NPR Music has announced its Favorite Songs of 2015, including tracks from eight Nonesuch Records releases from The Arcs, Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Kronos Quartet, Lianne La Havas, Punch Brothers, St Germain, and The Staves, as well as Mbonwana Star's World Circuit release. These are across a broad range of genre lists, including rock, folk/Americana, country, electronic, world, and classical. You can hear them here.

Congratulations to all of the Nonesuch Records artists who were nominated for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, announced earlier today by The Recording Academy: Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Lianne La Havas, Punch Brothers, and Joshua Redman. Together, these artists' Nonesuch releases have garnered a total of eight nominations this year. The 58th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on Monday, February 15, 2016, in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS.

Punch Brothers begin a three-week US tour at Overture Hall in Madison, Wisconsin, tonight. The shows feature songs from the band's latest album, The Phosphorescent Blues, and new EP, The Wireless, sung around a single mic. The tour stops in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina, culminating with two nights at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. Chris Thile closes out the year in duo shows with label mate Brad Mehldau in NYC and upstate New York.

Today marks the release of Punch Brothers' five-song EP The Wireless. The tracks were recorded during sessions for the band's T Bone Burnett–produced album The Phosphorescent Blues, which was released earlier this year to critical acclaim, and four of the tracks were included on the vinyl edition of the album. The Chicago Tribune called the album "a typical genre-busting melange of avant-roots music that fuses jazz instrumental chops and acoustic earthiness, Beach Boys harmonies and Debussy string dances, slinky acoustic rock songs and blues laments." The Wireless comprises four original compositions, including a song with words by Gabriel Kahane entitled "Sleek White Baby," plus a cover of Elliott Smith's "Clementine."

Punch Brothers' five-song EP The Wireless is due from Nonesuch Records on November 20, 2015. The tracks were recorded during sessions for the band's T Bone Burnett–produced album The Phosphorescent Blues, and four of the tracks were included on the vinyl edition of the album. The Wireless comprises four original compositions, including a song with words by Gabriel Kahane entitled "Sleek White Baby," plus a cover of Elliott Smith's "Clementine." Pre-order to download "Sleek White Baby" now. A behind-the-scenes video from that song's recording, with a cameo from the band's friend actor/musician Ed Helms, can be seen here.

Punch Brothers were the guests on an encore broadcast of NPR's World Cafe yesterday. The show first aired in February, following the release of the group's T Bone Burnett–produced album The Phosphorescent Blues. The band spoke with host David Dye about the album, which Dye says "sounds great," and performs three tracks: "I Blew It Off," "Magnet," and "Boll Weevil." You can hear the session here.

The full line-up for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has been announced, and, as is often the case, featured among the performers are a number of artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, Punch Brothers, Conor Oberst, and Kronos Quartet. The free, annual outdoor music festival returns for the 15th year to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, in the Hellman Hollow, and will take place October 2–4, 2015.

Punch Brothers have announced a number of new US tour dates for this December, starting at Overture Hall in Madison, WI, on December 1, and making their way across the Midwest, over to the Northeast and Southeast. Gabriel Kahane will again join the band for the first two weeks, after which Anaïs Mitchell will join for several shows. A limited ticket pre-sale begins Tuesday, September 15, at PunchBrothers.com; general on-sale begins this Friday, September 18. The current leg of the tour, which kicks off Friday at FreshGrass Festival, now includes a set at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco.

Congratulations to Punch Brothers, nominated for two International Bluegrass Music Awards: Instrumental Group of the Year and Best Graphic Design for a Recorded Project for their new album, The Phosphorescent Blues. Results will be revealed at the IBMAs on October 1 in Raleigh, NC, broadcast live on SiriusXM's Bluegrass Junction. Earlier this year, Punch Brothers were nominated for Best Duo/Group of the Year in the Americana Honors & Awards, which will be held in Nashville on September 16.

Rhiannon Giddens and Punch Brothers' double bill at the Southern Fried Festival in Perth, Scotland, on Friday was featured on a two-hour show of festival highlights on BBC Radio Scotland's Another Country with Ricky Ross. The first hour is devoted to Giddens, the second hour to Punch Brothers. You can hear it at bbc.co.uk. The concert earned perfect five star reviews from both the Scotsman and the Herald Scotland, which calls Giddens' set "sensational" and Punch Brothers' "breath-taking."

Rhiannon Giddens, Punch Brothers, and Olivia Chaney all performed at the Cambridge Folk Festival this weekend, and judging by the Guardian review, all went well, to say the least. "Giddens was a revelation" and "Chaney showed how it should be sung," says the Guardian's Robin Denselow of their Saturday sets, and "the finest performance of the night came from one of the most inventive acoustic bands on the planet," says Denselow of Punch Brothers' "magnificent" Sunday set. Giddens and Chaney also performed for BBC Radio 2's coverage from Cambridge, which can be heard at bbc.co.uk.

The 42nd annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival kicks off in Telluride, Colorado, on Thursday and continues through the weekend to coincide with the summer solstice, with main-stage performances from Rhiannon Giddens, Punch Brothers, Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer, and Ry Cooder; a FirstGrass set from Giddens tonight; and a closing NightGrass show from Punch Brothers on Sunday. The festival will stream live via KOTO.org