Rhiannon Giddens Announces Album With Carolina Chocolate Drops Bandmate Justin Robinson & The Old-Time Revue Tour Dates

Rhiannon Giddens teamed back up with her former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmate Justin Robinson for a new album, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, out on April 18 via Nonesuch Records and previewed with their take on the traditional tune, “Hook and Line.” Giddens and Robinson will support the new LP on the Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue Tour, which begins in April.

Rhiannon Giddens will kick off the tour in Durham, North Carolina, on April 25, continuing through the 27th. On April 30, Giddens and company will perform in Asheville, North Carolina. Next stop is in Miami, Florida, on May 2. On May 3, the string band will take the stage in Atlanta, Georgia followed by a performance in Birmingham, Alabama on May 4.

The tour will make its way to Nashville, Tennessee, on May 7 and then to Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 8. On May 9, Giddens and company will perform in Chicago, Illinois and on May 11, they will be in Washington, D.C. The tour moves on to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a show on May 13, before heading to Toronto, Ontario for two performances on May 15 and 16. The band will then perform in Ottawa, Ontario on May 17.

In June, the tour will continue with a performance in Napa, California on June 15. On June 16, the band will be in Ventura, California. The next stop will be in San Diego, California on June 19, followed by a show in Berkeley, California on June 21. The tour will hit Seattle, Washington on June 23 and will conclude on June 26 in Montréal, Quebec at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Tickets for the Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue Tour go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 7 at 10 a.m. local.

The Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue Tour will also feature fiddler Justin Robinson, with whom Giddens recorded What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow. The pair drew inspiration from late musical heroes Etta Baker and North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson. Press materials further detailed the album:

Giddens and Robinson recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s North Carolina homes, as well as the former plantation Mill Prong House. They were accompanied by the sounds of nature, including two different broods of cicadas, which had not emerged simultaneously since 1803, creating a true once-in-a-lifetime soundscape.

Giddens commented on the record as well:

“With the assaults on reality going on in the world today, we wanted to offer another kind of record, like walking back onto a gravel or dirt road while a stampede goes the other way. With the cicada choir, this record could’ve only happened at a certain time in the last 120 years. We doubled down on place, time, realness, and old-fashioned front porch music. It’s a reminder that another way exists, with music made for your community’s enjoyment and for dancing–not solely for commercial purposes.

“What is the role of music in our society?” How do we de-couple it from unfettered capitalism, where music is a product and musicians are incidental? How do we use the tools and system that we have been bequeathed in a way that reminds us of other ways of being?”

Previewing the 18-track LP is “Hook and Line.” The traditional is from the late Joe Thompson’s repertoire and was the first song he learned.

“Recording this album felt like being back in the saddle,” Robinson added. “Just this time Joe is not here, and his fiddle is under my chin. The album is about home, the cicadas, the storms, the music, and the people who make it feel like home.”

Preview What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow by watching the music video for “Hook and Line” below: