Rhiannon Giddens reunites with her former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmate Justin Robinson on What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, due April 18. Produced by Giddens and Joseph "joebass" DeJarnette, the album features Giddens on banjo and Robinson on fiddle, playing eighteen of their favorite North Carolina tunes. Many were learned from their late mentor, legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson; one is from another musical hero, the late Etta Baker. Giddens and Robinson recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s North Carolina homes, as well as the former plantation Mill Prong House, accompanied by the sounds of nature, including two different broods of cicadas, which had not emerged simultaneously since 1803, creating a true once-in-a-lifetime soundscape. A video of “Hook and Line,” a traditional tune from Joe Thompson’s repertoire and filmed at his home in Mebane, NC, may be seen here. The duo, along with four other string musicians, embarks on Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue Tour April 25.

Rhiannon Giddens was on NPR's Code Switch podcast to talk with co-host B.A. Parker, who is learning to play the banjo and is looking to find community and reclaim an instrument rooted in Black culture. You can hear their conversation here.