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Meet Rhiannon Giddens, Newly Minted MacArthur 'Genius'

By Stephen Thompson
Published October 11, 2017 at 2:11 AM EDT
On Wednesday morning, Rhiannon Giddens was awarded a MacArthur "Genius Grant."
Courtesy of the artist
On Wednesday morning, Rhiannon Giddens was awarded a MacArthur "Genius Grant."

As a solo artist 鈥� and, before that, as a member of the 鈥� singer-songwriter has made a career out of revitalizing and invigorating decades' worth of music reflecting the African-American experience. That's meant singing songs slave narratives and , and even occasionally offering up twists on .

Today, Giddens joins the impressive list of artists and thinkers who've received so-called "Genius Grants" from the . The recipients 鈥� others this year include and 鈥� each receive $625,000 with no strings attached, in the hope that they can pursue their work without financial limitations.

If Giddens' recognition has piqued your interest, below you'll find a nice introduction 鈥� a cross-section of performances from and interviews with Giddens, captured by NPR Music and our partner stations in the last few years.

  • Hear Giddens speak with Fresh Air's Terry Gross in and with in February 2015

  • Read a review of her 2017 album,

  • Stream Giddens' and Carolina Chocolate Drops' and sets fromMountain Stage

  • Listen to with Giddens, Patty Griffin, Shakey Graves and NPR Music's Ann Powers

  • Relive Carolina Chocolate Drops' profile, , and

  • Hear a pair of 2007 NPR interviews with the Carolina Chocolate Drops on and

  • Check out a of the band on Fresh Air

    • Note: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, whichthese grants, is among NPR's financial supporters.

    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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    Stephen Thompson
    Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)
    See stories by Stephen Thompson