these three tracks "establish the sound of the record, spare and lyric-based. These are the sounds of hard moments, elevated through beautiful music and a true poetic touch." Boilen includes "A Little Uncanny" on the latest episode of All Songs Considered. Ruminations is BBC Radio 6 Music's Album of the Day today.

The Magnetic Fields announce their 2016–2017 US tour schedule. They will be performing across the country in support of their forthcoming multi-disc album, 50 Song Memoir, due spring 2017 on Nonesuch. The concerts will premiere at Mass MoCA in November 2016, then head to Brooklyn Academy of Music in December, followed by stops in Philadelphia, DC, Durham, Knoxville, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Oakland, Portland, and Seattle in the spring of 2017 (Boston performances are still to be announced).

Devendra Banhart spoke with NPR's All Things Considered on Saturday about his songwriting, from his new album, Ape in Pink Marble, all the way back to the first song he wrote and performed for his family at nine years old. "Banhart has made a name for himself as something of a musical sponge, drawing on traditions from blues to salsa to psychedelic folk," says host Lakshmi Singh. "But he'll be the first to tell you that his work is as much about writing, acting and storytelling as it is about the music itself." Hear the conversation here.

Conor Oberst's new solo album, Ruminations, is out now. He will perform the record in its entirety for an audience of contest winners at New York City's Housing Works Bookstore Cafe tonight. The performance will be simultaneously webcast via NPR Music's Facebook page. Oberst will be the musical guest on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 24. He resumes his tour in his hometown of Omaha on November 3, followed by stops in Nashville, Toronto, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles; the European tour begins in January.