Congratulations to Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens on her Grammy nominations for Best Americana Album for her album You’re The One (Nonesuch) and Best American Roots Performance for her song “You Louisiana Man” from You’re The One. Giddens is a 2-time GRAMMY Award winner and with today’s nominations, now a 10-time nominee. Her previous album, 2021's They're Calling Me Home, won the GRAMMY award for Best Folk Album.
You’re the One, released in August, is Giddens’ first album of all original songs and was produced by Jack Splash (Kendrick Lamar, Solange, Alicia Keys, Valerie June, Tank and the Bangas). It was written over the course of Giddens’ career and draws from the folk music that she knows so deeply, as well as its pop descendants. Collaborators include Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi plus American fiddler Dirk Powell, bassist Jason Sypher, and Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu. Jason Isbell is the sole guest on the record, contributing to "Yet to Be," a tale of a Black woman and an Irish man finding love in America.
The album has been met with major acclaim, profiles and TV appearances. Giddens just recently performed and was the interview guest on The Daily Show. Other coverage includes the Today Show, CBS Saturday, CBS Mornings, New York Times, Vulture’s “A Long Talk,” NPR’s Morning Edition, the Associated Press, GRAMMY.com, American Songwriter and Garden & Gun, with additional pieces and reviews from Variety, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Pitchfork, NPR Music and more. The album is also featured on Rolling Stone’s Best Albums of 2023 So Far, and in their review said: "One of Americana music's most vital voices expands her sound without abandoning her roots.”
Giddens’ touring continues into next year with headlining shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York City and the Ace Theater in Los Angeles. She was also recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for her opera, Omar, with collaborator Michael Abels. Omar is currently playing at San Francisco Opera and this Saturday’s show will be live-streamed at 7:30pm PT / 10:30pm ET. Tune in here.
Giddens is also the Artist Director of the Silkroad Ensemble. Their Phoenix Rising EP was released last week, four songs recorded live at Tanglewood in Summer 2022 that features vocals from Giddens on three of them. Giddens is currently on a tour with Silkroad Ensemble across the U.S. performing music related to the underclasses of people who built or were displaced by the American railroad. For the tour, Rhiannon has arranged a version of the bluegrass standard “Swannanoa Tunnel,” a recently uncovered work song from African Americans forced to labor on the North Carolina railroad.
Giddens also just released her second children's book, We Could Fly (Candlewick Press). The picture book, a companion to 2022’s Build a House, is a tale of grace and transcendence, with illustrations by acclaimed artist Briana Mukodiri Uchendu. The book draws on lyrics from the song “We Could Fly,” which Giddens wrote with Dirk Powell and recorded for her 2017 Nonesuch album, Freedom Highway. It draws on a heritage of African folklore for a dialogue between a mother and daughter, paired with illustrations that celebrate love, resilience, and the spiritual power of the “old-time ways”—tradition and shared cultural memory—to sustain and uplift. Watch a video interpretation of the book here.
As Pitchfork has said, “Few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration”—a journey that has led to NPR naming Giddens one of its 25 Most Influential Women Musicians of the 21st Century and American Songwriter calling her “one of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet.”
UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
November 10: Balboa Theater, San Diego, CA@
November 11: Soka Performing Arts Center, Aliso Viejo, CA@
November 12: The Soraya at CSUN, Northridge, CA@
November 15: Bing Concert Hall, Stanford, CA@
November 16: Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at UC Davis, Davis, CA@
November 17: Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA@
November 18: Green Music Center, Sonoma, CA@
February 10, 2024: Maison de la culture de Creteil, Creteil, France
February 11, 2024: Doornroosje Main Hall, Nijmegen, Netherlands
February 13, 2024: Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
February 14, 2024: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
February 17, 2024: Elb Philharmonie, Hamburg, Germany
February 18, 2024: Lido, Berlin, Germany
February 19, 2024: Kulturkirche Ost, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
February 21, 2024: Barbican Centre, London, UK
February 23, 2024: Pavillion Theatre, Glasgow, UK
February 25, 2024: Vicar St., Dublin, Ireland
March 14, 2024: Worcester, MA, Holy Cross University
March 16, 2024: Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
March 19, 2024: State College, PA, Penn State
March 20, 2024: Cincinnati, OH, Memorial Hall
April 15, 2024: Vancouver, BC, Chan Centre
April 17, 2024: Beaverton, OR, The Reser
April 18, 2024: Beaverton, OR, The Reser
April 19, 2024: Seattle, WA, Meany Center
April 21, 2024: San Francisco, CA, The Fillmore
April 22, 2024: Monterey, CA, Golden State Theater
April 23, 2024: Santa Barbara, CA, Granada TheaterApril 25, 2024: Ace Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
April 27, 2024: Tucson, AZ, The Rialto
April 28, 2024: Mesa, AZ, Ikeda Theater
April 30, 2024: Dallas, TX, Longhorn Ballroom
May 2, 2024: Austin, TX, Paramount Theatre
^with Adia Victoria
*with Charly Lowry
+with The Legendary Ingramettes
@Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens
