Rhiannon Giddens of Greensboro, North Carolina, will perform at El Rey Theatre May 8. She is best known as lead singer, violinist, banjo player and a founding member of African-American string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, whose 2010 album Genuine Negro Jig earned them a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. She has performed music from Native American Powwows, Appalachian ballads, and hip-hop and is also a voice coach and graphic artist.
In 2000, Giddens graduated from Oberlin Conservatory where she studied opera before relocating back home. She then became interested in rural music traditions. At the 2005 Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, North Carolina, Giddens met Justin Robinson and Dom Flemons. The three would eventually form their first folk project, Sankofa Strings.
In 2013 Giddens began pushing further into her solo career by providing the cappella track “We Rise” to the LP We Are Not For Sale: Songs of Protest by the NC Music Love Army. Then in 2014, Giddens recorded Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes, a compilation of partial songs written by Bob Dylan that were never released. In February 2015, Giddens released her debut solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, on Nonesuch Records. Don’t miss out when Giddens visits the El Rey Theatre in May!
Rhiannon Giddens @ El Rey Theatre 5/9
Saturday, May 9
Doors @ 8 PM
Show @ 9 PM
All Ages
Leave a Comment