Yo-Yo Ma has partnered with Knoxville-based arts nonprofit Big Ears for the multi-faceted concert “Our Common Nature: An Appalachian Celebration,” with musical guests Rhiannon Giddens, Chris Thile, and Edgar Meyer, on Friday, May 26, at World’s Fair Park in Knoxville, TN. In addition, Thile and Giddens will each perform a concert, May 25 and May 27, respectively, at Knoxville's Bijou Theatre. Conceived and curated by Ma, the World’s Fair Park celebration will include musicians, storytellers, and poets from throughout the Appalachian region, and will be the culmination of a week-long series of cultural experiences and conversations that lift the myriad voices of Appalachia—Indigenous, European, Latinx, Black, and beyond.

Chris Thile stopped by the BBC Radio 4 studios to perform some Bach and music from his 2021 solo album, Laysongs, on Front Row and talk with presenter Luke Jones about the album and more. You can hear their conversation here. Thile kicks off a tour of the UK and Ireland with Sam Amidon on Wednesday, with shows in Bristol, Coventry, London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Dublin.

“You want to talk about amazing live musicians: the guest on today’s show, Chris Thile,” guitarist Cory Wong says of the guest on the latest episode of his Premier Guitar podcast Wong Notes. “Oh my gosh, this dude is insane. One of my absolute favorite musicians of all time. One of my favorite musicians to ever play with. One of my favorite thinkers, creative minds. This guy is incredible.” You can hear their conversation here.

The New York Philharmonic has announced the lineups for the first two installments of The 65th Street Session, a NY Phil presentation curated by Chris Thile, its 2022–23 Creative Partner, in the Wu Tsai Theater of Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall: Thile with Brad Mehldau and Tune-Yards on October 11 and with Punch Brothers, Watchhouse, and Sarah Jarosz, as part of their American Acoustic Tour, on December 6. Fan pre-sale is on now with code 65THSTREET. General on-sale begins September 13. Lineups and ticket info for the final two performances, February 14 and March 28, 2023, will be announced at a later date.

Chris Thile, who is currently touring the United States with Punch Brothers, has announced a tour of Europe and the UK this autumn. The month-long tour begins in Estonia on October 20, making stops in Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, and the UK, culminating at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on November 15.

Nonesuch Records releases Brad Mehldau’s Jacob’s Ladder on March 18 on CD; a vinyl LP version is due later in the year (date TBD). The album features new music that reflects on scripture and the search for God through music inspired by the prog rock he loved as a young adolescent—his gateway to the fusion that eventually led to his discovery of jazz. Featured musicians on the album include label mates Chris Thile and Cécile McLorin Salvant, as well as Mark Guiliana, Becca Stevens, Joel Frahm, and others. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an exclusive signed, limited-edition print while they last. You can watch a video for ‘maybe as his skies are wide’—a song that builds off an interpolation of one portion of Rush’s classic "Tom Sawyer"—here.

Chris Thile hosted a centenary celebration for the esteemed Town Hall in New York City from just around the corner, outdoors in Bryant Park, for the culmination of the park's Picnic Performances season last night. He was joined on stage by Cécile McLorin Salvant and Sullivan Fortner, Timo Andres, Zakir Hussain and Ganesh Rajagopalan, Emily King, Damon Daunno, and others for the evening of performances honoring the hall's storied past. You can watch it here.

Chris Thile is on American Songwriter's Basic Folk podcast to talk with host Cindy Howes about his new solo album, Laysongs. "How beautiful and intoxicating finding a little bit of truth can be," he says. "We start to consider it a threat to that truth that we've discovered for ourselves, a threat to the good that we perceive it doing for ourselves when someone else doesn't accept that as true. And I think that's giving all of us a whole lot of trouble right now, on the internet and everywhere else." You can hear their conversation here.

Chris Thile performs "God Is Alive Magic Is Afoot," based on Buffy Sainte-Marie’s adaptation of a Leonard Cohen poem, from his new album, Laysongs, in a new video. It was shot by Josh Goleman during the recording of the album at Future-Past Studio, a converted church in upstate New York. You can watch it here. Thile performs live at Wolf Trap outside Washington, DC, this weekend.

Chris Thile has released a new video of him performing "Dionysus," a song from his new solo album, Laysongs, filmed live in Brooklyn. You can watch the video, made by Benjamin Miller, here. Thile has two solo concerts in upstate New York this weekend, with more shows ahead this summer and a fall tour to come.

Chris Thile was on NPR's Here & Now, from WBUR in Boston, to talk with host Robin Young about his new solo album, Laysongs—six original songs and three covers that contextualize and banter with his ideas about spirituality. "If I have a religion now, it's trying to keep my ears wide open to the human beings that I encounter," Thile tells Young. "I worry that we as human beings have a tendency to find people who think and act and look like we do and we pod up ... I don't think that we're ever going to change someone's mind if we're not willing to be changed." You can hear their conversation here.

Chris Thile celebrates last week's Nonesuch release of Laysongs, his first truly solo album, with a US tour that includes a handful dates this summer—at Telluride Bluegrass Festival this week and along the East Coast in the coming months—and many more in the fall, starting in the Midwest, heading next to New England and New York, then down to the Southeast.