"Music is a powerful tool. In an instant, it can change your mood, your perspective, or your life," Stacey Abrams says on her Crooked Media podcast, Assembly Required, introducing her conversation with Rhiannon Giddens. "No matter the motivation, music is an outlet, a force that builds us up or keeps us steady. It holds the capacity to move millions and to resonate with each individual, and every lyric, every note, every beat has the potential to share a message." You can watch their conversation, about Giddens' music and activism, via YouTube and hear it via Spotify and Apple Podcasts here:

Rhiannon Giddens's new album with Silkroad Ensemble, American Railroad, is out next week. The album is the culmination of four years of research, collaboration, and music-making, having brought Silkroad artists all across the US to uncover and uplift stories of those who built the transcontinental railroad and connecting railways across North America. "The result is a tapestry of stories, traditions, and music that have shaped our multifaceted cultural identity, and that must be heard and recognized," Giddens says.

Giddens and Silkroad kick off a US fall tour at the Harris Theater in Chicago tonight. Her first-ever festival, Biscuits & Banjos, will take place in Durham, North Carolina, in April. Details and tickets here.