Beyoncé's highly anticipated country album, Cowboy Carter, is out today. One of the musicians on it is fiddle and banjo player Rhiannon Giddens. We'll listen to our 2010 in-studio performance with the group she was part of then, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. They played string band and jug band music of the '20s and '30s, music most people associate with a white southern tradition. But the members of the Carolina Chocolate Drops are Black. They saw themselves as part of a little known Black string band tradition— forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass. John Powers reviews A Gentleman in Moscow, starring Ewan McGregor, which begins streaming today on Paramount+. David Bianculli reviews the new Apple TV+ documentary about Steve Martin. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
On the Ted Radio hour, linguist Ann Curzan says she gets a lot of complaints about people using the pronoun they.
To refer to one person.
I sometimes get into arguments with people where they will say to me, but it can't be singular.
And I will say, but it is the history behind words causing a lot of debate.
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Beyonce's new country album Cowboy Carter was released today.
A single from the album Texas Hold'em went straight to number one on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, making her the first black woman to hold that spot.
The excitement over this album is bringing new attention to the under recognized importance of black performers in the history of country music.
One of the performers on Beyonce's new album is Rhiannon Giddens.
A singer, songwriter, violinist and banjo player, Giddens has won two Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize, and was a MacArthur genius grant recipient.
In 2022, she became the artistic director of the Silk road ensemble, which was founded by cellist Yo Yo Ma.
Early in her career, she was a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, which played string band and jug band music of the 1920s and thirties, music most people associate with a white southern traditional.
But the members of the Carolina chocolate drops were black.
They saw themselves as part of a little known black string band tradition, forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass.
We're going to listen to Giddens and the Carolina Chocolate drops in an interview and performance on our show from 2010 1st, though, here's giddens on Beyonce's Texas hold'em playing viola and banjo.
Her banjo opens the track.
This ain't Texas, ain't no holding lay our cards down, down, down so pocket Lexus and throw your keys up stick around, round, round, round, stick around and I'll be damned if I can't slow dance with you come close some sugar on me honey too it's a real live again, a real live hold down.