The Low Anthem kicks their tour at the Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington, DC, tonight. NPR's All Songs Considered will be broadcasting the concert live online at npr.org. The Associated Press calls their new album, Smart Flesh, "stunningly memorable ... Decidedly eclectic, the Low Anthem use simple chords, haunting sounds and unusual instrumentation to create something sincere and beautiful." On this week's New York Times Popcast, Times writer David Carr says: "You don't hear singing like that every other day. It's very, very impressive."

Carter Burwell and his score to the Coen brothers film True Grit are featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Burwell spoke with guest host Linda Wertheimer about the score and why it was deemed ineligible for an Academy Award, namely its roots in earlier hymns, a source of inspiration Burwell says he found in the 1968 Charles Portis novel on which the film is based. Wertheimer says: "We liked it."

The Low Anthem is the subject of the cover story in the Providence Phoenix, which looks at their new album, Smart Flesh, and, the heady year that preceded it. "The subject matter on the new disc revolves around life’s inevitable end," says the Phoenix, "delivered with such poise and poignancy that it’s easily the band’s most impressive album." KCRW calls it "their best album yet ... With ghostly echoes of such luminous predecessors as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and the country side of the Rolling Stones, The Low Anthem has raised the bar for practitioners of the high-lonesome side of indie folk sounds in the new decade."

The Low Anthem's new album, Smart Flesh, is due out next week, on February 22. Until then, you can listen to the album streaming in its entirety as an NPR First Listen on npr.org. The band makes records "worth discovering slowly and embracing with loving care," says NPR's Stephen Thompson. Smart Flesh "showcases a band that's never been on surer footing," he says. "Alternately rustic and relevant, these songs sound haunted in every possible way ... beautiful through and through." Clash Music says: "this is the human condition set to music."

Jessica Lea Mayfield and her album Tell Me were featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. "Meeting, matching, looking for love and struggling to keep it are all subjects for songs on Jessica Lea Mayfield's new album," says host Scott Simon. Mayfield performs those songs at First Avenue in Minneapolis tonight, the final stop on her tour with Justin Townes Earle. Up next are three shows with the Avett Brothers. Watch Mayfield performs the song "Sometimes At Night," off of Tell Me, in a video here.

Sara Watkins kicked off her tour with The Decemberists last week and continues through the coming months. Prior to the launch of the tour, Watkins was given the very special opportunity to serve as guest host of the beloved radio show A Prairie Home Companion. Her appearance on WNYC's Soundcheck, in which she discusses her guest-hosting gig, was originally slated to air last week but will air today instead.

The Black Keys will be the guests on today's episode of NPR's Fresh Air to talk about their music, not least their latest Nonesuch release, 2010's Brothers, which is nominated in six categories at next month's Grammy Awards and recently garnered the band a Gold record. On The Black Keys' tour schedule are two sold-out shows in Las Vegas and the Coachella festival. Rolling Stone placed Patrick Carney at No. 3 among the 50 Top Tweeters in Music.

Tune in to NPR's Fresh Air today to hear Wanda Jackson's 2003 interview on the show. Consequence of Sound gives Jackson's new Jack White-produced album four stars, saying "The Party Ain’t Over proves to be a bold success." The Louisville Courier-Journal calls Jackson "the hottest thing that ever came out of Oklahoma, counting oil-well fires and Wayne Coyne," and says with her new album, she "proves there's no age limit on fun." Jackson gives a free concert in her hometown of Oklahoma City tonight.

With just over a week to go before the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams's Nixon in China and the Nonesuch reissue of the original cast recording, Q2— the online new-music stream of New York public radio station WQXR—celebrated last week with a weeklong immersion in long-form works by the composer. The series proved so popular, Q2 will air an encore presentation starting today, featuring El Niño, A Flowering Tree, Doctor Atomic Symphony, Nixon in China, and The Death of Klinghoffer.

Wanda Jackson's new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over, is due out January 25; until then, you can listen to the album streaming in its entirety as an NPR First Listen on npr.org. "Jackson's partnership with White proves to be exciting and imaginative, but also entirely appropriate," says NPR. "Both musicians are true innovators who set a new standard for cool. It's like hearing a collaboration between 1958 and 2011, and they get along great."

Sara Watkins is no stranger to NPR's A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. She has appeared as a guest on the show several times and joined Keillor and cast on tour last summer. This weekend, Watkins embarks on a historic first for both her and the show as its first-ever guest host. "I've never gotten to see the show myself," says Keillor. "I've always been standing in the wings and thinking about what I'm supposed to do next. For once in my life, I want to stand in the back of the hall and watch for a few minutes. And Sara is a smart and funny and hugely gifted young woman." Watkins calls it "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Carter Burwell will be the guest on Soundcheck from New York public radio station WNYC today. In today's episode, titled The Western Frontier, Burwell talks about his score for True Grit, the new film from Joel and Ethan Coen starring Jeff Bridges, and the 19th-century hymns that inspired it. Also on the air today, the Coen brothers will appear on NPR's Fresh Air to discuss the new film.