Last night I went to see Rhiannon Giddens in concert here in Raleigh on her tour

[mnhtnbb]

If you know her music, don't miss this tour! If you don't know her music and you are near one of her tour dates,
get yourself a ticket if you can.

We first saw her in Chapel Hill some years ago when she was part of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. I've seen her several
times since she's broken out on her own.

She plays violin and banjo. Performs bare foot. And her voice is one of a kind: amazing range, tone, control. She is a true artist. Her music is based on old time spiritual/gospel/folk music. She also adapts songs from well known African American female artists. She considers it her mission to be a mouthpiece for the unheard voices of slavery--both historically in our country--and still out there in the world.

Here are a couple examples:

We Could Fly is based on a story of slaves who could fly away to freedom. (Dirk Powell is on tour with her and they perform this song.)

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Water Boy was a turning point in her career when she performed this on David Letterman

Underneath the Harlem Moon--adapted from Ethel Waters

Spanish Mary from The New Basement Tapes (lyrics by Bob Dylan)

Here are her tour stops

http://www.rhiannongiddens.com/#shows

[AJT]

1. A beautiful voice. What a talented young woman

[hedda_foil]

2. Thank you! I had never heard of her before. She's an absolutely amazing talent.

[mnhtnbb]

3. Yes, she is!

More about her career here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhiannon_Giddens

[hedda_foil]

5. Thanks. I was so impressed by her voice that I had already googled her!

[JPPaverage]

4. I was lucky enough to see the CCD a few years ago

They blew me away. Virtually everyone in the audience rushed out to buy cds after the show. Rhiannon was also in the lobby talking to people. A very gracious young woman. I was also lucky enough to catch the performance on Letterman and it sounded like the audience was as impressed as we were, as was Letterman himself.

[JPPaverage]

6. One question

Does she still play her banjo and fiddle? I hope so because she is very good at both instruments.

[mnhtnbb]

7. Yes. She plays both during her concert.

Last edited Sun Apr 15, 2018, 01:44 PM - Edit history (1)

She is quite accomplished on both instruments. Her concerts are a nice blend of showcasing instrumentals, her voice,
and the talents of her accompanying musicians.

She didn't perform Ruby last night, but this is a nice video of it.