Jessica Lea Mayfield has kicked off a headlining tour US tour featuring music from her new album, Tell Me. The tour makes its way up the East Coast this week. Time Out, in recommending Friday's show in New York, describes Tell Me as "a fab showcase for her voice, which somehow seems both lived-in and fresh, youthful and cynical." Mayfield has been named Vogue's Artist of the Week. While Tell Me "is loaded with perfectly forlorn country melodies and melancholy lines," says Vogue, "there is also a hint of mid-nineties alt-rock underpinning all the wistful contemplation, as well as the influence of more modern singer-songwriters, like the late Elliott Smith."

Laurie Anderson is featured in a new exhibition at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) in Rio de Janeiro titled I in U (Eu em Tu). The retrospective show presents original works produced by Anderson from the 1970s to today, featuring installations, photographs, drawings, videos, music, and more. The exhibition opened yesterday and runs through June 26. Anderson performs at Japan Society's Concert for Japan on April 9 and will tour Europe starting in May.

There's just one month to go before the release of Emmylou Harris's Hard Bargain. The album is available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with a manuscript lyric sheet of the song "The Road," in which she recalls the storied time she spent with her mentor Gram Parsons. And there are now two ways to take home the song today: purchase the single from iTunes and download the song for free here.

Sing it Loud, the new album from k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang, is now streaming in its entirety on Amazon.com till April 12, when the album makes its North American debut. lang and the band have confirmed six shows in the UK this spring, prior to their US summer tour. UK fans can catch lang on TV as well on Later with Jools Holland April 19 and The Alan Titchmarsh Show April 20. Mojo gives the album four stars.

The Low Anthem is currently on tour in Europe and returns to the US in mid-April to head straight out on the road again, first with Iron and Wine, then heading to New Orleans Jazz Fest and launching its own headlining tour. The band performs at LouFest in St. Louis at the end of August, as will The Roots, Cat Power, TV on the Radio, and others. The Low Anthem will be featured on public radio's Mountain Stage on April 15 and can be heard singing their song "To Ohio" with Emmylou Harris on digital versions of Harris's forthcoming album, Hard Bargain, on amazon.com and iTunes.

Chris Thile and Michael Daves's debut album, Sleep with One Eye Open, due out May 10, is now available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store. Recorded at Jack White’s studio in Nashville, the album is a collection of 16 traditional tunes by bluegrass legends like The Monroe Brothers, The Louvin Brothers, Jimmy Martin, and Flatt & Scruggs. Anyone who pre-orders the album here will get an autographed CD and be entered to win a Martin 000X1AE guitar. You can also enter to win by downloading the free track "My Little Girl in Tennessee" here. The duo take their show on the road with a series of East Coast dates in May.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang are heading Down Under this week to celebrate this Friday's Australian release of their new album, Sing it Loud, due out in North America on April 12. Fans in Australia can catch lang and the band on TV starting release day and throughout April. They'll be able to watch them live in concert later this year on k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang's just-announced tour of Australia this November. Watch an excerpt of their recent performance at the John Varvatos 8th Annual Stuart House Benefit here.

The complete lineup for the 2011 Newport Folk Festival won't be revealed till Wednesday, and tickets won't go on sale to the general public till the following day, but we can now reveal that Emmylou Harris, Wanda Jackson, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops will be performing at the Newport Folk Festival on Sunday, July 31, and fans now have access to special pre-sales and discounts starting right now through an exclusive promo code.

Wanda Jackson's performance of "Like a Baby," off her new album, The Party Ain't Over, has been named Song of the Day by NPR. "Half a century ago, 'Like a Baby' was sung by a man whom Jackson dated briefly, who went by the name Elvis Presley," says NPR. "But for all the history wrapped up in the song, it's also a testament to a man who's done right by Jackson: The White Stripes' Jack White, who crafted a dynamically down-and-dirty rockabilly sound for Jackson's fine new comeback album, The Party Ain't Over." Spinner has named Jackson one of the 25 Women Who Rock Right Now.

Steve Reich's 75th birthday year is being celebrated around the world in 2011. Cité de la Musique in Paris has now announced details of its plans for a week of concerts in October to mark the occasion. Dubbed Steve Reich, Pulsations, the festivities features works from throughout Reich's career and even a performance by the composer himself. Reich discusses his career in a new short film from his publisher, an excerpt of which can be seen here.

Nonesuch Records releases Tell My Sister, a special three-disc set comprising remastered versions of Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s beloved 1976 self-titled debut; its equally praised 1977 follow-up, Dancer with Bruised Knees; and a collection of previously unreleased songs, including solo and duo demos, on May 3, 2011. Joe Boyd, who produced the McGarrigles’ first two albums, assembled the material for the third disc in addition to serving as producer for the whole set. Tell My Sister is now available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store, along with an exclusive, limited-edition commemorative poster.

While at SXSW last week, Emmylou Harris performed songs from her forthcoming album, Hard Bargain, at the IFC Crossroads House. "The legendary singer's crooning countrified voice swirled over the scene like a cloud," says IFC, "entrancing everyone who heard it." The show will be broadcast soon on the IFC cable channel. In the mean time, IFC.com has posted three videos from the event, including an interview with Ted Leo and a performance of a song off Hard Bargain, all of which you can watch here.