Tickets for Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue at SCMC will go on sale this Friday, February 7 at 9 a.m.
St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) welcomes back prolific GRAMMY Award-winning singer and instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. on her touring with her latest show – Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue. The new tour is Rhiannon Giddens' much anticipated return to her North Carolina roots and the old-time music tradition that launched her career.She has pulled together a remarkable band that represents an incredible array of talent and American musical traditions to celebrate her new album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, a fiddle-and-banjo record made with her old Carolina Chocolate Drops collaborator Justin Robinson.
Joining Giddens and Robinson on stage will be celebrated multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell, longtime bassist Jason Sypher, guitarist Amelia Powell, and bones player and rapper Demeanor.
Executive & Artistic Director of SCMC Cathy Holbrook says, “Rhiannon Giddens has sold out two shows at SCMC since 2015, and we have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to have her return to St. Cecilia Music Center. We had her scheduled to open our 2023/2024 season, but she was forced to cancel the performance under doctor’s orders. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome her back on her newest tour Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue. May 13th will certainly be a special night to remember at SCMC!
Tickets for Rhiannon Giddens are $85, $70, and $55 at scmcgr.org or by calling 616-459-2224. (Ticket
Rhiannon Giddens newest album, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, features a mix of North Carolinian instrumentals and traditional songs, many learned from her late mentor, the legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson. Thompson was one of the last musicians of his era and his community to carry on the southern Black string band tradition. Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue pay homage to that legacy as they shepherd it into a new era.
Giddens is a two-time GRAMMY Award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, Pulitzer Prize winner, and composer of opera, ballet, and film. She has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased, advocating for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through art.
Other artists appearing on the Acoustic Café Folk Series include The Lone Bellow on March 8, beloved singer songwriter Judy Collins on March 13, 2025, and powerful duo The War and Treaty on March 28, 2025.
Additional Acoustic Café Folk Series concerts for this season will be announced.
Rhiannon Giddens and The Old Time Revue Bio:
Rhiannon Giddens, three-time GRAMMY Award-winning and nominated singer and multi-instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, Pulitzer Prize winner, and composer of opera, ballet, and film, has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased, and advocating for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through art.
Gidden’s new tour Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue is Giddens' much anticipated return to her North Carolina roots and the old-time music tradition that launched her career. She has now pulled together a remarkable band that represents an incredible array of talent and American musical traditions to celebrate her new album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, a fiddle-and-banjo record made with her old Carolina Chocolate Drop collaborator Justin Robinson.
Joining Giddens and Robinson on stage will be celebrated multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell, longtime bassist Jason Sypher, guitarist Amelia Powell, and bones player and rapper Demeanor. What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crowfeatures a mix of North Carolinian instrumentals and traditional songs, many learned from her late mentor, the legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson. Thompson was one of the last musicians of his era and his community to carry on the southern Black string band tradition. Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue pay homage to that legacy and shepherd it into a new era.
Giddens says, "This music doubles down on place, time, realness, and old-fashioned front porch music. It's a reminder that another way exists, with music made for your community's enjoyment and for dancing-not solely for commercial purposes. This multi-generational band of chosen and blood family will draw on deep traditions from old-time - to Cajun - to country - to blues, all to bring audiences back home in place, in culture and in community with music you'll feel in your bones."
Giddens' newest album, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, a collaboration with Justin Robinson will be out in April 2025 on Nonesuch Records.
Many news media have applauded her work:
- "A master folklorist, banjo virtuoso and vocal powerhouse" - NPR
- "One of Americana music's most vital voices." - Rolling Stone
- "Few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration." - Pitchfork
- "One of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet." - American Songwriter
Besides her former GRAMMY wins, Rhiannon Giddens most recently is a GRAMMY 2025 nominee for her performance of “The Ballad of Sally Anne” - a song written by Black country artist Alice Randall.
A founding member of the landmark Black string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, and the all-female banjo supergroup, Our Native Daughters, Giddens is as much a curator as a creator. She is the current Artistic Director of the Yo-Yo Ma-founded Silkroad Ensemble, hosts a TV show on PBS, My Music with Rhiannon Giddens, and has hosted two podcasts (Aria Code from New York City’s NPR affiliate station WQXR, which ran for three seasons, and American Railroad from Silkroad). Giddens has published two children's books and written and performed music for the soundtrack of Red Dead Redemption II, one of the best-selling video games of all time. She appeared as a recurring cast member on ABC's hit drama Nashville and as a music history expert on Ken Burns’ Country Music series on PBS. In 2025, she will launch her own music festival in Durham, NC called Biscuits & Banjos, to celebrate Black culture outside the mainstream.
As Pitchfork once said, “few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration”—a journey that has led to NPR naming her one of its 25 Most Influential Women Musicians of the 21st Century and to American Songwriter calling her “one of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet.”
Acoustic Café Folk Series Tickets
(Single tickets have a $4.00 per ticket fee. All concerts start at 7:30pm.)
The Lone Bellow
Saturday, March 8, 2025
A section $50
B section $35
C section $20
Judy Collins
Thursday, March 13, 2025
A section $65
B section $50
C section $35
The War and Treaty
Friday, March 28, 2025
A section $60
B section $45
C section $30
Rhiannon Giddens
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
A section $85
B section $70
C section $55
(Additional Acoustic Café Folk Series Concerts to be announced.)
