Mbongwana Star, whose debut full-length album, From Kinshasa, was released last month via World Circuit, is featured on PRI's The World. "The music from the Congolese band Mbongwana Star sounds like nothing else," says host Marco Werman. You can hear why in his interview with the album's Irish-born Parisian producer, Doctor L, here.

The Staves recently stopped by the WFUV studios in New York City to perform a live session of songs from their new album, If I Was, and talk with host Russ Borris about their music. You can watch their performances of "Steady" and "Black & White" here and listen to the complete session on WFUV. "The sisters are incredible performers with unmatched harmonies," Borris exclaims. "The trio’s new album, If I Was, produced by Justin Vernon, is a stunning piece of work ... The Staves brought those incredible harmonies to Studio A for an amazing session." He concludes: "Hands down, this is one of my favorite sessions of the year."

Olivia Chaney, who is currently touring North America, recently stopped by WNYC in New York City to perform four songs from her debut album, The Longest River, on Soundcheck—"Swimming in the Longest River," "Kings Horses," "Waxwing," and "Cassiopeia"—and talk with host John Schaefer, who notes her "strikingly pure vocal tone." You can hear the show here.

Sam Amidon made his Mountain Stage debut on NPR last week, now available online at npr.org. Amidon performed two songs from his latest album, Lily-O—"Walkin' Boss" and "Blue Mountains"—and two from his 2013 Nonesuch debut album, Bright Sunny South—"Short Life" and "As I Roved Out." "A gifted multi-instrumentalist, Amidon made a name for himself in his teens as a fiddler," says NPR. "In the years since then, he has stretched comfortably from old-time music into styles ranging from free jazz to alt-folk." Amidon resumes his North American tour in Boston on June 14.

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman, whose self-titled debut album is due out next week in North America and June 8 elsewhere, performed at the Detroit Jazz Festival in 2014, when Redman was Artist in Residence there. NPR's Jazz Night in America was there to capture the new quartet, fresh out of the studio. Watch the performance and an interview with the band here. The new album is streaming in full till May 25 as an NPR First Listen. The quartet kicks off a tour at the Blue Note Jazz Festival on June 10.

David Byrne is the guest on the latest episode of WTF with Marc Maron. "For many people, including Marc, David Byrne has served as a tour guide through a new frontier of creativity," says the show. "The frontman for Talking Heads sits down with Marc to talk about forming the preeminent new wave band of the 20th century and then branching out on his own to create work in theater, film, ballet, opera and, most recently, the world of competitive color guard performances."

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell stopped by WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show to discuss their decades-long friendship and working relationship, their new album, The Traveling Kind, and its predecessor, the Grammy Award–winning Old Yellow Moon, and to perform two songs from the new album: the title track and "You Can't Say We Didn't Try." Hear it here. They also spoke with the Wall Street Journal, and Harris discussed the new album with CMT, which calls it "an endlessly elegant modern country masterwork."

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell celebrate the release of their new duo album, The Traveling Kind, out next Tuesday, by hosting a "takeover" of SiriusXM Outlaw Country—channel 60—during the week of its release, including their own daily one-hour show, an interview and performance on The Buddy & Jim Show with Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, and an intimate performance with a live audience at the SiriusXM studios in New York City for a very special broadcast event hosted by Elvis Costello.

The Staves are featured on the latest episode of NPR's All Songs Considered, titled "Nine Creative Musicians You Should Know." The episode centers on songs that suggest "a means of making magic out of circumstance," starting with The Staves' "No Me, No You, No More," off their new Justin Vernon-produced album, If I Was. It's "a rich, compelling folk song heavy with longing but buoyed by the trio's sweet, high harmonies," says the show. "The song is a testament to letting go of expectation in the midst of creation, to finding the way forward on a road no one expected to travel." The Staves perform at Rough Trade in Brooklyn next Monday, May 11, and at Vernon's Eaux Claires festival in July.

Punch Brothers stopped by NPR to give a Tiny Desk Concert. The concert opens with a special surprise for Thile, who happened to be celebrating a birthday that day, followed by a performance of four songs from their new album, The Phosphorescent Blues. Thile, "along with this versatile and talented group, rocked our world," says host Bob Boilen. "Punch Brothers mixes bluegrass, pop and classical music. It's a tough combination to imagine, and an even harder one to make work, but this band ... makes the unimaginable contagious and fun. They push boundaries and make music like no one else." Watch the Tiny Desk Concert here.

Composer Nico Muhly was the guest on NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook. His in-depth conversation with Ashbrook touches on a number of aspects of his work, not least his first large-scale opera, Two Boys. Nonesuch released the recording of Two Boys—recorded live during the Met's 2013 production with conductor David Robertson and director Bartlett Sher—in September. You can listen to the On Point interview here.

Tigran Hamasyan was featured on NPR's All Things Considered Sunday. He spoke with host Arun Rath about his new album, Mockroot, and its diverse musical influences. "Musicians arrive at their signature sounds through all sorts of influences, but [Hamasyan] may have the most unusual collection yet," says Rath, noting sources from the folk music of Hamasyan's native Armenia to metal to Indian classical music. "So when you listen to the music of Tigran Hamasyan, know that there's a lot going on there." You can listen to the conversation here.