What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow : Fiddle And Banjo Music Of North Carolina (2025)

"Plain and simple: the musical notes and phrases of the 18 songs and tunes on "What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow" live so deeply within Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson that the duo evokes the earthiness and the spirit of the old-time string music they celebrate and honor. The pair traveled back to the North Carolina houses of their mentors Joe Thompson and Etta Baker and included their mentors’ arrangements of these songs and tunes. Many of the tracks feature the singing of birds or the buzzing of cicada, airily blending the music of nature with the strums and fingerpicking of Giddens’ banjo and the flights of Robinson’s fiddle. On "What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow", Giddens and Robinson invite us to join them in their front yard, or on their front porch, to come and sit a spell, and to dance, tap our feet, clap our hands, and sing, reveling in the beauty and grandeur of old-time string music." (Folkalley)