By CLTure
October 22, 2024
Photo: Ebru Yildiz
Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning musician and songwriter Rhiannon Giddens has announced a new festival, Biscuits & Banjos, set to take place April 25-27, 2025 in downtown Durham. The Greensboro, North Carolina native, Giddens, will serve as the artistic director and curator of the event, reuniting her band, Carolina Chocolate Drops, with members Dom Flemons, Justin Robinson, and Leyla McCalla. The North Carolina old-time Americana string band won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2011.
The festival lineup will also include blues legend Taj Mahal, Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Christian McBride, country singer Rissi Palmer, family gospel group The Legendary Ingramettes, and Black string band New Dangerfield.
Spanning three days at multiple venues throughout downtown Durham, attendees will also experience panels and workshops celebrating music, literature, food, and visual arts. There will also be a celebrity chef biscuit bake-off, square dances, free banjo lessons, and more. Giddens will perform multiple sets over the weekend, also leading a revue-style show with special guests and friends.
“This festival has been a long-time dream of mine,” said Giddens. “It’s about honoring the connections that tie Black culture together across time and geography, whether it’s through music, food, or storytelling.”
The festival will also commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Black Banjo Gathering, where Giddens started her music career in 2005 after meeting Dom Flemons and Súle Greg Wilson at the event in Boone.
“The Black Banjo Gathering was such an important milestone for me personally, and I want Biscuits & Banjos to bring that same spirit of discovery and community to today’s generation of artists and fans,” Giddens added.
Giddens, a 2017 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” recipient, released her latest album, You’re the One, in 2023. Her banjo instrumental was also featured on Beyonce’s “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM,” from the album Cowboy Carter.
Tickets to Biscuits & Banjo start at $132 and will go on sale to the general public on Friday, October 25. A portion of ticket sales and merchandise proceeds will go to hurricane relief efforts.
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