Rhiannon Giddens | Greensboro, Nc

RHIANNON GIDDENS | GREENSBORO, NC

>> RHIANNON GIDDENS' ROOTS ARE GROUNDED IN NORTH CAROLINA.

>> I GREW UP SINGING WITH MY -- WITH MY PARENTS, MY SISTER AND MY WHOLE SIDE OF THE FAMILY'S REALLY MUSICAL. AND, UM, SO IT WAS ALWAYS A PART OF THE FABRIC OF MY LIFE, BUT IT WASN'T EVER SOMETHING I THOUGHT TO DO UNTIL I WENT TO SCHOOL, YOU KNOW, FOR CLASSICAL MUSIC IN OPERA. AND THEN AFTER THAT, IT WAS KIND OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, I CAME BACK HOME TO NORTH CAROLINA AND DISCOVERED THE OLD-TIME COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, BANJOS AND FIDDLES, AND JUST FELL IN LOVE WITH THAT AND HAVEN'T REALLY YOU KNOW, LOOKED BACK.

>> THE MAJOR INFLUENCE OF GIDDENS WAS NORTH CAROLINA NATIVE, THE LATE JOE THOMPSON. HIS WORK INSPIRED THE CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS TO FOUND THEIR BAND.

>> IT WAS SUCH A CROSSROADS, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU KIND OF -- YOU HIT SOMETHING, AND, YOU KNOW, YOUR LIFE COULD GO ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, AND MEETING JOE JUST TOTALLY TURNED MY LIFE, YOU KNOW, INTO THE -- ONTO THE DIRECTION THAT IT IS NOW. I THINK WHEN YOU -- I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO -- TO TALK TO ELDERS AND TO STUDY WITH ELDERS AND TO -- JUST TO GET A FIELD FOR WHAT THEIR LIFE WAS LIKE, BECAUSE IT KIND OF PUTS EVERYTHING INTO PERSPECTIVE, YOU KNOW. AND FOR ME, THE WAY THAT THE BAND STARTED, PLAYING WITH HIM, IT JUST PUT EVERYTHING INTO PERSPECTIVE. SO WE NEVER -- WE WEREN'T OUT THERE FOR, LIKE, MONEY AND GLORY AND ALL THIS KIND OF STUFF. WE WERE REALLY OUT THERE, YOU KNOW, TO PRESENT HIS MUSIC IN THE BEGINNING AND JUST KIND OF KNOWING WHERE HE CAME FROM AND HAVING THAT BE SORT OF THE CORE OF IT, I THINK, KEPT IT -- KEPT IT REAL.

>> ♪ I WAS RAISED IN THE COUNTRY ♪

♪ THAT'S A NATURAL FACT ♪

>> I MET DOM FLEMONS AND JUSTIN ROBINSON AT THE BLACK BANJO GATHERING IN BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA, AND THAT WAS SORT OF A FOUR-DAY LECTURES AND CONCERTS AND ALL SORTS OF THINGS TALKING ABOUT THE BLACK AND AFRICAN ROOTS OF THE BANJO. AND THE THREE OF US STARTED GOING DOWN TO PLAY WITH JOE THOMPSON. AND THAT'S KIND OF HOW WE GOT STARTED, YOU KNOW. IT WAS -- IT WAS REALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR BAND SOUND FORMED AROUND PLAYING WITH HIM ON THURSDAY NIGHTS.

>> NOT ONLY HAS GIDDENS BEEN A SUCCESS AS PART OF THE CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS, BUT SHE RELEASED A SOLO ALBUM IN EARLY 2015 THAT SHE SAYS COMBINES MULTIPLE TYPES OF MUSIC AND FOCUSES ON FEMALE ARTISTS WHO HAVE PAVED THE WAY IN THE INDUSTRY. >> THE CORE OF AMERICAN MUSIC IS A VERY DEEP WELL. IT STARTS IN THE MINSTREL SCENE. IT GOES THROUGH TO, YOU KNOW, BLUES AND JAZZ, COUNTRY. EVERYTHING IS RELATED. ALL THOSE GENRES ARE RELATED. YOU KNOW, THE COUNTRY MUSIC IS NOT THAT FAR REMOVED FROM THE APPALACHIAN MUSIC AND THE BLUES MUSIC THAT IT -- YOU KNOW, THAT COMBINED TO MAKE IT. SO, TO ME, THEY ALL KIND OF BELONG TOGETHER. SO I DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE ANY ARBITRARY, OH, WELL, THIS IS GOING TO BE THIS KIND OF RECORD. IT WAS REALLY, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO PAY HOMAGE TO SO MANY OF THE WOMEN WHO HAVE COME BEFORE ME IN AMERICANA MUSIC AND HAVE OPENED DOORS AND HAVE HAD TO SORT OF KICK DOWN BARRIERS.

