Album of the week
Last month I read about a new upcoming project called Our Native Daughters (featuring Rhiannon Giddens of Carolina Chocolate Drops fame, Birds of Chicago's Allison Russell, Amythyst Kiah, and former Carolina Chocolate Drops member Leyla McCalla). You can read about the project in this link https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/rhiannon-giddens-new-album-songs-of-our-native-daughters . Because I have become a big fan of Birds of Chicago and Allison Russell in particular, my curiosity was piqued. After hearing songs "Quesheba, Quesheba" and "Mama's Cryin' So Long", I became very excited about the project and pre-ordered the album.
As I am waiting for the Our Native Daughters album to come out, I started to check out Rhiannon Gidden's music on YouTube (namely live performances).Apparently she is classically trained as an opera singer but opted to pick up the banjo which she is quite skillful on (as well as the fiddle). When I watched this Rhiannon's Ted Talk on Songs that bring history to life for the first time, I was completely blown out of the water. Her interpretation of "Waterboy" by Jacque Wolfe is the best song I have heard in a very long time. I just love how she channels the late civil rights activist/folk singer Odetta and lets the world knows what she is capable as a singer. This eventually led me to start listening to Rhiannon's music on Spotify.
So over the weekend I bought both of Rhiannon's solo albums Tomorrow is My Turn and Freedom Highway I adore both albums however her first solo album is my favorite. The songs resonates with me just a bit more but Freedom Highway does have some fantastic songs such as "Birmingham Sunday" (which brings me near to tears), "We Could Fly", "Come Love Come", and "Julie". It is Tomorrow is My Turn that gets more of my attention and I find myself listening to the album at least twice a day. I love that there is a mix of her classical training, delta blues, folk, and Celtic music. Rhiannon really knows how to take other artists' music (like Dolly Parton's "Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind" which her version is sooooo good) and make it her own with her amazing voice. I apologize for beating the proverbial dead horse but Rhiannon's version of "Waterboy" is so damn good that one would forget that this song was originally written by Jacques Wolfe. Here is a very old clip of James Melton singing Waterboy, and then there is Odetta singing Waterboy. Such an interesting contrast between the three singers. The entire album is magical to me. I just can't stop listening to it. For someone who listens to a lot of darker, heavier music, listening to Rhiannon Gidden's music is a breath of fresh air.
I have already requested a few of Carolina Chocolate Drops albums from the library since Spotify doesn't have many of her (former?) band's albums available for streaming.
As I am waiting for the Our Native Daughters album to come out, I started to check out Rhiannon Gidden's music on YouTube (namely live performances).Apparently she is classically trained as an opera singer but opted to pick up the banjo which she is quite skillful on (as well as the fiddle). When I watched this Rhiannon's Ted Talk on Songs that bring history to life for the first time, I was completely blown out of the water. Her interpretation of "Waterboy" by Jacque Wolfe is the best song I have heard in a very long time. I just love how she channels the late civil rights activist/folk singer Odetta and lets the world knows what she is capable as a singer. This eventually led me to start listening to Rhiannon's music on Spotify.
So over the weekend I bought both of Rhiannon's solo albums Tomorrow is My Turn and Freedom Highway I adore both albums however her first solo album is my favorite. The songs resonates with me just a bit more but Freedom Highway does have some fantastic songs such as "Birmingham Sunday" (which brings me near to tears), "We Could Fly", "Come Love Come", and "Julie". It is Tomorrow is My Turn that gets more of my attention and I find myself listening to the album at least twice a day. I love that there is a mix of her classical training, delta blues, folk, and Celtic music. Rhiannon really knows how to take other artists' music (like Dolly Parton's "Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind" which her version is sooooo good) and make it her own with her amazing voice. I apologize for beating the proverbial dead horse but Rhiannon's version of "Waterboy" is so damn good that one would forget that this song was originally written by Jacques Wolfe. Here is a very old clip of James Melton singing Waterboy, and then there is Odetta singing Waterboy. Such an interesting contrast between the three singers. The entire album is magical to me. I just can't stop listening to it. For someone who listens to a lot of darker, heavier music, listening to Rhiannon Gidden's music is a breath of fresh air.
I have already requested a few of Carolina Chocolate Drops albums from the library since Spotify doesn't have many of her (former?) band's albums available for streaming.
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