“You Louisiana Man”

Rhiannon Giddens has launched 5 solo albums since 2015. Earlier than that, she was a member of the Grammy-profitable band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. She is now additionally the inventive director of the Silkroad Ensemble, the musical supergroup that Yo-Yo Ma based.

Rhiannon Giddens is a kind of individuals the place I really feel like they’ve to begin inventing new awards, as a result of she’s already gained all of them. She’s received a number of Grammys, she gained the Pulitzer Prize for an opera she co-wrote referred to as Omar, she’s a MacArthur Genius, and the brand new Beyonce track “Texas Maintain ‘Em,” the one which options the banjo? That’s Rhiannon Giddens taking part in the banjo. (I suppose that’s not technically an award, but it surely seems like one to me.)

In 2023, Rhiannon launched an album referred to as You’re the One, and I talked to her in regards to the track she wrote referred to as “You Louisiana Man,” which was nominated for a Grammy for Finest American Roots Efficiency.

You should purchase or stream “You Louisiana Man” right here.

For a transcript of this episode, click on right here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

Jack Splash – producer
Niwel Tsumbu – acoustic guitar
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Contra dance (versus English nation dance)
Freedom Freeway
Fretless banjo