Rhiannon Giddens reunites with her former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmate Justin Robinson on What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, out now. Produced by Giddens and Joseph "joebass" DeJarnette, the album features Giddens on banjo and Robinson on fiddle, playing 18 of their favorite North Carolina tunes. Many were learned from their late mentor, legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson; one is from another musical hero, the late Etta Baker. Giddens and Robinson recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s North Carolina homes, as well as the former plantation Mill Prong House, accompanied by the sounds of nature. You can watch eight performance videos from the album here. Giddens leads her first-ever festival, Biscuits & Banjos, in Durham, NC, next weekend, then goes on tour with Robinson.
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Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson’s collaborative new album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, is out today on Nonesuch Records; you can get it and hear it here. The eighteen-track collection draws directly from the Black string band tradition of North Carolina, where both artists were raised and musically shaped–and eventually became two-thirds of the Carolina Chocolate Drops (alongside Dom Flemons). Next weekend, Giddens's first-ever music and cultural festival, Biscuits & Banjos in Durham, NC, will take place, featuring the debut of her new band, and a highly anticipated Carolina Chocolate Drops reunion. A new video for the album track “Rain Crow” is also out today. You can watch that and seven other performance videos from the album here:
Produced by Giddens and Joseph "joebass" DeJarnette, the album features Giddens on banjo and Robinson on fiddle, with the duo playing eighteen of their favorite North Carolina tunes: a mix of instrumentals and tunes with words. Many were learned from their late mentor, the legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson; one is from another musical hero, the late Etta Baker, from whom they also learned by listening to recordings of her playing. Some tunes were learned from Evelyn Shaw of Harnett County, who learned from her father Lauchlin Shaw. Giddens and Robinson recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s North Carolina homes, as well as the former plantation, Mill Prong. They were accompanied by the sounds of nature, including a roaring chorus of cicadas, creating a unique soundscape.
"‘Come to our porch, sit down, have some tea, and we're just going to play some tunes,’" says Giddens. "We wanted to record that feeling."
By performing music the way they learned it, in the specific place they learned it, Giddens and Robinson tap into the timelessness of the tunes, making them sing with fluidity and grace. "We are part of this ancient tradition; we are just the modern day purveyors," says Robinson.
“Rain Crow” is what Giddens calls “a great example of a tune that is exactly the sound of Piedmont fiddle and banjo music. Time and place snaps together and the very soil under our feet understands what the blackbird said to the crow.”
What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow arrives just one week ahead of Biscuits & Banjos, Giddens’ inaugural music festival, taking place April 25-27 in downtown Durham, NC. The sold-out, nonprofit festival celebrates the deep roots and enduring legacy of Black music, art, and storytelling with a full slate of concerts, workshops, square dances, panel discussions, free banjo lessons, and a celebrity biscuit bake-off. The weekend will feature a highly anticipated reunion performance from the Carolina Chocolate Drops along with performances by Yasmin Williams, Taj Mahal, Adia Victoria, Leyla McCalla, Infinity Song, Don Vappie & Jazz Creole, and Toshi Reagon, with featured speakers like Alice Randall, Caroline Randall Williams, and Dr. Dena Ross Jennings.
For fans unable to attend in person, the festival will offer a livestream of Rhiannon Giddens’ Carolina Breakdown show, featuring the Carolina Chocolate Drops Reunion, via Veeps. This monumental performance marks the first time in more than a decade that all original and key members of the GRAMMY-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops will perform together on stage. The reunion not only brings back one of the most influential Black string bands of the 21st century but also serves as an opportunity to reconnect and reflect on the group’s profound impact on American roots music. The show will also debut Giddens' new band, The Old-Time Revue, live from the Durham Performing Arts Center at 6 PM on Saturday, April 26. The evening will be a historic celebration of tradition, artistry, and community, uniting past and present through music. Tickets are on-sale now here.
Giddens recently announced a number of new dates on her Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue tour, which features Robinson and four other string musicians, including multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell. On June 18 they will headline the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, joined by special guests Our Native Daughters–in their first performance since 2022–as well as Steve Martin, Ed Helms, and more. Additional shows in July have been added to the itinerary as well; see below for the full list.
Giddens’s PBS show My Music with Rhiannon Giddensis back for a third season, this time in Ireland with musicians who live there. Episodes will be posted online weekly on Thursdays starting May 1 in the US (on PBS.org) and on Fridays starting May 2 in Canada, the UK, and Australia / New Zealand (on Prime).
Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson's 'What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow' Out Now on Nonesuch Records
Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson’s collaborative new album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, is out today on Nonesuch Records; you can get it and hear it here. The eighteen-track collection draws directly from the Black string band tradition of North Carolina, where both artists were raised and musically shaped–and eventually became two-thirds of the Carolina Chocolate Drops (alongside Dom Flemons). Next weekend, Giddens's first-ever music and cultural festival, Biscuits & Banjos in Durham, NC, will take place, featuring the debut of her new band, and a highly anticipated Carolina Chocolate Drops reunion. A new video for the album track “Rain Crow” is also out today. You can watch that and seven other performance videos from the album here:
Produced by Giddens and Joseph "joebass" DeJarnette, the album features Giddens on banjo and Robinson on fiddle, with the duo playing eighteen of their favorite North Carolina tunes: a mix of instrumentals and tunes with words. Many were learned from their late mentor, the legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson; one is from another musical hero, the late Etta Baker, from whom they also learned by listening to recordings of her playing. Some tunes were learned from Evelyn Shaw of Harnett County, who learned from her father Lauchlin Shaw. Giddens and Robinson recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s North Carolina homes, as well as the former plantation, Mill Prong. They were accompanied by the sounds of nature, including a roaring chorus of cicadas, creating a unique soundscape.
"‘Come to our porch, sit down, have some tea, and we're just going to play some tunes,’" says Giddens. "We wanted to record that feeling."
By performing music the way they learned it, in the specific place they learned it, Giddens and Robinson tap into the timelessness of the tunes, making them sing with fluidity and grace. "We are part of this ancient tradition; we are just the modern day purveyors," says Robinson.
“Rain Crow” is what Giddens calls “a great example of a tune that is exactly the sound of Piedmont fiddle and banjo music. Time and place snaps together and the very soil under our feet understands what the blackbird said to the crow.”
What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow arrives just one week ahead of Biscuits & Banjos, Giddens’ inaugural music festival, taking place April 25-27 in downtown Durham, NC. The sold-out, nonprofit festival celebrates the deep roots and enduring legacy of Black music, art, and storytelling with a full slate of concerts, workshops, square dances, panel discussions, free banjo lessons, and a celebrity biscuit bake-off. The weekend will feature a highly anticipated reunion performance from the Carolina Chocolate Drops along with performances by Yasmin Williams, Taj Mahal, Adia Victoria, Leyla McCalla, Infinity Song, Don Vappie & Jazz Creole, and Toshi Reagon, with featured speakers like Alice Randall, Caroline Randall Williams, and Dr. Dena Ross Jennings.
For fans unable to attend in person, the festival will offer a livestream of Rhiannon Giddens’ Carolina Breakdown show, featuring the Carolina Chocolate Drops Reunion, via Veeps. This monumental performance marks the first time in more than a decade that all original and key members of the GRAMMY-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops will perform together on stage. The reunion not only brings back one of the most influential Black string bands of the 21st century but also serves as an opportunity to reconnect and reflect on the group’s profound impact on American roots music. The show will also debut Giddens' new band, The Old-Time Revue, live from the Durham Performing Arts Center at 6 PM on Saturday, April 26. The evening will be a historic celebration of tradition, artistry, and community, uniting past and present through music. Tickets are on-sale now here.
Giddens recently announced a number of new dates on her Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue tour, which features Robinson and four other string musicians, including multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell. On June 18 they will headline the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, joined by special guests Our Native Daughters–in their first performance since 2022–as well as Steve Martin, Ed Helms, and more. Additional shows in July have been added to the itinerary as well; see below for the full list.
Giddens’s PBS show My Music with Rhiannon Giddensis back for a third season, this time in Ireland with musicians who live there. Episodes will be posted online weekly on Thursdays starting May 1 in the US (on PBS.org) and on Fridays starting May 2 in Canada, the UK, and Australia / New Zealand (on Prime).
Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson's 'What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow' Out Now on Nonesuch Records
Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson’s collaborative new album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, is out today on Nonesuch Records; you can get it and hear it here. The eighteen-track collection draws directly from the Black string band tradition of North Carolina, where both artists were raised and musically shaped–and eventually became two-thirds of the Carolina Chocolate Drops (alongside Dom Flemons). Next weekend, Giddens's first-ever music and cultural festival, Biscuits & Banjos in Durham, NC, will take place, featuring the debut of her new band, and a highly anticipated Carolina Chocolate Drops reunion. A new video for the album track “Rain Crow” is also out today. You can watch that and seven other performance videos from the album here:
Produced by Giddens and Joseph "joebass" DeJarnette, the album features Giddens on banjo and Robinson on fiddle, with the duo playing eighteen of their favorite North Carolina tunes: a mix of instrumentals and tunes with words. Many were learned from their late mentor, the legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson; one is from another musical hero, the late Etta Baker, from whom they also learned by listening to recordings of her playing. Some tunes were learned from Evelyn Shaw of Harnett County, who learned from her father Lauchlin Shaw. Giddens and Robinson recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s North Carolina homes, as well as the former plantation, Mill Prong. They were accompanied by the sounds of nature, including a roaring chorus of cicadas, creating a unique soundscape.
"‘Come to our porch, sit down, have some tea, and we're just going to play some tunes,’" says Giddens. "We wanted to record that feeling."
By performing music the way they learned it, in the specific place they learned it, Giddens and Robinson tap into the timelessness of the tunes, making them sing with fluidity and grace. "We are part of this ancient tradition; we are just the modern day purveyors," says Robinson.
“Rain Crow” is what Giddens calls “a great example of a tune that is exactly the sound of Piedmont fiddle and banjo music. Time and place snaps together and the very soil under our feet understands what the blackbird said to the crow.”
What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow arrives just one week ahead of Biscuits & Banjos, Giddens’ inaugural music festival, taking place April 25-27 in downtown Durham, NC. The sold-out, nonprofit festival celebrates the deep roots and enduring legacy of Black music, art, and storytelling with a full slate of concerts, workshops, square dances, panel discussions, free banjo lessons, and a celebrity biscuit bake-off. The weekend will feature a highly anticipated reunion performance from the Carolina Chocolate Drops along with performances by Yasmin Williams, Taj Mahal, Adia Victoria, Leyla McCalla, Infinity Song, Don Vappie & Jazz Creole, and Toshi Reagon, with featured speakers like Alice Randall, Caroline Randall Williams, and Dr. Dena Ross Jennings.
For fans unable to attend in person, the festival will offer a livestream of Rhiannon Giddens’ Carolina Breakdown show, featuring the Carolina Chocolate Drops Reunion, via Veeps. This monumental performance marks the first time in more than a decade that all original and key members of the GRAMMY-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops will perform together on stage. The reunion not only brings back one of the most influential Black string bands of the 21st century but also serves as an opportunity to reconnect and reflect on the group’s profound impact on American roots music. The show will also debut Giddens' new band, The Old-Time Revue, live from the Durham Performing Arts Center at 6 PM on Saturday, April 26. The evening will be a historic celebration of tradition, artistry, and community, uniting past and present through music. Tickets are on-sale now here.
Giddens recently announced a number of new dates on her Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue tour, which features Robinson and four other string musicians, including multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell. On June 18 they will headline the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, joined by special guests Our Native Daughters–in their first performance since 2022–as well as Steve Martin, Ed Helms, and more. Additional shows in July have been added to the itinerary as well; see below for the full list.
Giddens’s PBS show My Music with Rhiannon Giddensis back for a third season, this time in Ireland with musicians who live there. Episodes will be posted online weekly on Thursdays starting May 1 in the US (on PBS.org) and on Fridays starting May 2 in Canada, the UK, and Australia / New Zealand (on Prime).
Lady on the Bike—the debut album from cinematic electro-pop duo Ringdown, featuring Danni Lee Parpan and Pulitzer and Grammy winner Caroline Shaw—is out now. The album celebrates the feeling of possibility in myriad forms: the possibility of love; the possibility of creating connection and community in a world trying to pull those things apart; the possibility of making music in new ways. The songs were collaboratively written and recorded by the duo. New Body Electric members Leah Vautar and Aaron K Peterson perform on and help produce several songs; Sō Percussion is featured on a new version of Ringdown’s previously released single “Ghost.” Take a look inside in a vinyl unboxing video here.
An album comprising the first recordings of Steve Reich’s two latest works—Jacob’s Ladder (2023) and Traveler’s Prayer (2020)—is due July 11 on Nonesuch. Jacob's Ladder, performed by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, and Synergy Vocals, was made during its October 2023 world premiere at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall. “Lovely and refreshing," says the New York Classical Review. "Superb." Traveler's Prayer, performed by Colin Currie Group and Synergy Vocals, was made at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall in 2023. "The tone of its score, from first note to last, is sustained sublimity," says the Los Angeles Times. The two pieces were first released earlier this year digitally and as part of the 27-disc box set Steve Reich Collected Works.
