Rhiannon Giddens w/ Francesco Turrisi

Acclaimed musician Rhiannon Giddens uses her art to excavate the past and reveal bold truths about our present. A MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, she co-founded the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops. Nominated for six additional Grammys for her work as a soloist and collaborator, she was most recently nominated for her 2019 collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi. Her latest album, They’re Calling Me Home, was recorded with Turrisi in Ireland during the recent lockdown; it speaks of the longing for the comfort of home as well as the metaphorical “call home” of death, a tragic reality for so many during the COVID-19 crisis. Giddens’ lifelong mission is to lift up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been erased, and to work toward a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins.