Rhiannon Giddens has announced the first two of four planned picture books she will publish with Candlewick Press and the Walker Books Group. Representing her publishing debut and showcasing the illustrative talents of emerging Black artists Monica Mikai and Briana Mukodiri Uchendu, the new picture books—Build a House (2022) and We Could Fly (2023)—will extend her artistic project to young readers and their families. "I'm so excited to get to explore a different way to tell the stories I’ve been trying to highlight with my songs and my music," Giddens says. 

In honor of Juneteenth and Black Music Month, Rhiannon Giddens is the guest on the latest episode of Topsify's BLK in America podcast. She talks with host Dr. Maurice Stinnett about growing up Black in America and shares some songs that inspire her. "It was my discovery of the music of North Carolina and what sort of became my life's mission that helped me figure out my identity." You can watch their conversation and listen to a playlist Giddens put together for the discussion here.

Rhiannon Giddens’ new album, They're Calling Me Home, recorded with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, released earlier this year on CD and digital, is now on vinyl. Giddens and Turrisi, who both live in Ireland when they aren’t on tour, have been there since March 2020 due to the pandemic. The two expats found themselves drawn to the music of their native and adoptive countries of America, Italy, and Ireland during lockdown. Exploring the emotions brought up by the moment, Giddens and Turrisi decamped to Hellfire, a small studio on a working farm outside of Dublin, to record these songs over six days. 

Ojai Music Festival has announced details for the 75th Festival, September 16–19, 2021, with 2021 Music Director John Adams; the Ojai debuts of Rhiannon Giddens and Attacca Quartet; the return of Timo Andres; and works by Andres, Giddens, Laurie Anderson, Donnacha Dennehy, Philip Glass, Ingram Marshall, Brad Mehldau, Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, and others. The festival events will also stream live. 

"I write from a cultural point of view, from other people's point of view," Rhiannon Giddens tells Bruce Headlam on the Broken Record podcast, "trying to highlight black and mostly female voices that I feel like need to be highlighted. And a lot of times they come through as real spiritual kind of events." They also discuss her new album with Francesco Turrisi, They're Calling Me Home, which features mostly old-time songs she didn't write but which the two expats found themselves drawn to by during the COVID-19 lockdown in Ireland. You can hear the episode here.

Rhiannon Giddens is a guest on Kyle Meredith With..., an interview series hosted by WFPK’s Kyle Meredith for Consequence. "One of the all time greats," Meredith says of his guest. They discuss her new album with Francesco Turrisi, They're Calling Me Home, which Meredith calls "powerful and beautiful." You can watch their conversation here.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi have released a new video for their rendition of the traditional American folk song “O Death,” from their new album, They're Calling Me Home. The video features illustrated vignettes of a story about death painted by Maeve Clancy, an Irish crankie roll artist. Giddens explains, “Crankies are a pre-electricity technology that pair a visual narrative, usually painted on a long piece of paper or cloth, 'cranked' by hand to the timing of the song.” You can watch it here.

Rhiannon Giddens is the guest on the latest episode of Object of Sound with Hanif Abdurraqib. The two examine what it means when one refers to home, a topic Giddens contemplates on her new album with Francesco Turrisi, They're Calling Me Home. You can listen to their conversation here.

Rhiannon Giddens’ new album, They're Calling Me Home, recorded with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, is out now on Nonesuch Records (vinyl June 11). Giddens and Turrisi, who both live in Ireland when they aren’t on tour, have been there since March 2020 due to the pandemic. The two expats found themselves drawn to the music of their native and adoptive countries of America, Italy, and Ireland during lockdown. Exploring the emotions brought up by the moment, Giddens and Turrisi decamped to Hellfire, a small studio on a working farm outside of Dublin, to record these songs over six days. Giddens has released a video for "Avalon," an original song on the album, which you can watch here.

Rhiannon Giddens is a guest on the latest episode of NPR's Here & Now ahead of tomorrow's release of her new album with Francesco Turrisi, They're Calling Me Home. "If you're looking for music to soothe your spirit, Rhiannon Giddens is here for you," says host Peter O'Dowd. They discuss the new album, which Giddens and Turrisi, ex-pats in Ireland, recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown, and its themes of the longing for the comfort of home and the metaphorical call "home" of death. You can hear the conversation here.

Kronos Quartet and Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi will perform free for Carnegie Hall's first-ever online festival, Voices of Hope, April 16–30. The two-week festival examines the life-affirming power of music and the arts during times of crisis through more than 100 events, including programming presented by Carnegie Hall and more than 40 cultural and academic institutions across New York City and beyond. Kronos Quartet performs works by Terry Riley and others on April 24, and Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turris perform from their new album, They're Calling Me Home, on April 28.

Aria Code, the Rhiannon Giddens–hosted podcast from The Metropolitan Opera and WQXR, returns for its third season today. The new season opens with "Nessun dorma," from Puccini's opera Turandot. Giddens hears from conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, writer Anne Midgette, and Dr. Michael Cho, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who has been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and is a violist with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra and the National Virtual Medical Orchestra. You can hear the episode here.