“You Louisianan”
Since 2015, Rhiannon Giddens has released five solo albums. She is also now the artistic director of Silk Road Ensemble, the musical supergroup founded by Yo-Yo Ma.
Rhiannon Giddens is one of the people who I feel like they have to start inventing new awards because she’s won all of them. She has received multiple Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for the opera she co-wrote omar, she’s a MacArthur Genius, and Beyoncé’s new song, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” is the one that features the banjo? That’s Rhiannon Giddens playing the banjo. (I guess it’s not technically an award, but it feels like one to me.)
In 2023, Rhiannon released a single titled ” You’re the onlyI talked to her about the song she wrote, “You Louisiana Man,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best American Roots Performance.
You can buy or watch You Louisiana Man here.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
Jack Splash – Producer
Niwel Tsumbu – acoustic guitar
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Opposition dance (as opposed to English country dance)
freedom highway
fretless banjo
