Rhiannon Giddens and Emmylou Harris will receive honorary degrees from the University of North Carolina Greensboro during the Commencement ceremony in May. Both artists attended UNCG. "We are so proud to honor Rhiannon Giddens and Emmylou Harris not only for their amazing accomplishments and the indelible impact they have had on music, but for the way they have embodied UNC Greensboro’s motto of service,” said Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. “I hope that all of our students at UNCG will follow their example as they begin their own journeys and chase their own dreams.”

Early James premiered the music video for “It Doesn't Matter Now,” a new song off his upcoming debut album, Singing for My Supper, via Billboard. "The subject matter for this song is pretty heavy," says director Tim Hardiman. "I felt there needed to be some aggression on screen but didn't want it to play out like a typical break up. For some reason, Sideshow Bennie, whom I worked with several years ago, popped in my head. I looked him up and learned he was now working with a sidekick, Anna Fiametta. When I read how they met, I thought it was a funny story that would fit the song." You can watch the video here.

Yola was on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, performing "I Don't Wanna Lie," from the deluxe digital edition of her debut album, Walk Through Fire. You can watch it here. She heads to Los Angeles for the Grammys, performing at the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to Aerosmith on Friday, the AmericanaFest Pre-Grammy Salute to Willie Nelson on Saturday, and the Grammy Premiere Ceremony on Sunday afternoon. Yola has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist.

Vagabon has announced a headlining spring tour of North America. The tour begins at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia on March 31 and continues through May 17, culminating with a concert at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana, California. Vagabon stopped by WFUV in NYC to perform two songs from her self-titled new album, "Every Woman" and "In a Bind," for FUV Live, which you can watch here.

Yola recently stopped by Minnesota Public Radio's The Current to perform three songs from her multiple Grammy-nominated album, Walk Through Fire—the title track, "Ride Out in the Country," and "Shady Grove"—and talk with host Bill DeVille about her life and music. You can watch it here. And tune in to see her on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tonight.

Yola stopped by NPR to perform a Tiny Desk Concert of songs from her debut album, Walk Through Fire—"Faraway Look" and "It Ain't Easier"—as well as "I Don't Wanna Lie," from the deluxe digital edition of the album released in December. "Yola's presence behind the Tiny Desk was commanding, her energy captivating and, oh, that voice!" exclaims host Bob Boilen. She "is front-and-center and up for four Grammy awards in 2020, including Best New Artist. At this Tiny Desk Concert, you'll hear why." You can do so here.

The original cast recording for Dave Malloy's musical Octet—recorded live during Signature Theatre's world premiere production—is now available on CD, following its digital release late last year. Featuring a score for an a cappella chamber choir and an original libretto inspired by internet comment boards, scientific debates, religious texts, and Sufi poetry, Octet explores addiction and nihilism within the messy context of twenty-first century technology. "The most original and topical musical of the year," says the New York Times; "the sublime a cappella chamber opera is a portrait in song of perhaps the greatest David and Goliath struggle of our time."

Jeff Parker has released a new track, "Gnarciss," from his forthcoming album, Suite for Max Brown, out next Friday, January 24, on International Anthem and Nonesuch Records. The song is an interpretation of Joe Henderson's "Black Narcissus" and follows the recent release of another track, "Go Away," one of nine Parker originals on the album. You can hear "Gnarciss" here.

Joshua Rifkin's 1970 Nonesuch recording of Scott Joplin piano rags—which ignited a national passion for ragtime jazz and, wrote New York magazine, "created, almost alone, the Scott Joplin revival" of the early '70s—has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Recordings in the Hall of Fame are at least twenty-five years old and exhibit qualitative or historical significance, determined by a committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of the recording arts, with final approval by the Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees.

Mountain Man holds a three-day Cosmic Prom in Durham ... John Adams leads LA Phil in Naive and Sentimental Music ... Laurie Anderson is in Toronto ... The Black Keys play Vegas ... Jeremy Denk plays Ives in Durham ... Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi perform in his hometown of Turin ... Kronos Quartet has three concerts in Arizona ... Gaby Moreno is in Nashville ... Mandy Patinkin tours South ... Joshua Redman is in Germany, Netherlands ... Yola tours US Midwest ... 

To coincide with the start of Devendra Banhart’s European tour next week, a remix of his “Love Song” by Helado Negro was released on Nonesuch Records today. Watch a video for the song here. The original version of “Love Song” appears on Banhart’s latest studio album, Ma. Helado Negro, aka Roberto Carlos Lange, says, “Music always makes me feel like you travel and hear, feel, and see where the sounds are from and take you. Devendra’s ‘Love Song’ does this. It haunts you with love.” He continues, “All of this album does this; it always makes you feel comforted and you’re never a stranger in the places he takes you. The remix I made is me as a witness to these sounds floating through this haunted feeling of love.”

Sam Gendel’s Nonesuch Records debut, Satin Doll, will be released March 13. Recorded in Gendel’s native California, Satin Doll is a futuristic homage to historical jazz. The album features three musicians—Gendel on saxophone, Gabe Noel on electric bass, and Philippe Melanson on electronic percussion—engaging in simultaneous synchronized sonic construction/deconstruction of jazz standards, including songs by Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and Duke Ellington. A Gendel-produced video for the album track “Afro Blue” by Mongo Santamaria may be seen here.