Rhiannon Giddens

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

Dive into the cross-cultural exchange made possible by the banjo.

Dig into the old-time country music of the African American string-band musician Joe Thompson.

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

Delve into the connection between religious symbols and the early banjo.

Performance of "Better Git Yer Learnin'"

Meet some of the early figures of the Irish banjo.

"Grammy Award winner Rhiannon Giddens celebrates Black history and culture in her unflinching, uplifting, and gorgeously illustrated picture book debut. As an acclaimed musician, singer, songwriter, and cofounder of the traditional African American string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Rhiannon Giddens has long used her art to mine America's musical past and manifest its future, passionately recovering lost voices and reconstructing a nation's...

"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...