Rhiannon Giddens, the Guest Curator of the 2018 Cambridge Folk Festival, has selected the performers she has invited to Cherry Hinton Hall this August 2–5: Peggy Seeger, Kaia Kater, Birds of Chicago, Amythyst Kiah, and Yola Carter will be introduced by Giddens before each takes the stage. Giddens will also perform at the Festival. She will give the keynote address at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville this Saturday.

Rhiannon Giddens recently sat down with The Bluegrass Situation to perform "Mal Hombre," singer/guitarist Lydia Mendoza's 1934 song. The performance, for the site's Sitch Sessions, took place in a flower-filled 1954 Silver Streak trailer in East Nashville. You can watch it here.

Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell were on WNYC's Soundcheck. They discussed and performed music from her 2017 album, Freedom Highway, which she co-produced with Powell in his Louisiana studio, songs from an in-progress theater work, and more. Watch the episode here.

Rhiannon Giddens has announced sixteen new headlining dates on her Freedom Highway tour. The new tour stops include shows in Baltimore, Tampa, and Cincinnati and are part of several months of touring across the US. Tickets for the new dates go on sale this Friday, February 2.

American Songwriter magazine has released its year-end-best lists, and among the artists featured are Rhiannon Giddens, Robert Plant, and Fleet Foxes. Rhiannon Giddens's album Freedom Highway and Robert Plant's Carry Fire have made the Top 25 Albums of 2017, and Giddens, Plant, and Fleet Foxes have songs on the list of the Top 25 Songs of 2017.

With more than a month to go before 2017 comes to a close, the UK music magazines have begun to weigh in on the year's best music. Uncut, Mojo, and Q have all published their lists of the Best Albums of the Year, and included among them are a number of Nonesuch releases: the latest albums from Fleet Foxes, Rhiannon Giddens, Randy Newman, Robert Plant, The Magnetic Fields, and Offa Rex.

Rhiannon Giddens begins a tour of the UK and Ireland with music from her new album, Freedom Highway, at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London tonight. The tour continues with concerts in Bristol, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Pocklington, Manchester, Dublin, Glasgow, and Gateshead. She joins Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne in France in December.

Congratulations to Robert Plant, who has been named the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Americana Music Association UK. It is the group's highest honor and goes to a UK artist for outstanding contribution to the Americana genre over the span of a career. And congratulations to Rhiannon Giddens, who has been nominated for International Artist of the Year at the 2018 UK Americana Awards. The awards show will take place on February 1, 2018, at the Hackney Empire in East London.

Congratulations to singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter Rhiannon Giddens, who has been named a MacArthur Fellow. Giddens is among the twenty-four new MacArthur Fellow for 2017, selected by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The annual fellowship, often referred to as the "Genius" grant, awards individuals who, in the Foundation's words, "have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction." Watch Giddens discuss her work and the fellowship in a MacArthur Foundation video here.

Rhiannon Giddens delivered the keynote address at the 2017 International Bluegrass Music Association business conference held in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday, September 26. Here are her remarks, titled "Community and Connection."

Rhiannon Giddens has been announced as the guest curator for the 2018 Cambridge Folk Festival, its 54th year, August 2–5, 2018. "I am honoured to be the next guest curator for Cambridge Folk Festival," says Giddens. "Having played the Festival before I know how special Cambridge is and I am really excited to be contributing to the line-up next year as well as performing." She is currently touring North America and heads to the UK and Ireland on tour in November.

Rhiannon Giddens was a guest on NPR's World Cafe. She and Dirk Powell, with whom she co-produced her new album, Freedom Highway, spoke with NPR Music's Ann Powers and performed three songs from the album: "At the Purchaser's Option," "The Love We Almost Had," and "Freedom Highway." "There are very few artists who can bring the past into the present in a way that captures both the nuance of history and the immediacy of now," says World Cafe host Talia Schlanger. "But Rhiannon Giddens has done it, beautifully, on her second solo album, Freedom Highway."