When I first heard the minstrel banjo - I played a gourd first - I almost lost my mind. I was like,… — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
Well, you know, the original banjos were all handmade instruments. Gourd - it would be made with gourds and whatever, you know,… — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
Getting into the banjo and discovering that it was an African-American instrument, it totally turned on its head my idea of American… — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
I'll talk about the banjo all day long and the history of minstrel shows. — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
I play a replica of a banjo from the 1950s. It was the first commercial-style banjo in the United States so it's… — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
There was such hostility to the idea of a banjo being a black instrument. It was co-opted by this white supremacist notion… — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
The banjo is my chosen instrument - it's what I write my music on. — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
To learn the history of the banjo is to recover the actual history of America. — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and… — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
I love the U.K. folk scene. In the States, nobody knows what to do with me. There's still a very narrow definition of Americana. — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
For me the bare feet are grounding. I'm connected to the Earth in a way that I cannot be any other way. — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
We have been fed so many false narratives, many of them racialized to deliberately feed a racist agenda. It's important to address and dig… — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
I had this dream like years ago. I had this dream - I wanted to be in an all-black string band. — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
To sit in my concert and be uncomfortable is brave. Because you could always leave, you know? — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
I'm really interested in history and when I looked into the settlers who came to my home state, North Carolina, I found that the… — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
That was the special thing about the Carolina Chocolate Drops. We didn't want to do music full-time. We weren't looking to get rich, which… — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
When I got into college, I got into operatic vocalists, like Leontyne Price. — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
People seem ready for a more in-depth idea of folk music, culture and history. — Rhiannon Giddens Copy Share Image
