32 Facts About Rhiannon Giddens

1.

Rhiannon Giddens was born on February 21,1977 and is an American musician known for her eclectic folk music.

2.

Rhiannon Giddens is a founding member of the country, blues, and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she was the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player.

3.

Rhiannon Giddens's mother, Deborah Jamieson, is a descendant of African Americans and Native American tribes including the Lumbee, Occaneechi, and Seminole.

4.

Rhiannon Giddens' parents separated soon after her birth, when Deborah Rhiannon Giddens came out as a lesbian.

5.

Rhiannon Giddens's sister Lalenja Harrington is a director for Beyond Academics, a four-year certificate program supporting students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

6.

Rhiannon Giddens is an alumna of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, and a 2000 graduate of Oberlin Conservatory at Oberlin College, where she studied opera.

7.

In 2007, Rhiannon Giddens contributed fiddle, banjo, "flat-footin'" dancing and additional vocals to Talitha MacKenzie's album Indian Summer.

8.

In 2013, Rhiannon Giddens began pushing further into her solo career.

9.

Rhiannon Giddens participated in "Another Day, Another Time", a concert inspired by the Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis.

10.

Many critics have stated that Rhiannon Giddens had the best performance at what was called "the concert of the year".

11.

In early 2014 Rhiannon Giddens recorded for Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes alongside Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Taylor Goldsmith and Jim James.

12.

In February 2015, Rhiannon Giddens released her debut solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, on Nonesuch Records.

13.

Rhiannon Giddens's performance was broadcast live by the German national public radio Deutschlandfunk.

14.

Rhiannon Giddens appears on Jon Lindsay's single "Ballad of Lennon Lacy".

15.

Rhiannon Giddens appeared on Jools Holland's Hootenanny on December 31,2015, shown on BBC Two.

16.

Rhiannon Giddens performed songs from her 2015 album Tomorrow Is My Turn, including "Waterboy" and a cover of "St James Infirmary Blues" with Tom Jones.

17.

Rhiannon Giddens was selected to take part in Transatlantic Sessions in January 2016.

18.

Later in the year, Rhiannon Giddens became the first American to be honored as Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

19.

In 2017, Rhiannon Giddens became only the fourth musician to perform at both the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals.

20.

In October 2017, Rhiannon Giddens was named one of the 2017 class of MacArthur "Genius" Fellows.

21.

In January 2018, Rhiannon Giddens co-produced Songs of Our Native Daughters for Smithsonian Folkways.

22.

Rhiannon Giddens recorded vocals for Silo Songs, an audio installation created by composer Brad Wells for Hancock Shaker Village.

23.

Rhiannon Giddens contributed a song, "Mountain Hymn", to the popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2 which was released in October 2018.

24.

In 2019, Rhiannon Giddens released two studio albums: Songs of Our Native Daughters with Allison Russell, Leyla McCalla and Amythyst Kiah, and There Is No Other with Italian musician Francesco Turrisi.

25.

Rhiannon Giddens wrote the libretto and served as lead composer with help from co-composer Michael Abels.

26.

In July 2020, Rhiannon Giddens was named Artistic Director of the cross-cultural music organization Silkroad.

27.

Rhiannon Giddens earned an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for her lasting impact on the UNCG community and work in music.

28.

Rhiannon Giddens sang "Calling me Home" by Alice Gerrard at a virtual commencement after accepting the degree in December 2020.

29.

In 2017 and 2018, Rhiannon Giddens appeared in the fifth and sixth seasons of the CMT's Nashville as Hannah Lee "Hallie" Jordan, a social worker and gospel singer who is a significant character in Juliette's storyline.

30.

Rhiannon Giddens appeared in 11 episodes and performed several songs that have been made available following each episode.

31.

Rhiannon Giddens has announced that she will have four children's books published by Candlewick Press.

32.

In 2019, Rhiannon Giddens began a relationship with her Italian musical partner Francesco Turrisi.