​Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson (from the album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow

​Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson (from the album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow

​Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson (from the album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow available on Nonesuch Records) (by Bryant Liggett)
Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson make dance music. Sonically, it is difficult to decipher if the tunes on their latest release were recorded in 1925 or 2025, and you can label it whatever genre you choose. Its stripped down, string heavy, and non-electric Folk music via its instrumentation, aggressive with a head-bobbing and feet moving compliments, a repetitive and rhythmic nature that gives it a trance vibe.
What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow is all that and more, two former Carolina Chocolate Drops members delivering a living music and history lesson via songs that take the audio back a century, as taught to Giddens and Robinson by their mentor, the late North Carolina musician Joe Thompson, a music master well-versed in the old-school scene of the Tarheel State. The term ‘ripper’ may not have been tossed around in 1939 to describe a cut like “Going to Raleigh” but that’s what it is. The same term applies to “Pumpkin Pie”, “Ryestraw”, and “Old Molly Hare”, the fiddle and clawhammer banjo driving an aggressive and pushy rhythm. “Country Waltz” will have you two-stepping around your house, “Ducks Eyeball” and “Ebenezer” are animated bouncers, and “Molly Put the Kettle On” and “Love Somebody” are driven by wooden-percussion. 
The entire recording of What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow is wonderfully loose, aided by including the before and after song banter caught by leaving the tape rolling. That ear into the studio lets you dig into the recording session, pulling you further into the songs. (by Bryant Liggett)
 
Listen and buy the music of Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson from AMAZON
 
For more information and purchase options, please visit the Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson website