I've been listening to Rhiannon Giddens's albums over the past few days, since I came across her on the website of one of my favourite local music venues. I'm liking what I've heard so far: she's a versatile vocalist with a powerful voice, and she slips convincingly between folk, country, gospel and blues. Her own songs are thoughtful, well crafted pieces, which often offer a window into historical narratives.

If I were fault-finding, I'd say that she doesn't quite bring the same grit and pathos to this sort of material as, say, Gillian Welch, and it can occasionally sound a little bit 'clean'. But there's certainly enough depth and bite in her work to make it compelling. I ended up buying tickets for her gig and I'm anticipating that her music will come across well in an intimate live setting.

Here are some favourites so far:

[Edited 11/17/17 6:57am]

LOTS of love for Rhiannon

I've been following her for the last 3-4yrs

OldFriends4Sale said:

LOTS of love for Rhiannon

I've been following her for the last 3-4yrs

I've only been on board for 3-4 days!

Still, good stuff. Always nice to come across a talented artist one has missed.

deebee said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

LOTS of love for Rhiannon

I've been following her for the last 3-4yrs

I've only been on board for 3-4 days!

Still, good stuff. Always nice to come across a talented artist one has missed.

She started out with a band the Carolina Chocolate Drops

She performed at the White House too, Michelle & Barack are fans

I like her. I missed earlier opportunities to see her with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, but have caught her on Austin City Limits and other musicians' shows. Old-school performances chock-full of historical and long cultural perspective. I feel she's doing a good part to keep the "Americana" scene as diverse as it should be!

Fan boy here -- particularly of her Gaelwynd and other Gaelic-language work. I realize that ain't everybody's cup of tea, though.

I find the entire Carolina Chocolate Drop set pretty intriguing. If you haven't already checked out fellow Dropper Leyla McCalla's work, I'd definitely recommend it also. I'd argue Leyla serves up a wee bit more of the earthiness you suggest you occasionally miss in Rhiannon's output. Here are two songs from her Vari-Colored Songs album, a collection of works based on the poems of Langston Hughes:

[Edited 11/17/17 14:24pm]

Germanegro said:

I like her. I missed earlier opportunities to see her with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, but have caught her on Austin City Limits and other musicians' shows. Old-school performances chock-full of historical and long cultural perspective. I feel she's doing a good part to keep the "Americana" scene as diverse as it should be!

Yeah, she did a TED performance/talk about the way the narratives in many of her songs come from her reading about American history. Nice version of 'Come Love Come' in there.

Lammastide said:

Fan boy here -- particularly of her Gaelwynd and other Gaelic-language work. I realize that ain't everybody's cup of tea, though.

I find the entire Carolina Chocolate Drop set pretty intriguing. If you haven't already checked out fellow Dropper Leyla McCalla's work, I'd definitely recommend it also. I'd argue Leyla serves up a wee bit more of the earthiness you suggest you occasionally miss in Rhiannon's output. Here are two songs from her Vari-Colored Songs album, a collection of works based on the poems of Langston Hughes:

[Edited 11/17/17 14:24pm]

Ooh, nice! I like those two Leyla McCalla songs - thanks! - and she does sound a little more desolate, which always appeals to me. I'll have to check out the rest of her work.

The cello really works well in that context, to my ears. I was struck by that, a couple of years back, when I saw the singer and cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson supporting another artist, and playing a mean blues cello to accompany another historical narrative. It's such a rich, expressive tone that comes from the instrument, it's perfect for that kind of material.

NorthC said:

I only know her from Dylan's New Basement Tapes project and she was the star of the show there... She's cool... Thanks for posting...

Once more to Spotify I go...... Cheers!

She seems like an artist from another era, and I mean this in the best way. She has her own artistic vision that is not contaminated by commercial concerns. I look forward to her having a long career with some interesting twists and turns. She also seems to be genuinely humble. She would be one of the last stars that I would expect to send out some idiotic twitter message or be in a reality show, as she has too much class for such things! And oh, I haven't even mentioned yet that voice!!!!! She is also a joy to see in concert. Yes, there is some love for Rhiannon here!

gandorb said:

She seems like an artist from another era, and I mean this in the best way. She has her own artistic vision that is not contaminated by commercial concerns. I look forward to her having a long career with some interesting twists and turns. She also seems to be genuinely humble. She would be one of the last stars that I would expect to send out some idiotic twitter message or be in a reality show, as she has too much class for such things! And oh, I haven't even mentioned yet that voice!!!!! She is also a joy to see in concert. Yes, there is some love for Rhiannon here!

I went to her concert on Saturday and was really impressed. That 'vision' really comes through in a live setting: more than simply promoting her album, her aim seemed to be to take the listener on a wideranging tour of American folk music styles - bluegrass, cajun, blues, gospel - as a way of narrating the country's turbulent history and how it bears on the present. It was really a great show. Definitely catch her live if she comes to your town!

As an added bonus, she had the very talented Kaia Kater as her support act on Saturday:

deebee said:

maplenpg said:

deebee said:

I went to her concert on Saturday and was really impressed. That 'vision' really comes through in a live setting: more than simply promoting her album, her aim seemed to be to take the listener on a wideranging tour of American folk music styles - bluegrass, cajun, blues, gospel - as a way of narrating the country's turbulent history and how it bears on the present. It was really a great show. Definitely catch her live if she comes to your town!

So....only just come across this. She plays by me tomorrow night! - But it's sold out I'm genuinely sad.

Ahh, that's a bummer - soz. And the other dates are a bit of a trek from 'round that way. Could always contact the venue and see if there are any last-minute returns going. Doesn't seem like there are any from secondary ticket agents either.

She'll be back soon enough, though.

deebee said:

maplenpg said:

deebee said: So....only just come across this. She plays by me tomorrow night! - But it's sold out I'm genuinely sad.

Ahh, that's a bummer - soz. And the other dates are a bit of a trek from 'round that way. Could always contact the venue and see if there are any last-minute returns going. Doesn't seem like there are any from secondary ticket agents either.

She'll be back soon enough, though.

Thanks Deebee, it's a small venue but I might try them when I'm home from work. Rare to get people in my neck of the woods though so she's already gone up in my estimation