Rhiannon Giddens

"At a sparrow's urging, a young girl feels a mysterious trembling in her arms, a lightness in her feet, a longing to be free. Her mother tells her that her Granny Liza experienced the same, as did many of their people before her. Perhaps it's time, Mama says, to slip the bonds of earth and join the journey started long ago. To hold each other tight and rise. Drawing on lyrics from the song "We Could Fly" by Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell, which...

Although difficult to study, minstrel shows play an important part in the banjo's history.

If African Americans invented the banjo, why did they stop playing it?

Explore the "gourd banjo" and the conversation between African and European music.

See how the gourd banjos eventually led to the development of the tambourine.

The course ends with a look back-and a look forward.

Meet some of the early figures of the Irish banjo.

Don't Get Trouble in Your Mind: The Carolina Chocolate Drops' Story captures how three musicians from the hip-hop generation embraced a 19th-century genre and took it to new heights, winning a Grammy in 2010.

"An illuminating history of the banjo, revealing its origins at the crossroads of slavery, religion, and music. In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo's key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the banjo's beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from...

Award-winning host Rhiannon Giddens shares songs and conversations with outstanding guest performers.