photo: Karen Cox

 
The seventh studio album from Rhiannon Giddens will be released on September 18 via Nonesuch Records. Hope is the Thing with Feathers emphasizes community and connection both through the roster of personnel as well as the material that appears on the record. She has just released “Carolina Rain,” the first single from the album, which is available on multiple platforms.

Giddens contributes vocals, minstrel banjo and fiddle to the 10 tracks. She is joined by longtime bassist Jason Sypher, Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi (accordion, percussion), Congolese artist Niwel Tsumbu (guitars), Charly Lowry (vocals, percussion) and Louisiana native Dirk Powell on multiple instruments. In addition, the players include Giddens’ nephew Justin Harrington (bones), Powell’s daughter Amelia Powell (acoustic guitar, vocals), and Giddens’ sister Lalenja Harrington. Giddens’ fellow Carolina Chocolate Drops alum Justin Robinson contributes vocals and fiddle.

 “Louisiana, the Congo, Italy, the Carolinas—all of these influences and people coming together to make something: that is American music. It’s how American music came to be, and that was the original thought of creating a band with the musicians that I’ve been playing with for years, and featured on this album,” Giddens says of the musicians who join her on the release.

On the title track Giddens drew inspiration from an Emily Dickinson poem, as she notes, “This is most certainly a time where hope is needed more than ever; I was sitting in a hotel room pondering this poem when the tune was downloaded into my brain; I sang it for Niwel and he finished it with his beautiful harmonic movement. Art reaches across generations and continents to be completed, sometimes, by folks who will never meet.”

Meanwhile, the American Tunes: Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing tour will open in Seattle on Friday. On these five shows, which will take place between June 26 and August 5 Giddens will be joined by Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Hurray for the Riff Raff. (Staples will not appear in Seattle but is slated to perform on the other dates.) Giddens upcoming dates and the Hope is the Thing with Feathers track list appear below.

Hope is the Thing with Feathers Track List

Angel Fire Rise
Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
Step Away Blues
Wish in Vain
Carolina Rain
High on a Mountain
Freight Train
Walk with Me
Cluck Old Hen
Going Home

American Tunes: Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Tour

June 26 – Seattle, WA – Chateau St. Michelle (with Mary Chapin Carpenter and Hurray for the Riff Raff)

June 27 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater (with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Hurray for the Riff Raff)

July 30 – Bentonville, AR – The Momentary (with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Hurray for the Riff Raff)

Aug 1 – Asheville, NC – Hellbender by The Orange Peel (with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Hurray for the Riff Raff)

Aug 2 – Pelham, TN – The Caverns Outdoor Amphitheater (with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Hurray for the Riff Raff)

Rhiannon Giddens Tour Dates:

July 17 – Trumansburg, NY – Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival

July 18 – Oak HIll, NY – Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival

July 19 – Hanover, NH – Hopkins Center for the Arts

July 22 – Wilmington, NC – Greenfield Lake Amphitheater

July 25 – Lyons, CO – RockyGrass

July 28 – Bar Harbor, ME – Criterion Theater

Aug 20 – Lenox, MA – Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood *

Aug 21 – Waterloo, NY – The Vine Theater at del Lago Resort *

Aug 22 – Chautauqua, NY – Chautauqua Institution *

Nov 01 – Minneapolis, MN – Walker Art Center (Mack Lecture Series)

Nov 14 – New York, NY – Carnegie Hall (with Silkroad Ensemble & Yo-Yo Ma)

Nov 25-29 – Hamburg, Germany – Elbphilharmonie

* Performance with Silkroad Ensemble — Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual