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Rhiannon Giddens Wins MacArthur Foundation 'Genius Grant'

Rhiannon Giddens has been on a roll this past year. In 2016, she was awarded the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. In February, her third solo album, "Freedom Highway," was released on Nonesuch Records. On Sept. 26, she was selected as the keynote speaker at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) conference. And today, she was named among the recipients of the MacArthur Foundation fellowships, the so-called "Genius Grants."

Of course, like many of you, I first became aware of Giddens' work with the wonderful Carolina Chocolate Drops, a group that studied under the late, great fiddler Joe Thompson and sought to reclaim the African American tradition of Appalachian string band music. Along with founding bandmates Justin Robinson and Dom Flemons, Giddens won a 2010 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album with "Genuine Negro Jig."

The Chocolate Drops were among the earliest influences that sparked my love for the banjo and old-time music. I saw them three or four times over the years, and followed their lead in discovering Thompson's music, the black string band music available on "Altamont: Black Stringband Music from the Library of Congress" and in reading more about the history of the African American influence on this music from such authors as Dena Epstein, Cecilia Conway and Howard and Judy Sacks.

The Chocolate Drops continue today under a new formation, still led by Giddens, but Robinson and Flemons have since departed to pursue other musical projects. The new lineup was nominated for a Grammy for Best Folk Album with their 2012 release, "Leaving Eden."

Meanwhile, Giddens released her first solo album, "Tomorrow Is My Turn," in 2015, which was produced by the legendary T. Bone Burnett and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Folk Album. Her followup EP "Factory Girl," culled from the same recording sessions with Burnett, was released in 2016 and received two more Grammy nominations, for Best Folk Album and Best American Roots Performance.

Giddens' mission has been to highlight the African American influence on American roots music and to reconnect audiences to this history and social context of the banjo and old-time, bluegrass and country music.

Click here to read Giddens' keynote address to the IBMA. It is well worth reading.

And here's a great video from the MacArthur Foundation:

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