Rhiannon Giddens has composed a new song, "Best Day / New Day," for NPR's Morning Edition Song Project, in which musicians create an original song about the COVID-19 era. Giddens and Francesco Turrisi talk with Morning Edition host David Greene about the song, life during the pandemic, and its context in world history. You can hear the conversation and the song here.

Yola, Rhiannon Giddens, and Laurie Anderson took part in Great Performances: Grammy Salute to Music Legends, an awards ceremony and tribute concert to present the Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards on PBS. Yola performs "Up Above My Head" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, to whom Rhiannon Giddens presents a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award. Laurie Anderson performs "Gee-Whiz," her collaboration with Philip Glass, and presents him with the Trustees Award. You can watch it all here.

Rhiannon Giddens is the guest on the inaugural episode of NPR Music's Amplify with Lara Downes, a new bi-weekly series of intimate video conversations "with visionary Black musicians who are shaping the present and future of the art form," says NPR. "Rhiannon is my friend and soul sister, my fellow traveler on the path that leads to the deep center of American music," says Downes. "In this year of staying home and standing still, we reflect together on the long miles we've traveled so far and what we've found on our journeys, envisioning the wide open road ahead." You can watch it here.

While most of us can't go out to take in great live music, here are some events taking place online to enjoy while staying home this weekend: Sam Amidon performs in concert from Kings Place in London on Saturday; Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris, and Yola can be see in the free online Hardly Strictly Bluegrass on Saturday; Joachim Cooder concludes his virtual in-store tour via Electric Fetus Instagram Live tonight; and Rob Mazurek performs Friday–Sunday from Marfa for his art show in Florence, Italy.

Rhiannon Giddens has teamed with composer Michael Abels (Get Out) and members of the Met Opera Chorus and Nashville Ballet for a new interpretation of her song "Cry No More," which she first wrote and released in the wake of the 2015 Charleston church shooting. Following the murder of Breonna Taylor, Giddens re-recorded the track to emphasize its timeliness with added fervor, as she makes a plea for unity against injustice. You can watch the new video here.

Thriving Roots, the Americana Music Association Foundation's new virtual conference, takes place starting Wednesday, September 16. The three-day event features 100 online sessions, including panels with Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris, Chris Thile, Yola, and Ry Cooder. On Thursday, there's Yola with Brandi Carlile and Chris Thile with Sarah Jarosz and John Leventhal; on Friday, it's Ry Cooder with Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris with Ken Burns, and Rhiannon Giddens with Taj Mahal and Ann Powers.

Rhiannon Giddens joined forces with Amanda Palmer to cover Portishead's song "It's A Fire," recorded from several continents during COVID-19 lockdown. All profits go to the Free Black University Fund. "It was a delight to work on this with Amanda Palmer ... Felt so good to make some art together, even separated by half a world," says Giddens. "We all need to take a collective breath together, and breathe on ... it's all of us or none of us."

Rhiannon Giddens has released a new original song, "Don’t Call Me Names," about rejecting toxic behavior. The track debuted on the inaugural episode of Southern Craft Radio, Kelly McCartney’s new show on Apple Music Country, and can be heard here. "The framework in the song is a love affair, but it can happen in any kind of connection," Giddens says. "The real story was accepting my inner strength and refusing to continue being gas-lit and held back; and refusing to keep sacrificing my mental health for the sake of anything or anyone ... When I listen to it, the anger that I felt then now is the anger I feel at my entire country being gas-lit, held back, and sacrificed. We have to keep saying NO to toxic behavior, no matter how small or large the stage, and keep saying it nice and loud.”

While we can't go out to take in great live music, here are some events taking place online to enjoy while staying home this weekend: Yola performs in Jack Daniel's Crash the Couch livestream festival to benefit the Sweet Relief Fund tonight, Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi perform in the online Philadelphia Folk Festival on Saturday, Jeremy Denk and Tyondai Braxton each take part in the Bang on a Can Marathon on Sunday, and Rachael & Vilray's July concert at Black Birch Vineyard gets its streaming premiere on Sunday.

Rhiannon Giddens has been appointed the next Artistic Director of Silkroad. Her first official appearance will be this Wednesday in a virtual concert for Tanglewood. "Rhiannon is a source of inspiration for all of us," says Kathy Fletcher, Executive Director of Silkroad. “In addition to her enormous musical talent, she fosters an immense social consciousness and creates unity through her art. These are goals for which we consistently strive in our own performances and education initiatives." "Rhiannon is an extraordinary human being and musician," says Silkroad founder Yo-Yo Ma. "She lives Silkroad’s values, at once rooted in history and its many musics, and is an advocate for the contemporary voices that can move us to work together for a better world."

While we can't go out to take in great live music, here are some events taking place online to enjoy while staying home this weekend: Lianne La Havas joins NPR Music's live listening party of her new album; Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi perform in National Concert Hall Covid-19 memorial concert; Chris Thile's Caramoor concert is streamed; Sam Amidon performs on DeBarra's Folk Club Facebook live; Jeremy Denk's 2015 BBC Proms debut airs on BBC Radio 3; the virtual Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival features past sets by Nickel Creek, Michael Daves.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi performed "At the Purchaser's Option," the opening track to Giddens' 2017 album, Freedom Highway, from home in Ireland for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's online series Play at Home today. You can watch it here.