Jessica Lea Mayfield left quite an impression at the 2011 SXSW Music Conference last week in performances that SPIN says "proved she has what it takes to be your favorite new artist." Now you can take home some of the SXSW magic with the new digital album iTunes Live: SXSW, recorded at Mayfield's SXSW showcase at St. David's Historic Sanctuary, including several songs from Nonesuch debut album, Tell Me. 

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang will perform “I Confess,” from their album Sing it Loud on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 11, the eve of the record's release. Appearances are also confirmed for Good Morning America and The View. lang and the band will perform Sing it Loud in its entirety at sold-out shows in LA and NYC that week and will kick off an extensive North American tour in June. On March 29, Amazon.com will kick off a countdown leading up to the album’s release, streaming a new track each day.

Wanda Jackson, hot off the heels of her stellar SXSW performances, is set to kick off the latest leg of her US tour at Lincoln Hall in Chicago tonight. The Chicago Tribune says it's a show that "should not be missed." Later in the tour, Jackson will headline the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Spring Benefit Concert, along Cyndi Lauper, both of whom are featured in the museum's new exhibit, Women Who Rock; tickets go on sale next week.

The 2011 SXSW Music Conference, which brought more than 2,000 bands to Austin, Texas, is now a thing of the past, but its stand-out performances will continue to resonate for some time to come. Among the performers to make such lasting musical memories happen were Emmylou Harris, Jessica Lea Mayfield, and Wanda Jackson. Here, in video, photos, and reviews, we look back at some of the highlights from their time at SXSW.

Steve Reich and Kronos Quartet are in the midst of their artist residency at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, which will culminate in the world premiere of Reich's latest work, WTC 9/11, on Saturday. Reich wrote the piece for Kronos, as he has his two previous quartets, which are also on Saturday's program. While Kronos may be a string quartet, "they are also like a rock group," Reich tells the Duke Chronicle, "and that’s an incredible accomplishment."

Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, John Zorn, and Lou Reed will be among the artists performing at the Concert for Japan, a 12-hour event on April 9 presented by NYC's Japan Society to benefit organizations that directly help people affected by the earthquake and tsunamis that struck Japan. Additional activities will be available for all ages, including making paper cranes and washi lanterns for good luck, basic Japanese language classes, and access to the exhibit Bye Bye Kitty!!!. All proceeds will go to Japan Society's Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.

SXSW is in full swing today in Austin, with countless showcases, performances, parties, events, and radio broadcast on tap. Emmylou Harris and Jessica Lea Mayfield are among today's SXSW performers who can be heard around the world when their sets stream live online: Harris via NY public radio station WFUV, Mayfield on the Waterloo Records site. "Our Hearts Are Wrong," off Mayfield's album Tell Me, has been named NPR Song of the Day.

Bill Frisell launches an 11-city European tour featuring the music of his last Nonesuch album, Disfarmer, in Hamburg, Germany, tonight. Joining him on tour are steel-guitar player Greg Leisz, bassist Viktor Krauss, and violinist Carrie Rodriquez. In the multimedia piece, inspired by the life, work, and subjects of eccentric photographer Mike Disfarmer, projected images of Disfarmer's portraits illuminate Frisell's musical perspectives on this fascinating character.

Emmylou Harris, who is in Austin, Texas, this week to perform at the SXSW Music Conference, has announced a series of European tour dates in May and June in support of her forthcoming album, Hard Bargain. The European shows include two previously announced dates in Norway along with nearly a dozen new shows in Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, the UK, Netherlands, and Germany. Prior to the tour, Harris will take part in a TimesTalk in New York City.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang performed what Variety calls "a sublime set" outside the John Varvatos boutique in West Hollywood on Sunday for some 1,500 attendees at the John Varvatos 8th Annual Stuart House Benefit. Last month, lang and the band were in San Diego to give a performance at Sunset Sessions, which included five songs from their forthcoming album Sing it Loud, as well as some classic hits. The complete set was captured on video, which you can watch here.

Steve Reich talks to The State of Things from NPR member station WUNC today about Kronos Quartet's premiere of his latest work, WTC 9/11, in an all-Reich program Saturday at Duke University, where Reich and Kronos are artists-in-residence this week. Saturday's concert includes all three quartets Reich has written for Kronos. The Quartet gives the NY premiere of WTC 9/11 in an all-Reich program at Carnegie Hall on April 30, with Bang on a Can All-Stars, Glenn Kotche, eighth blackbird, and So Percussion.

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.