Rokia Traoré will be a guest on BBC Two's Later ... with Jools Holland this week, performing songs from her new album, Beautiful Africa. She and her band play "Kouma" on Tuesday's live show and "Mélancolie" and "Tuit Tuit" on Friday's show. This week's programs also include performances from Phoenix, Eric Church, Laura Marling, Petula Clark, and more. Tuesday morning, Traoré will discuss the album and perform "Ka Moun Kè" on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

Congratulations to k.d. lang, who was officially inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame last night at the 42nd Annual Juno Awards hosted by Michael Bublé. Fellow Canadian icon Anne Murray inducted lang into the Hall of Fame. "I think the fact that I'm standing here receiving this award says more about Canada than it does about me, because only in Canada could there be such a freak as k.d. lang receiving this award," lang said in her acceptance speech. "So I am here to tell you, my friends and my countrymen, that it is OK to be you. It is OK to let your freak flags fly."

Iron and Wine, aka singer-songwriter Sam Beam, spoke with the New York Times about the evolution of his songwriting, culminating in the just-released album Ghost on Ghost, his Nonesuch debut. "Some of the tracks on the new LP are built over jazz rhythms and walking bass lines; others are constructed over funk beats," writes the Times' James C. McKinley. "The songs feature Motown chord progressions with R&B horn lines, string parts and rich layered backup harmonies reminiscent of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s late arrangements. One track, 'Lover’s Revolution,' is a conscious nod to Charles Mingus."

Happy Record Store Day! Today is the sixth annual celebration of the unique culture surrounding independently owned record stores around the world, and a number of Nonesuch Records artists have special, limited-edition vinyl releases out now to mark the occasion: The Black Keys, Bombino, Iron and Wine, and Punch Brothers. These recordings are also available for a limited time in the Nonesuch Store.

Kronos Quartet and Laurie Anderson give the West Coast premiere of Anderson's Landfall at Stanford ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play festivals in Texas and North Carolina ... Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter tour Washington state ... Fatoumata Diawara traverses Texas to play iFest ... Dr. John is in Cleveland for Tri-C JazzFest ... Gidon Kremer joins Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra for three concerts ... Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau conclude their duo tour in Chicago and Austin ... Rokia Traoré concludes three-night Paris run ... and more ...

Randy Newman will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 28th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony taking place at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles tonight. Newman, who will be inducted by Don Henley, will also perform at the event with Jackson Browne and John Fogerty. The ceremony will be presented on HBO on Saturday, May 18, at 9 PM ET/PT.

Iron and Wine, whose new album, Ghost on Ghost, was released earlier this week, hit the SXSW music conference in Austin last month, performing at several official showcases throughout the city. One such set was at the KEXP Stage at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop, where singer-songwriter Sam Beam performed solo acoustic takes on songs from the new album and more. You can now watch the SXSW performances of "Grace for Saints and Ramblers" and "Winter Prayers" from Ghost on Ghost here.

Sara Watkins has unveiled the video for "You and Me," a song off her album Sun Midnight Sun. The video was directed by Russ Kendall of Kaleidoscope Pictures from the BYUtv series The Song That Changed My Life and premiered on CMT yesterday. "Sara Watkins lingers in a citrus orchard savoring a sweet memory for part of her latest video, 'You and Me," says CMT Edge. "The song ... features a gentle pop melody paired with Watkins’ breathy, restless vocals." Watch it here.

Iron and Wine makes its Nonesuch Records debut with today's North American release of Ghost on Ghost. The AP calls it "a wonderfully produced and assembled record, propelled with joyous momentum even on tracks with darker lyrics." The NY Daily News gives it four stars, citing its "gorgeous and glowing melodies," as does American Songwriter, which says the songs "sound absolutely sublime." In the UK, where the album is out on 4AD, Uncut also calls it "sublime ... a work of immense beauty and scale." Ghost on Ghost earns five stars from the Mail on Sunday, Independent on Sunday, and Daily Telegraph and four stars from Mojo, Independent, Observer, Guardian, and Metro, which calls it "a brilliantly written collection and an album of the year." 

The line-up for the 2013 Luminato Festival in Toronto has been announced, and included among this year’s performers are Bombino, Amadou & Mariam, Laurie Anderson, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. All of these artists will give free concerts in David Pecaut Square at the Hub of the Festival, which runs from June 14 to 23. Among the Luminato Festival’s other highlights will be a multi-artist, two-night tribute to Joni Mitchell at Massey Hall.

Punch Brothers’ five-song EP Ahoy!, previously released digitally and on CD, is now available on 10" vinyl. Recorded during the Nashville sessions for their critically acclaimed album Who’s Feeling Young Now?, these tracks also were produced by Jacquire King. The Ahoy! EP includes songs by Josh Ritter, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Punch Brothers, and Mclusky, along with one traditional tune, arranged by Punch Brothers.

Bombino's Nonesuch Records debut album, Nomad, has earned the top spot on the Billboard World Music album chart, landing at #1 in its first week of release. The album, produced by Dan Auerbach, has earned four stars in Rolling Stone. “Bombino’s style is raw, spacious, tuneful, deeply hypnotic and remarkably fluid—even when he’s shooting rapid-fire notes, the effect is like ripples gently unfurling in a pond," writes Rolling Stone's Will Hermes. “A perfect match of sound and soul, the set introduces a new guitar hero, and confirms Auerbach’s arrival as a roots-music producer to be reckoned with.”