The Low Anthem's headlining tour of the US is in full swing again following a five-concert run at SXSW in Austin last week. The band performs along the West Coast, starting at Largo in LA. Today is release day for the special limited-edition vinyl 7-inch single of "Charlie Darwin," featuring the Oh My God, Charlie Darwin track plus new and unreleased material. The LAist says the album "spans the gamut of everything you'd want in Americana inspired music." The San Jose Mercury News calls it "hauntingly beautiful."

The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a smash hit at SXSW last week, have returned to their home state of North Carolina and to their roots: the Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, North Carolina, where the band first met back in 2005. The Drops will join in on workshops and performances all week. Rolling Stone says that, as a result of their SXSW performances, "Their newgrass cover of 'Hit ‘Em Up Style' has been upgraded from 'must hear' to 'must experience.'"

Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday yesterday was celebrated in a big way. The momentous occasion is being acknowledged in many ways, not least in the Nonesuch Store, where the complete catalog of Sondheim CDs is 30% off all week. Last night, at the Roundabout Theater Company's Sondheim 80 gala, it was announced that the Henry Miller’s Theatre on West 43rd Street will be renamed the Stephen Sondheim.

Stephen Sondheim celebrates his 80th birthday today. Nonesuch Records wishes the composer a very happy birthday and is celebrating all week, taking 30% off every Sondheim CD in the Nonesuch Store, from the forthcoming cast recording of the current Broadway revival of A Little Night Music all the way back to Mandy Patinkin's 1995 album Oscar & Steve; from the first musical Sondheim ever wrote, Saturday Night, to his very latest, Road Show.

When Steve Reich turned 70 in 2006, the world's major concert halls celebrated with retrospectives of the composer's work. Included among them was the Barbican in London, which has just announced plans to celebrate Reich's 75th birthday next year with Reverberations: The Influence of Steve Reich, pairing four London premieres of new Reich compositions with music written by composers who have followed in his footsteps.

Wilco begins its 16-concert run of Eastern US cities at The Filmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater tonight. The concerts, presented as An Evening with Wilco, will feature extended, varied sets exploring material from each of the sextet’s seven studio albums. You can relive the live experience with the 2005 live album Kicking Television in a new deluxe, four-LP box set, due out April 17 and now available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store.

Tune in to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight to catch k.d. lang and her band perform a song from her recent career retrospective, Recollection. "If an artist as great as Tony Bennett can refer to her as the best singer since Judy Garland," says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "you know she's got something special going on." Liz Smith calls the new album "sensational," explaining: "k.d. lets her art speak for itself, and it’s shouting mightily on Recollection. This is a masterpiece."

The Black Keys, due to release their sixth full-length album, Brothers, May 18 on Nonesuch, have added the album track "Tighten Up" to their MySpace page. The band reunited with producer Danger Mouse for this track and wrote, performed, and produced the rest of the album. Pitchfork notes "the soulful bounce of organ and guitar interplay" on the new tune. BBC Radio 1 says the song "adds a little sweet soul to their dynamic blues."

The Low Anthem, Carolina Chocolate Drops continue confab at SXSW ... John Adams is in Paris for Cité de la Musique Forum John Adams ... Laurie Anderson airs Amelia Earhart in Basel ... Louis Andriessen gets honorary doctorate in Birmingham ... Kronos closes Carnegie Hall Perspectives with Young Artists Concert ... The Magnetic Fields bring Realism to the UK ... Brad Mehldau solos in Netherlands ... Pat Metheny plays Orchestrion in Italy ... Signature Theatre celebrates Sondheim's 80th ... Chris Thile performs Mandolin Concerto in Delaware ... Allen Toussaint plays Rome ... Dawn Upshaw, Emanuel Ax perform in San Francisco ... and more ...

Natalie Merchant, whose Nonesuch debut album, Leave Your Sleep, is due out on April 13, will perform songs from the album at the PEN World Voices Festival's PEN Cabaret at New York City's (Le) Poisson Rouge on May 1. This year's PEN Cabaret will also include appearances by Booker Prize winner Ben Okri, Chilean story master Ariel Dorfman, and Georgian writer and performance artist Irakli Kakabadze. The PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature takes place April 26 through May 2.

Charlie Gillett, the BBC Radio 3 and BBC World Service presenter, has died, after a long illness, at the age of 68. Gillett was an ardent and longtime champion of many Nonesuch artists, helping to bring world music performers like Youssou N'Dour and Rokia Traoré to a wider audience. Traoré will appear on the BBC World Service program The Strand tonight to remember Gillett and reflect on his legacy.