Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson – What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (2025) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson – What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (2025)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:39 minutes | 895 MB | Genre: Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Nonesuch

Rhiannon Giddens reunites with her former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmate Justin Robinson on ‘What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow’, an album of North Carolina fiddle and banjo music. Produced by Giddens and Joseph ‘joebass’ DeJarnette, the album features Giddens on banjo and Robinson on fiddle, with the duo playing eighteen of their favourite North Carolina tunes: a mix of instrumentals and tunes with words.North Carolina has no better ambassador than Rhiannon Giddens, who has made it her life’s mission to spread the gospel of her home state’s oldest music—through the banjo, which was adapted from African gourd instruments; and the songs of the mountains, carried there by both enslaved people and Scots-Irish immigrants. It’s transmitted through her solo work, as well as her group the Carolina Chocolate Drops; through her new Biscuits and Banjos festival and via her latest album, a collaboration with fellow former Chocolate Drop Justin Robinson. What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow is a collection of traditionals, although that word is elastic—as these songs got passed down with personal preferences, it became sort of a game of telephone leading to different interpretations. You may not recognize the exact melodies or lyrics of this “Little Brown Jug” or “John Henry,” but that makes them even more interesting.

Giddens’ purpose here, she has said, was to remind listeners that this is “old-fashioned front porch music … made for your community’s enjoyment and for dancing—not solely for commercial purposes.” To that end, she and Robinson literally took it outside, recording in the yards of the former Mill Prong plantation in Red Springs, Nor Carolina, as well as the homes of Piedmont musicians Etta Baker and Joe Thompson, who mentored both Giddens and Robinson. You hear birds chirping as the two wrap up the gregarious race of “Brown’s Dream,” one of many instrumentals. “Pumpkin Pie”—which so clearly illustrates the region’s musical ties to the U.K.—combines Giddens strumming her banjo like percussion and Robinson quickly sawing at the fiddle to create a buzz, which continues after the song stops, in the form of an immersive cicada symphony. “This is the soundddddd!” Robinson crows, triggering Giddens’ happy laughter.

There is so much joy on What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, as when Robinson proclaims “That felt so good to me” at the end of the flirtatious “Duck’s Eyeball,” which finds Giddens creating a bass-like rhythm. Her fiddle is bright as a bell on “Rain Crow,” which will be more familiar to most as the nursery rhyme “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More.” “Country Waltz” is as delicate as filigree, while “Molly Put the Kettle On” bubbles at a hard boil. “Old Joe Clark”—with different lyrics than, say, the Kingston Trio’s cover here (“Joe’s “killed a man/ Buried him in the sand”)—is fueled by speedy banjo, and Robinson’s seesaw melody on “Hook and Line” is completely mesmerizing. We get very little of Giddens’ singing, but when she harmonizes on tunes like “Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss,” it’s like a glimpse of sunlight. Her and Robinson’s “Marching Jaybird” banjo duet understands time and ease are luxuries. And the whole thing ends with “Walkin’ in the Parlor,” a technical stunner timed at a furious clip, with Giddens’ strident strum setting the pace. As the pair laugh at the close, the tape keeps rolling to capture the nature around them. – Shelly Ridenour

Tracklist:

1-1. Rhiannon Giddens – Rain Crow (02:28)
1-2. Rhiannon Giddens – Brown’s Dream (02:40)
1-3. Rhiannon Giddens – Hook and Line (02:30)
1-4. Rhiannon Giddens – Pumpkin Pie (02:01)
1-5. Rhiannon Giddens – Duck’s Eyeball (01:58)
1-6. Rhiannon Giddens – Ryestraw (02:21)
1-7. Rhiannon Giddens – Little Brown Jug (02:48)
1-8. Rhiannon Giddens – Going to Raleigh (02:28)
1-9. Rhiannon Giddens – Country Waltz (02:01)
1-10. Rhiannon Giddens – Molly Put the Kettle On (01:31)
1-11. Rhiannon Giddens – Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss (02:32)
1-12. Rhiannon Giddens – John Henry (03:18)
1-13. Rhiannon Giddens – Love Somebody (01:58)
1-14. Rhiannon Giddens – Ebenezer (02:18)
1-15. Rhiannon Giddens – Old Joe Clark (02:35)
1-16. Rhiannon Giddens – Old Molly Hare (01:39)
1-17. Rhiannon Giddens – Marching Jaybird (02:17)
1-18. Rhiannon Giddens – Walkin’ in the Parlor (04:07)

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