Rhiannon Giddens

“I'm not good at planning ahead because it's just too much. I plan, set it up and then don't think about it again until it's almost time. That's just how it goes.”

“I don't want to go on a talk show and talk about stuff I don't know about.”

“I stood on people's shoulders, so I want to be there for somebody else to take it even further.”

“Black women have historically had the most to lose and have therefore been the fiercest fighters for justice.”

“I don't have a genre because I play lots of different music that people would say are different genres.”

“Anybody who thinks the lute just came out of a vacuum doesn't know the history.”

“I really got into Gaelic music and the whole sound of it, and I got to go to Scotland.”

“I don't consider myself at the kind of stature of somebody who can play five cities on a tour, and that's it. I go where I'm wanted, and I've always had the rural areas of the country. We've always gone there, since the Carolina Chocolate Drops. There's a fan base that's there, and if I can afford to do it, I do it.”

“My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and heard, but that can also add to the conversation about what's going on now.”

“Every song has a heart, and I just go for that.”

“I hate genres. I think they're just marketing labels.”

“You know, I really feel a responsibility to the music, and I teach workshops in music sometimes. And folks do come to me and they go, 'How do I make this blues song my own? How do I feel like I'm not an impostor doing this?' And I'm like, 'That's an excellent question.' That's where you should start, where you go, 'How does this speak to me?'”

“It's kind of remarkable, everything that's happened to me. It's been such a whirlwind, but in a good way.”

“To sit in my concert and be uncomfortable is brave. Because you could always leave, you know?”

“People think art comes out of strife. No, art comes out of love, and it comes out of freedom, and it comes out of feeling safe, and it comes out of feeling embraced by the vibe and by the energy. That's when you can make your best stuff.”

“My dad's white, my mom's black, and I've struggled with being mixed race.”

“I like Queen Latifah.”

“I've always liked women singers and appreciate a good story being told. That's what country music used to do on the radio.”

“I'm really taken with 'Calling Me Home' by Alice Gerrard.”

“Ibn Said's autobiography is an extraordinary work, and his story is one that's absolutely crucial to tell.”