>> GIDDENS HAS ALSO USED HER MUSIC TO SPEAK ABOUT THE RECENT SHOOTINGS IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA. SHE WROTE A SONG AND FILMED A VIDEO IN A CHURCH IN GREENSBORO RELATING SPECIFICALLY TO THE INCIDENT.

>> I FEEL LIKE AS A FOLK MUSICIAN, YOU KNOW, WE ARE HISTORICALLY, YOU KNOW, COMMENTERS ON SOCIAL LIFE, YOU KNOW. IT'S NOT POLITICS. YOU KNOW, PEOPLE SAY, WELL, JUST WRITE A POLITICAL -- IT'S NOT POLITICS AT ALL. IT'S ABOUT, LIKE, WHAT HAPPENED. NOT JUST WHAT HAPPENED 200 YEARS AGO, BUT WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW AND HOW'S THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO. I THINK THAT'S WHERE WE COME INTO PLAY, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THIS STUFF, IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT. IT DOESN'T HAPPEN IN A VACUUM.THIS GUY JUST DIDN'T DECIDE TO DO THIS ON A WHIM. I MEAN, THIS IS ROOTED IN DEEP, DEEP ISSUES THAT HAVE GONE ON FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS. AND WHEN YOU SING THE SONGS THAT TALK ABOUT THESE ISSUES, YOU KNOW, FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN SEE THE OVERALL PICTURE.

>> ♪ SWEET GEORGIA PEACHES AND DANDELION WINE ♪

♪ BEST KIND OF FOOD IS MADE BY HAND ♪

>> GIDDENS SAYS SHE'S NOT ONLY LOOKING FORWARD TO GREENSBORO BEING HOME TO THE NATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL BUT ALSO BEING A PERFORMER AT THE VENUE. SHE HOPES IT WILL BE A MOVING EXPERIENCE FOR VISITORS.

>> I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE FOLK FESTIVAL COMING HERE. I'M -- I WAS THRILLED WHEN I FOUND OUT WE WERE IN CONTENTION, AND I WAS THRILLED WHEN I FOUND OUT THAT WE GOT IT. I THINK GREENSBORO'S REALLY COME A LONG WAY IN THE LAST 15, 20 YEARS. I MEAN, WHEN I LEFT HIGH SCHOOL, YOU KNOW, WHEN I -- YOU KNOW, WHEN I WENT OFF TO COLLEGE, I WAS LIKE, I'M NEVER LEAVING IN GREENSBORO AGAIN. YOU KNOW, 5:00 HIT. DOWNTOWN WAS LIKE TUMBLEWEEDS, YOU KNOW? AND I'M JUST -- EVERY TIME I CAME BACK AND WHEN I CAME BACK TO LIVE, YOU KNOW, I JUST WAS SO IMPRESSED WITH ALL THE CHANGES THAT I SAW OVER THE YEARS, AND DOWNTOWN IS SO VIBRANT. A BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT THE FOLK FESTIVAL IS HOW THEY BRING IN SO MANY DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, PARTS OF THE FOLK WORLD, YOU KNOW. IT'S NOT JUST BANJO MUSIC, YOU KNOW. I MEAN, THERE'S ALL THE DIFFERENT CULTURES AND THE DIFFERENT, UM, YOU KNOW, DANCE AND MUSIC AND ART AND ALL THIS KIND OF STUFF. SO I THINK WHAT I REALLY HOPE IS THAT PEOPLE WILL COME AND, LIKE, BE EXPOSED TO STUFF THEY WOULD NEVER SEE USUALLY, YOU KNOW, LIKE THEY WOULD NEVER EVEN THINK ABOUT, DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT, AND LIKE WALK AWAY GOING, OH, THAT WAS AMAZING.

♪

>> ♪ GEORGE BUCK'S DEAD ♪ ♪ LAST WORD HE SAID ♪

♪ DON'T YOU PUT NO SHORTENIN' IN MY BREAD ♪

♪ GEORGE BUCK'S DEAD ♪ ♪ LAST WORD HE SAID ♪

♪ DON'T YOU PUT NO SHORTENIN' IN MY BREAD ♪

♪

♪ GEORGE BUCK'S DEAD ♪ ♪ LAST WORD HE SAID ♪

♪ DON'T LET YOUR WOMAN DABBLE AWAY ♪

♪ IF SHE HAS HER WAY ♪ ♪ SHE WILL GO AND STAY ALL DAY ♪

♪ DON'T LET YOUR WOMAN HAVE HER WAY ♪

I THINK WE KNOW WHY SHE'S LEAVING NOW.

THAT WOULD BE A GOOD REASON.

♪

♪ GEORGE BUCK'S DEAD ♪ ♪ LAST WORD HE SAID ♪

♪ DON'T YOU PUT NO SHORTENIN' IN MY BREAD ♪

♪ DON'T YOU PUT NO SHORTENIN' IN MY BREAD ♪ ♪ NOW, NOW ♪ ♪ DON'T PUT NO SHORTENIN' IN MY

BREAD ♪

♪