As Jessica Lea Mayfield's tour with Justin Townes Earle continues through Valentine's Day, Pitchfork says her work has "the emotional force of the best country music and distinguishes her from other songwriters." On her new album, Tell Me, "Mayfield works to break free of her country confines and showcase her vocals in new, unexpected settings," says Pitchfork. Across the album's 11 tracks, Mayfield's songs prove "positively kaleidoscopic, both musically and emotionally." Scripps Howard gives the album four stars and calls Mayfield a "singularly talented singer."

The trailer for Howlin' for You, directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and featuring music by The Black Keys, which premiered on IMDB yesterday, seems to have gotten some notice. Pitchfork calls it "hilariously awesome," this "trailer for a so-bad-it's-insanely-good action film." They're not alone. "It's campy, it's cheesy and it's full of violence," says Billboard. "This is certainly a release we're howlin' for." Watch the trailer here. The Black Keys will be on The Tonight Show tonight; their album Brothers, on which "Howlin' for You" appears, is up for six Grammys on Sunday. They spoke about that with KROQ yesterday.

Wolf Trap, the National Park for the Performing Arts outside of Washington, DC, has announced is 2011 Summer Season. Included among the performers this summer at the Filene Center, Wolf Trap's outdoor amphitheater, are k.d. lang, Punch Brothers, and Gipsy Kings. The season will also include a performance of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd by the Wolf Trap Opera Company. Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 12.

IMDB has premiered a new film trailer for Howlin' for You, directed by Chris Marrs Piliero, starring a whole host of familiar faces, and featuring music by The Black Keys. "Alexa Wolff, a sexy assassin with a troubled past, unknowingly falls in love with the man who killed her father," writes the site in its description of Howlin' for You. "He is not her first love, though. Two other men came before. But they would not have her. Now, all grown up with an appetite for revenge, Alexa’s leaving a trail of bloody corpses and broken hearts in her wake." Check it out at imdb.com.

Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians will receive its first Scottish performance in a decade when conductor Thomas Adès leads the London Sinfonietta and Synergy Vocals in a performance of the piece at Glasgow's City Halls on Sunday. Reich spoke with BBC Radio 3's Robert Worby about his music and the inspiration behind the piece for a short film by the London Sinfonietta. Watch it here.

Jessica Lea Mayfield new album, Tell Me, was released yesterday to rave reviews. "[O]ur advance copy of Jessica Lea Mayfield’s Tell Me was one of the few things keeping us sane during this long, dark, miserable winter," raves American Songwriter, citing the album's "gorgeous vocals, breathtaking production and, most importantly, great songs." Says PopMatters: "Tell Me manages to maintain the beautifully busted feel of Mayfield’s breakout record, but also succeeds in a new and ambitious sonic landscape." She continues her tour with Justin Townes Earle this week.

Yesterday brought news of the addition of a number of new dates to Wanda Jackson's US tour, featuring music from her Third Man / Nonesuch Records debut, The Party Ain't Over, produced by Jack White. Now comes the release of a new video of Jackson and the Third Man Band, with Jack White on guitar, performing "Riot in Cell Block #9," recorded at the premiere album-release show on January 18 at Third Man's Music City studio. Watch it here.

Chris Thile makes his second appearance on The Travel Channel's The Traveler’s Guide to Life tonight. His travels brought him to Iowa last weekend to perform his Mandolin Concerto with the Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony. "Thile gave a lively and intense performance of his newly composed concerto," says the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, and a "sublime" encore of Bach. He was home in NYC to perform with guitarist Michael Daves last night and hits the road again with Punch Brothers this weekend. Banjoist Noam Pikelny recently spoke with the A.V. Club about the group's Grammy nominations, among many other things.

The Black Keys will perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this Friday night, February 11, on NBC, and on Conan the following Monday, February 14, on TBS. The two television appearances bookend another very important date for the band, namely the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, taking place this Sunday, Feburary 13, at which The Black Keys' latest Nonesuch album, Brothers, is up for six Grammys.

Jessica Lea Mayfield's Nonesuch debut album, Tell Me, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, is out today. The album makes the New York Times's Critics' Choice list of new CDs. "It’s refreshing," says the Boston Globe, "to see her blossom on her seductive new sophomore album." The LA Times says: "Her cool connects her to Patsy Cline; her haunted side recalls Gillian Welch." The AP calls it "a dark and moody album, full of delights throughout, and if it doesn't make Mayfield a star, that too will be heartbreaking." 

The Low Anthem's new album, Smart Flesh, is due out in just two weeks, on February 22. The album, the majority of which was recorded in a cavernous, vacant pasta sauce factory, touches on such themes as love and longing and, in one particular song, changing political winds. On that note, and to mark the centennial of Ronald Reagan's birth, the song—the evocatively titled "Hey, All You Hippies!"—is now streaming on the band's website. To hear how the two are linked, listen to the song at lowanthem.com. The Low Anthem begins its US tour in Washington, DC, on February 24.

Wanda Jackson kicked off her European tour, featuring music from her new album, The Party Ain't Over, over the weekend and continues through Germany and Austria before returning to the States for several shows later this month. Now comes word that Jackson will be extending her US tour with 14 more dates through March and April.