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.

Rhiannon Giddens has released a video of her performing a new song she's written, "Build a House," featuring Yo-Yo Ma on cello, in honor of Juneteenth. "This song came knocking about a week ago and I had to open the door and let it in," Giddens says. "What can I say about what’s been happening, what has happened, and what is continuing to happen, in this country, in the world? There’s too many words and none, all at once. So I let the music speak, as usual. What a thing to mark this 155th anniversary of Juneteenth with that beautiful soul Yo-Yo Ma. Honored to have it out in the world." Watch it here.

Rhiannon Giddens led a Live With Carnegie Hall session with Francesco Turrisi in recognition of Juneteenth, examining the music and history of minstrelsy, the most popular form of entertainment in America during the 1800s, and its influence in the creation of the American cultural identity. They look at the global context of minstrelsy through the journeys of the banjo and the tambourine and examine what there is to reproach versus celebrate in the birth of American music. You can watch it here.

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: Rhiannon Giddens' February concert with Francesco Turrisi and Jason Sypher at SFJAZZ gets its digital premiere tonight; she gives a live performance on Sunday for the Bang on a Can Marathon, which includes sets by Terry Riley, Nico Muhly, and more; also on Sunday, Gaby Moreno performs live on QChamberstream to benefit Color of Change; and Sam Amidon performs on The Momentary's Instagram Live.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi performed an NPR Music Tiny Desk Home Concert from Dublin. The set includes four "old songs," as Giddens calls them—"'cause with these kinds of emotions, the old songs say it best." You can watch it here. "They're finding comfort in being together, making music together, thinking of their families in both Italy and the United States, and hoping to comfort us all with some down-home tunes," says NPR's Bob Boilen. "And with banjos, fiddles, a bodhrán, and that stunning voice, it sure worked for me!"

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—a long Memorial Day weekend in the US: Joshua Redman and Tigran Hamasyan perform in the free online Tokyo Jazz Festival Saturday and Sunday; Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi lead a live home concert to benefit Gather New Haven Friday; Lake Street Dive's 2018 concert at The Anthem in DC premieres on Nugs Friday; Lianne La Havas is on BBC Two's Later... With Jools Holland from home Friday night.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi performed songs from their album there is no Other at the very special venue of The Metropolitan Museum's Temple of Dendur in NYC last fall. The concert received its digital premiere via The Met last weekend and can now be seen here. "This performance is both a condemnation of 'othering' and a celebration of the spreading of ideas, connectivity, and shared experience," says The Met. The unique venue "provided a stunning context for Giddens' virtuosity and raw emotional musicality."