Rhiannon Giddens

Rhiannon Giddens
Rhiannon Giddens with banjo
Background information
Genres Folk, blues, country, classical, Irish music
Years active 2005-present
Labels Music Maker (Label), Nonesuch
Associated acts Carolina Chocolate Drops, The New Basement Tapes, NC Music Love Army
Website rhiannongiddens.com

Rhiannon Giddens 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 Carolina Chocolate Drops. She is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina and a 2000 graduate of Oberlin Conservatory where she studied opera.[2]

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.[9][10]

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