Multi-instrumentalist and singer Rhiannon Giddens is a name you may recognize from her time with the Carolina Chocolate Drops. With a rich historical respect for cultural and musical roots in Americana, Folk & Rhythm and Blues -Rhiannon has just release her first formal solo effort titled Tomorrow Is My Turn which has garnered 23k scrobbles in the month since it's release. Rhiannon come with band in tow to the Last.fm NYC studios to perform tracks from her debut release.

From 2010 onward, the Carolina Chocolate Drops (94k listeners; tagged: Bluegrass) have demonstrated a tremendous gratitutde and respect towards the role of African American string music in shaping popular music. Their Nonesuch Records release Genuine Negro Jig (337k scrobbles) even snatched up a Grammy for 'Best Traditional Folk Album'. Before long, Rhiannon had caught the attention of industry legend T. Bone Burnett who then invited her to participate in the New Basement Tapes - a tribute recording of previously lost songs written by Bob Dylan featuring collaboration with Elvis Costello, Taylor Goldsmith Dawes, Jim James My Morning Jacket and Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons.

Last.fm Session with Dawes
Last.fm Session with Mumford and Sons
My Morning Jacket: Live on Letterman

Rhiannon also paritcipated in the Another Day, Another Time soundtrack to the Coen Brothers documentary film 'Inside Llewyn Davis - a celebration of folk & americana music. Her talented vocal work on the Odetta classic "Waterboy" shone through and stunned audiences nationwide. Following her performance of "Waterboy" on the Late Show with David Letterman, Rhiannon graciously paid Last.fm a visit with Chocolate Drops members Hubby Jenkins on guitar, Malcom Parson on cello, Jamie Dick on percussion and Jason Sypher on stand-up bass (not picutred is percussionist Rowan Corbett who was unavailable for the session.) The chemistry between the players is beyond words, as demonstrated in this rendition of "Shake Sugaree" (3k scrobbles and counting)

In 2013 Rhiannon began to focus more heavily on her solo vocal work over her banjo, graphic-design, voice-coach and seemingly thousands of other skills... leading to the release of her premiere self-billed work: Tomorrow Is My Turn. Also featuring the production work of T. Bone, the old-timey R&B vibes are so palatably prevalent within Rhinannon's powerful vocal renditions of country, jazz & blues tunes from the likes of Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline and Nina Simone. The records proves to be a tremendous respect to all of Rhiannon's roots & inspiration and is available now from iTunes.

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