Rhiannon Giddens, a recipient of a 2017 MacArthur Fellowship, announces new dates on her headlining tour in celebration of her highly praised second solo album, Freedom Highway. Giddens will perform in cities including Baltimore, Tampa, and Cincinnati (full dates below). Tickets for these new dates will go on sale on Friday, February 2nd at 10am local time and will be available here.
Recently, The MacArthur Foundation announced Rhiannon Giddens as a recipient of their prestigious “MacArthur Fellowship.” The MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “MacArthur Genius Grant,” is a five-year grant “to individuals who show exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future” and includes a no-strings-attached $625,000 grant distributed over five years. Giddens said this of being awarded the Fellowship: “I am just thrilled to announce that I have been named a MacArthur Foundation fellow! So many things I want to do – but the first thing is to thank whoever nominated and supported me for this grant – it means the world to me, and to the projects I have been longing to do.” More information about Giddens and her fellowship grant can be found here.
Freedom Highway has topped 2017’s year-end lists, including NPR Music’s (#13) who say “[Giddens] time-travels from antebellum New Orleans to the present day, touching upon spirituals and the blues, Cajun dance music and hip-hop,” and Rolling Stones’ (#6) who says “Giddens makes a most necessary argument for the contemporary urgency of centuries-old roots music stylings.” Giddens co-produced Freedom Highway with multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell in his Breaux Bridge, Louisiana studio, with the bulk of recording done in wooden rooms built prior to the Civil War. The result is an album that is rawer and more personal than its predecessor.
Giddens has a recurring role in CMT’s series Nashville, the new season of which begins in January. Her Grammy–nominated duet with country superstar Eric Church on his powerful anti-racism song “Kill a World” reached the top ten on country radio.
Rhiannon Giddens Tour Dates
February 7 | Brooklyn, NY | National Sawdust [with Lara Downes]
February 9 | New York, NY | Irish Arts Center [Duo with Dirk Powell]
February 10 | New York, NY | Irish Arts Center [Duo with Dirk Powell]
February 11 | New York, NY | Irish Arts Center [Duo with Dirk Powell]
February 17 | Jackson, MS | Mississippi Museum of Art
February 24 | New York, NY | Soundtrack ’63 at The Apollo Theater
March 3 | New York, NY | Tibet House US Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall
March 25 | Los Angeles, CA | Women In Music Festival [with Lara Downes]
April 13 | Savannah, GA | Savannah Music Festival
April 14 | Raleigh, NC | PineCone Down Home Concert Series
April 15 | Greer, SC | The Spinning Jenny
April 17 | Rocky Mount, VA | Harvester Performance Center
April 18 | Norfolk, VA | Virginia Arts Festival
April 19 | Baltimore, MD | Baltimore Sound Stage
April 23 | Tampa, FL | Ferguson Hall at The Straz Center
April 24 | Madison, GA | Madison-Morgan Cultural Center
April 25 | Charleston, SC | Charleston Music Hall
April 27 | York, SC | McCelvey Center
April 28 | Wilkesboro, NC | MerleFest
May 14 | Ithaca, NY | Hangar Theatre
May 15 | Toronto, ON | Danforth Music Hall
May 17 | Grand Rapids, MI | St. Cecelia Music Center
May 18 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan Theater
May 20 | Cincinnati, OH | Memorial Hall OTR
May 22 | Pittsburgh, PA | Byham Theater
June 13 | Kennett Square, PA | Longwood Gardens
June 15 | Lowell, MA | Lowell Summers Music Series
June 20 | Ridgefield, CT | The Ridgefield Playhouse
June 21 |Boothbay Harbor, ME | The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor
June 22 | St. Johnsbury, VT | St. Johnsbury Academy
June 28 | Frankfort, KY | The Grand Theatre
June 29 | Owensboro, KY | ROMP Festival
August 4 | Cambridge, United Kingdom | Cambridge Folk Festival 2018
August 5 | Cambridge, United Kingdom | Cherry Hinton Hill
August 15 | Chautauqua, NY | Chautauqua Amphitheater [Duo with Francesco Turrisi]
