Rhiannon Giddens is a brilliant fiddle and banjo player who’s one of the few musicians alive today trained in the centuries-old black string band tradition. Giddens is a North Carolina native but now lives in Ireland, not far from her partner Francesco Turrisi. During lockdown, the duo recorded their latest album, They’re Calling Me Home. On today’s episode, Bruce Headlam talks to Giddens about her decision to write from a cultural point of view rather than her own. Giddens also talks about how she has been able to maintain a living connection to the near-extinct black square dance players. And we’ll hear her play a banjo style that originated in West Africa.

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Check out a playlist of our favorite Rhiannon Giddens songs HERE.

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