Rhiannon Giddens traces the banjo from her ancestors to Beyoncé
Fresh Air

Rhiannon Giddens traces the banjo from her ancestors to Beyoncé

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 21, 202646 min
  • Interview
  • Music

A self-described "folkie to the bone," Giddens talks with Terry Gross about channeling her ancestors through her instrument, playing on Beyoncé’s country single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and a connection between Irish folk music and Dolly Parton. Giddens also sings and plays banjo and fiddle throughout the interview. Her latest album, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, takes its name from an Emily Dickinson poem. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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0:13

This is Fresh Air. I'm Terri Gross. There are many ways you may know my guest, singer, banjo player, fiddler, and songwriter Rhiannon Giddens. Early in her career, she co-founded the Carolina Chocolate Drops, which played music from the black string band tradition dating back to slave times.

0:31

She since recorded several solo albums. On one of them, she recorded and wrote several songs based on slave narratives and one song based on an ad from a slave holder looking to sell a young enslaved woman offering the buyer the option of buying the woman's nine-month-old baby. Giddens studied opera singing in college and won a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the opera

0:54

Omar about a Muslim scholar from Senegal who was sold into slavery in the US. She also was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the Genius Grant. She's now the artistic director of the Silk Road Ensemble, which was founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and is dedicated to playing with musicians from around the world, drawing on

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