At New York’s Juilliard School of Music on Saturday, Paul Simon returned to the stage for the first time since his summer “Quiet Celebration” tour ended. While his appearance was unannounced until he walked onto the stage of the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, what wasn’t surprising was the song he …
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When Beyoncé teased her country-tinged album Cowboy Carter last February, the first sound anyone heard was Rhiannon Giddens’ banjo. Giddens, who lent her distinctive instrument to the single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” has spent much of her career educating and informing audiences around the world about the deep Black roots of …
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Rhiannon Giddens has been talking for quite some time when she stops to apologize. “Sorry, I had caffeine,” the singer-songwriter, banjoist, and founding member of the soon-to-be reuniting Carolina Chocolate Drops says on a recent Zoom. The apology comes after Giddens spent an hour sharing pointed critiques, reflective musings, and …
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Rhiannon Giddens stoped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to showcase her bluesy, Cajun-infused song “You Louisiana Man.” The musician was joined by her live band and a back-up for the rousing performance, which saw Giddens singing and playing banjo. “You Louisiana Man” comes off Giddens’ most recent LP, You’re the One, …
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When Alice Randall first sat down more than 30 years ago to write “The Ballad of Sally Anne” with Mark O’Connor and Harry Stinson, she wanted to use the murder ballad format to discuss a topic — lynching — that was never mentioned in country music. “The ugliest fact of …
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Robert Randolph was tooling around Florida when the call came. The musician, whose sacred steel slide guitar has powered his own Family Band albums and has popped up on records by Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Thomas, Santana, and Dave Matthews Band, was behind the wheel when his office phoned …
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Leading up to the Grammy nominations on Nov. 10, Rolling Stone is breaking down 16 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night. Americana is a wide-open category, partly because it’s hard to define. “I always look at …
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Rhiannon Giddens appeared on The Daily Show to perform her recent song “Another Waste Life” and to discuss her Pulitzer-winning opera, Omar, with current host Michael Kosta. Giddens offered a poignant, emotional rendition of “Another Wasted Life,” which comes off her latest LP, You’re the One. During her interview with …
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Opening with a fiddle and banjo straight out of a folk recital, “You’re the One,” the title track on Rhiannon Giddens‘ third album under her own name, starts the way one would expect a Giddens song to open. Addressing one of her children, she sings in a voice that’s warm …
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Rhiannon Giddens has announced plans for her first solo album in six years. You’re the One will be released Aug. 18 via Nonesuch Records and marks the Pulitzer Prize winner’s first collection of all-original songs. Giddens offered a preview of the project with the title track, a joyous, lovestruck ode …
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