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Performances and conversations with breakout artists across several genres of American traditional music.
“Changing the face of American music.”
2025
Rhiannon visits with Róisín Elsafty in the Gothic Church at Kylemore Abbey in Connemara.
Rhiannon visits with Loah at Connolly's of Leap, a 500-year-old pub in West Cork.
Irish banjo master Enda Scahill is featured with step dancer Stephanie Keane.
Rhiannon joins Irish piper and flutist Emer Mayock in Castlebar, County Mayo.
Rhiannon visits guitarist Niwel Tsumbu on his family farm near Kinsale in County Cork.
Rhiannon joins Karan Casey and Niall Vallely at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork City.
2024
Host Rhiannon Giddens performs and talks with pipa master Wu Man, a 2023 NEA National Heritage Fellow who has been part of Silkroad Ensemble since its founding in 2000 by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. They talk about the origins of the pipa and discuss Silk Road’s multi-year “American Railroad” project.
Host Rhiannon Giddens shares a musical visit with Celtic harpist Maeve Gilchrist in an historic North Carolina train station. They discuss the harp’s place in different musical traditions and talk about Maeve’s original composition for Silkroad Ensemble’s “American Railroad” project.
Host Rhiannon Giddens visits with Mazz Swift, a violinist, vocalist, and improvisational conductor whose musical journey includes education at Juilliard, playing music in the New York subway, and working with goats on a farm.
Sandeep Das is a virtuoso on the northern India drums called tabla, and his musical education included living for twelve years in the home of a famous guru. Sandeep and host Rhiannon share a visit in L.A.’s Union Station that concludes with a Silkroad Ensemble performance at U.C. Berkeley featuring the tabla.
Japanese percussionist Haruka Fujii talks with Rhiannon about the surprising history of the marimba in Japan and her own mission to spread the beauty of Japanese music to diverse audiences. They discuss Silkroad’s “American Railroad” project, and the episode ends with a performance of Fujii’s original composition “Tamping Song”.
Native American vocalist and lap steel guitarist Pura Fé has both Tuscarora and Taino blood in her veins and generations of ancestors in her voice. She shares her personal background and musical journey in an episode that culminates in a Silkroad Ensemble performance of her song “Mahk Jchi”.
2023
Rhiannon Giddens shares a musical visit with three lifelong friends: Justin Robinson, a co-founder of the ground-breaking black string band, Carolina Chocolate Drops; her sister, singer Lalenja Harrington; and singer-songwriter Laurelyn Dossett.
Host Rhiannon Giddens shares a musical visit with longtime friend Allison Russell, the Canadian singer-songwriter and activist whose album Outside Child has received three Grammy nominations and many international accolades.
Host Rhiannon Giddens visits with Rissi Palmer, a passionate voice for country music artists of color and those who have been marginalized by the mainstream music establishment. Rissi performs her first hit song, “Country Girl,” and 2019’s “Seeds.”
Charly Lowry is an indigenous singer and songwriter of Lumbee/Tuscarora descent whose native American roots and experiences inform her music. Host Rhiannon Giddens visits Charly’s tribal homeland of Robeson County, NC for songs and conversation.
Indie artist Adia Victoria grew up not far from Nina Simone’s childhood home in Tryon, NC. Host Rhiannon Giddens meets her there to share music and hear stories about her strict religious upbringing and her self-discovery through the blues.
New Orleans native Joy Clark is a lyrical guitarist and rising singer/songwriter on the Americana music scene. She and host Rhiannon Giddens share music and talk about her religious upbringing and her lifelong love affair with the guitar.
Host Rhiannon sits down with her partner and collaborator, Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, for a look back at their meeting, the discovery of their musical affinities, and their shared vision of musical heritage that crosses borders.
