“On Freedom Highway, Rhiannon Giddens shows us that while America was never as innocent as some nostalgists want to believe, its young spirit still lives within, resistant to corruption, leading those who can hear its voice toward a better place down the road.”—NPR Music
“Rhiannon Giddens mines the pain and beauty of American social and musical history on Freedom Highway, a rich tapestry with threads of blues, folk, gospel, soul, country and jazz. Giddens’ second solo album is rootsy and relevant, delivered with crystal-clear emotion and understated musical skill.”—Associated Press
Rhiannon Giddens begins a twenty-one city headlining tour in celebration of her highly praised, Americana Award–nominated second solo album Freedom Highway on September 15, 2017 in Indiana, with stops in Nashville, Chicago, and Los Angeles, among others. Freedom Highway, released earlier this year, includes nine original songs Giddens wrote or co-wrote while she and her band toured for her debut album, 2015’s critically acclaimed Tomorrow Is My Turn, plus a traditional song and two civil rights-era songs—Richard Fariña’s “Birmingham Sunday” and Staple Singers’ well-known “Freedom Highway,” from which the album takes its name.
In addition to her Album of the Year nomination, she also will perform at the Americana Honors & Awards ceremony in Nashville on September 13. The program will be broadcast on PBS at a later date.
Freedom Highway is a departure from Tomorrow Is My Turn, which included one original song, with the rest being her interpretations of songs written or performed by a wide variety of female musicians. 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.
As producers, Giddens and Powell sought to release the stories already in the walls, allowing the space to be a voice in itself. This approach allowed for an emotional fearlessness and presence not always easy to achieve in the studio. Together they assembled the players, which included her superb touring band, local musicians from the bayou, a soulful horn section from New York, and talented family members. The principle recording was done over an intense eight-day period. 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 Fall Tour
| Friday, September 15 | Purdue University | West Lafayette, IN |
| Saturday, September 16 | The Kent Stage | Kent, OH |
| Sunday, September 17 | Marietta College, Esbenshade Series at Peoples Bank Theatre | Marietta, OH |
| Tuesday, September 19 | Capitol Theater | Madison, WI |
| Wednesday, Sept. 20 | The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University | St. Paul, MN |
| Friday, September 22 | The Vic Theatre | Chicago, IL |
| Saturday, September 23 | Buskirk-Chumley Theater | Bloomington, IN |
| Sunday, September 24 | Schermerhorn Symphony Center | Nashville, TN |
| Monday, September 25 | The Pageant | St. Louis, MO |
| Wednesday, Sept. 27 | Bijou Theatre | Knoxville, TN |
| Friday, September 29 | Germantown Performing Arts Center | Germantown, TN |
| Saturday, September 30 | Neighborhood Theatre | Charlotte, NC |
| Sunday, October 1 | Weinberg Center for the Arts | Frederick, MD |
| Tuesday, October 3 | The State Theatre | State College, PA |
| Wednesday, October 4 | Alice Jepson Theatre at University of Richmond | Richmond, VA |
| Thursday, October 5 | University of North Carolina | Greensboro, NC |
| Wednesday, October 25 | Walt Disney Concert Hall | Los Angeles, CA |
| Thursday, October 26 | University of California Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA |
| Friday, October 27 | Rio Theatre | Santa Cruz, CA |
| Saturday, October 28 | Herbst Theatre | San Francisco, CA |
| Friday–Sunday, November 10– 12 |
Cincinnati Music Hall (American Originals: Vol. 2) | Cincinnati, OH |