The SXSW Music Conference gets under way in Austin, Texas, this week as thousands of bands and music lovers from all over the world descend on the live-music capital for several days of non-stop music making. Nonesuch artists will be well represented among them, with a dozen performances to come from Emmylou Harris, Jessica Lea Mayfield (one of SPIN's 35 Must-Hear Acts at SXSW), and Wanda Jackson. Many of the events will be broadcast live on the radio and online for fans around the world to hear.

Emmylou Harris's Hard Bargain, due out April 26, is now available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with an exclusive manuscript lyric sheet of the album's opening track, "The Road," a number of which will be autographed by Harris. On "The Road," Harris looks back on the formative time she spent with Gram Parsons at the beginning of her career. In April, Harris will perform at special intimate shows in Los Angeles and New York and on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Hard Bargain, the new album from Emmylou Harris, will be released April 26 on Nonesuch Records. The album comprises 11 new songs by Harris as well as two covers and was produced by Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, Patty Griffin). A deluxe edition, which includes a DVD featuring performances and interviews, will also be available. In celebration of the release, Harris will embark on a series of special performances including a showcase at SXSW.

Two shows will be held in honor of the late Kate McGarrigle at New York's Town Hall on May 12 and 13, featuring performances by Martha and Rufus Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, and others. Kate McGarrigle lost her battle with a rare form of cancer known as sarcoma in January of 2010, age 63. All profits from the concerts will go toward the creation of the Kate McGarrigle Sarcoma Research Fund.

Emmylou Harris, Kronos Quartet, and Philip Glass will be among the diverse array of artists performing at the Sydney Festival in Australia this January. Harris will give three shows, including a free set at the Festival First Night, marking her first time performing in Australia in a decade. Kronos gives the Australian premiere of A Chinese Home, with pipa virtuoso Wu Man, and performs Glass's Dracula with the composer. Glass also offers an evening of his chamber music with cellist Wendy Sutter. The Black Keys will be in Australia for the Big Day Out tour plus several newly added side shows.

The Low Anthem has just added another date to their rapidly growing tour calendar: opening for Iron & Wine at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on January 26. The band joins Emmylou Harris at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh tomorrow to launch a ten-city tour of the US East Coast. The Low Anthem will join the Carolina Chocolate Drops for six dates in December and will play the Allen Room in New York as part of Lincoln Center's 2011 American Songbook series in January.

San Francisco's Golden Gate Park was teeming with hundreds of thousands of music fans this past weekend for the 10th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. Among the artists contributing to what Rolling Stone called an "eclectic and vital" event were T Bone Burnett, Punch Brothers, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Randy Newman, and Emmylou Harris. You can see several photos from their performances at nonesuch.com/media.

The Americana Music Festival & Conference kicked off yesterday in Nashville. The festival's capstone event, the Americana Honors & Awards show, takes place tonight at the famed Ryman Auditorium and will be streaming live online at NPR.org. The Carolina Chocolate Drops are up for Duo/Group of the Year and will perform; Emmylou Harris will perform as well, as will Wanda Jackson, who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Emmylou Harris and The Low Anthem are coming together to tour the US East Coast this fall. Starting at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh on November 9 and concluding at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina, on November 21, The Low Anthem will open for Harris, with stops along the way in Buffalo and Albany, New York; Northampton, Massachusetts; Wilmington, Delaware; Roanoke and Charlottesville, Virginia; and Frederick, Maryland.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free outdoor music festival held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with a stellar line-up of performers that includes a number of Nonesuch artists—Carolina Chocolate Drops, Randy Newman, Emmylou Harris, and T Bone Burnett—along with several artists familiar to fans of Nonesuch. The festival will be held October 1–3.

Emmylou Harris was among the stellar line-up of performers who gathered to celebrate the music of Paul McCartney at the White House early last month as President Obama presented McCartney with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress. The event, also featuring performances from McCartney and Stevie Wonder (the first recipient of the award) among others, will be broadcast on PBS stations tonight.

Emmylou Harris is scheduled to perform at an all-star tribute to Paul McCartney at the White House today. The concert will take place in the East Room of the White House, where McCartney will receive the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress. Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Jack White, and others are due to perform as well. The event will air on PBS July 28.