Rhiannon Giddens

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Rhiannon Giddens
Rhiannon Giddens with banjo
Background information
Born (1977-02-21) February 21, 1977 (age 48)
Genres Folk, bluegrass, country, gospel, blues, jazz, soul, R&B, Celtic, Americana
Years active 2005–present
Labels Music Maker, Nonesuch
Associated acts Carolina Chocolate Drops, The New Basement Tapes, NC Music Love Army
Website rhiannongiddens.com
File:Rhiannon-Giddens.jpg
Rhiannon Giddens
At Aarhus Festival 2015
Photo Hreinn Gudlaugsson

Rhiannon Giddens (born February 21, 1977) is an American musician. She is known as the lead singer, violinist, banjo player and a founding member of the Grammy-winning[1] country, blues and old-time music band Carolina Chocolate Drops. She is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina and a 2000 graduate of Oberlin Conservatory where she studied opera.[2]

Career

File:Rhiannon Giddens TFF 03.JPG
Rhiannon Giddens at TFF Rudolstadt, 2015

In 2013 Giddens began pushing further into her solo career. Giddens participated in "Another Day, Another Time", a concert inspired by the Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis.[3] Many critics have stated that Giddens had the best performance at what was called "the concert of the year".[4][5] Late in 2013, Giddens contributed the standout a cappella track "We Rise" to the LP We Are Not For Sale: Songs of Protest by the NC Music Love Army – a collective of activist musicians from North Carolina founded by Jon Lindsay and Caitlin Cary.[6] Giddens' protest song joins contributions from many other Carolina musical luminaries on the Lindsay-produced compilation (11/26/13 via Redeye Distribution), which was created to support the NC NAACP and the Moral Monday movement.[7]

In early 2014 Giddens recorded for Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes alongside Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Taylor Goldsmith and Jim James. The album was produced by T-Bone Burnett and is a compilation of partial songs written by Bob Dylan that were never released.[8]

In February 2015, Giddens released her debut solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, on Nonesuch Records. Also produced by Burnett, the album includes songs made famous by Patsy Cline, Odetta, Dolly Parton, and Nina Simone, among others.[4][9] The Wall Street Journal said the album "confirms the arrival of a significant talent whose voice and distinctive approach communicate the simmering emotion at the core of the songs."[10] Additionally, the Los Angeles Times called the album "a collection that should solidify her status as one of the bright new lights in pop music."[11]

In July 2015 she had a big stage at world music folk and dance festival at TFF Rudolstadt in Germany.[12] Her performance was also broadcast live by the German national public radio Deutschlandfunk.[13] Rhiannon appears on Jon Lindsay's single "Ballad of Lennon Lacy" (Redeye Distribution, August 21). The song tackles the mysterious hanging death of Lennon Lacy, a black teen from rural Bladenboro, NC. The case is currently under investigation by the FBI, and widely suspected to be a lynching.[14]

On November 27, 2015, to coincide with the Black Friday Record Store Day event; Giddens released "Factory Girl" (EP) on Nonesuch Records, which contained music culled from the same T Bone Burnett–produced sessions that yielded Tomorrow Is My Turn.[15] A digital version of Factory Girl was made available December 11, 2015. The sessions for the album and EP took place in Los Angeles and Nashville, with a multi-generational group of players assembled by Burnett. Musicians on Factory Girl include Burnett; fiddle player Gabe Witcher and double bassist Paul Kowert of Punch Brothers; percussionist Jack Ashford of Motown's renowned Funk Brothers; drummer Jay Bellerose; guitarist Colin Linden; veteran Nashville session bassist Dennis Crouch; and Giddens's Carolina Chocolate Drops touring band-mates, multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins and beat-boxer Adam Matta.

Rhiannon appeared on Jools Holland's Hootenanny on December 31, 2015 shown on BBC Two. She performed songs from her 2015 album Tomorrow Is My Turn, including Waterboy and a cover of St James Infirmary Blues with Tom Jones.[16]

She was selected to take part in Transatlantic Sessions in January 2016. This collaboration between American and Celtic musicians is a coveted honor. The ensemble performed as part of Celtic Connections in Glasgow, and a short UK/Irish tour. Her performances on the tour included the stirring tribute to David Bowie "It Ain't Easy". Later in the year, Giddens became the first American to be honoured as Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Personal life

Giddens is biracial in ancestry.[17] She married Irish musician Michael Laffan in 2007.[18] The couple have a daughter, Aoife, and a son, Caoimhín.[19] Giddens has homes in Greensboro, North Carolina and Limerick, Ireland.[20]

Discography

As Carolina Chocolate Drops

Title Album details Peak chart positions
US US Grass US Folk US Heat
Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind
  • Release date: September 12, 2006
  • Label: Music Maker
 — — — —
The Great Debaters Soundtrack
(with Alvin Youngblood Hart, Sharon Jones and Teenie Hodges)
  • Release date: December 11, 2007
  • Label: Atlantic
 — — — —
Heritage
  • Release date: February 18, 2008
  • Label: Dixiefrog
 — — — —
Carolina Chocolate Drops & Joe Thompson
(recorded live at MerleFest, April 25, 2008)
  • Release date: May 26, 2009
  • Label: Music Maker
 — — — —
Genuine Negro Jig
  • Release date: February 16, 2010
  • Label: Nonesuch
 150 1 2 2
Carolina Chocolate Drops/Luminescent Orchestrii EP
  • Release date: January 25, 2011
  • Label: Nonesuch
 — 3 11 32
Leaving Eden
  • Release date: February 24, 2012
  • Label: Nonesuch
 123 1 6 2
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

As Rhiannon Giddens

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Nominated Work Work
2010 Americana Music Awards Duo/Group of the Year Carolina Chocolate Drops Nominated
2011 Grammy Awards Best Traditional Folk Album Genuine Negro Jig Won
2012 Americana Music Awards Duo/Group of the Year Carolina Chocolate Drops Nominated
2013 Grammy Awards Best Folk Album Leaving Eden Nominated
2015 Americana Music Awards Album of the Year Tomorrow Is My Turn Nominated
2015 Americana Music Awards Artist of the Year Rhiannon Giddens Nominated
2016 Grammy Awards Best Folk Album Tomorrow Is My Turn Nominated
2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Folk Singer of the Year Rhiannon Giddens Won

References

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Further reading

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External links

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