American Railroad, the new album from the Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens, is out now. It 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. Also out now are a performance video of the track "Mahk Jchi" and the first episode of the American Railroad podcast series. The US fall tour continues to November 23.
American Railroad, the new album from Silkroad and its Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens, is out now on Nonesuch Records. They first episode of their American Railroad podcast series, released in partnership with PRX, dropped yesterday. Both releases are part of Silkroad's multi-year American Railroad initiative and coincide with Giddens and their fall American Railroad tour, which culminates at the BAM Opera House in Brooklyn November 23. Also out today is a live performance video of the album track "Mahk Jchi," which means “Our Hearts” in the Tutelo/Occaneechi/Saponi dialect of eastern North Carolina/Virginia you can watch here:
The American Railroad album reflects the program for Silkroad’s inaugural American Railroad tour in Fall 2023. Its thirteen tracks include commissioned pieces by Cécile McLorin Salvant, Suzanne Kite, and Silkroad artist Wu Man, as well as new arrangements of songs by Rhiannon Giddens and fellow Silkroad artists Haruka Fujii, Maeve Gilchrist, and Mazz Swift. Rounding out the album are original compositions and arrangements by Silkroad artists Pura Fé, Sandeep Das, Niwel Tsumbu, and Kaoru Watanabe. American Railroad was recorded live during tour stops at the Green Music Center in Sonoma, CA and Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA; it is co-produced by Giddens, Watanabe, and Jody Elff.
Salvant’s first-ever Silkroad commission, “Have You Seen My Man?,” tells the imagined story of a woman walking slowly along a train track, joined by generations of wanderers who cannot ride the train though it was built by their labors. For Kite’s work, titled “Wíhaŋblapi Mázačhaŋku,” she created a graphic score using the Lakota written language based on dreams from members of the Silkroad Ensemble. Wu Man’s “Rainy Day” combines her instrument, the pipa, with the banjo and voice to reflect the emotions of Chinese wives and mothers who miss their husbands and sons working on the railroad across the Pacific Ocean. Fujii’s “Tamping Song” celebrates the Japanese immigrant contribution to the railroad, particularly after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; while Gilchrist’s “Far Down Far” shines light on the tensions between Catholic and Protestant communities within Irish railroad workers. Swift’s take on the spiritual, “O Shout!,” reminds us of the way in which enslaved people in the U.S. were able to communicate complex messages of hope, devotion, freedom, and insurrection—through music.
To shed even more light on the untold stories of the Transcontinental Railroad, Silkroad has partnered with Peabody Award-winning public media organization PRX for a five-episode podcast series hosted by Rhiannon Giddens. Episodes are being released beginning yesterdat, free on-demand across all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, Overcast, and NPR One. You can subscribe here.
The American Railroad podcast weaves together music and story, centering different regions of the country while delving into ties to the railroad and how they resonate today. Guests will include historians, musicians, descendants of railroad workers, members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, and Silkroad artists. From Chinese laborers’ crucial role in California’s railroad to the tragic tale of convict laborers in North Carolina, the series will help paint a more accurate and inclusive picture of America’s railroad history.
In conjunction with the album and podcast releases, Silkroad embarked on the second leg of its American Railroad national tour earlier this month, visiting ten cities in the Midwestern, Southern, and Eastern United States with railroad-related cultural history. See dates below and at nonesuch.com/on-tour.
| Nov 16 | Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Emory University | Atlanta, GA |
| Nov 17 | Hodgson Concert Hall, University of Georgia | Athens, GA |
| Nov 19 | Gaillard Center | Charleston, SC |
| Nov 20 | Memorial Hall, University of North Carolina | Chapel Hill, NC |
| Nov 23 | BAM Howard Gilman Opera House | Brooklyn, NY |
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