- Rhiannon Giddens has shared a new single from her new album You're the One, out this Friday on Nonesuch Records. "Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad" is an R&B blast that takes a titan for inspiration. "I listened to a bunch of Aretha Franklin, and then turned to fellow Aretha-nut Dirk Powell and said, 'Let's write a song she might have sung!,'" Giddens recalls.
Rhiannon and her band performed "Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad" on the Today Show this morning, in addition to the album's title track "You're the One." She will be the featured performer on CBS Saturday this Saturday, August 19 as well.
It's been a remarkable 2023 for Giddens. The multi-faceted artist, GRAMMY-winner, and MacArthur fellow was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for her collaborative opera, Omar. Giddens is also featured on Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business list and is a host on Arts Talk, a new PBS program on which she, Elvis Costello, and Brian Stokes Mitchell discuss their careers.
The album is earning raves, with Rolling Stone saying: "One of Americana music's most vital voices expands her sound without abandoning her roots." You're the One has also been celebrated by NPR'sAll Songs Considered, Pitchfork, Variety and more.
You're the One was produced by Jack Splash (Kendrick Lamar, Solange, Alicia Keys, Valerie June, Tank and the Bangas). Giddens also recently announced the biggest headlining shows of her career, including performances at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in September, plus the Barbican Centre in London, the Beacon Theatre in New York City, and the Ace Theater in Los Angeles next spring (dates below).
You're the One features twelve songs, written over the course of Giddens' career, that burst with life-affirming energy, drawing from the folk music that she knows so deeply, as well as its pop descendants. It was recorded with a band composed of Giddens's closest musical collaborators from the past decade alongside musicians from producer Splash's own Rolodex, topped off with a horn section, making an impressive ten- to twelve-person ensemble. The collaborators include Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi plus American fiddler Dirk Powell, bassist Jason Sypher, and Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu. The album features electric and upright bass, conga, Cajun and piano accordions, guitars, a Western string section, and Miami horns, among other instruments, capturing the inclusive spirit that channels through all of her work.
As Pitchfork has 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 American Songwriter calling her "one of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet." Giddens' previous album, They're Calling Me Home, won the GRAMMY for Best Folk Album in 2022, making her a two-time winner and eight-time nominee.
TRACK LIST:
01 Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad 02 You're the One 03 Yet to Be (feat. Jason Isbell) 04 Wrong Kind of Right 05 Another Wasted Life 06 You Louisiana Man 07 If You Don't Know How Sweet It Is 08 Hen in the Foxhouse 09 Who Are You Dreaming Of 10 You Put the Sugar in My Bowl 11 Way Over Yonder 12 Good Ol' Cider
TOUR DATES:
September 13: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA^ September 14: The Sheldon, St. Louis, MO^ September 15: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN^ September 17: Athenaeum Center, Chicago, IL* September 18: Michigan Theatre, Ann Arbor, MI* September 19: St. Cecilia Music Center, Grand Rapids, MI^ September 20: Royal Conservatory, Toronto, ON^ September 22: House of Blues, Boston, MA^ September 23: University of Maine, Orono, ME^ September 24: FreshGrass MASS MoCa Festival, North Adams, MA September 26: Keswick Theater, Philadelphia, PA^ September 27: University of Maryland, College Park, MD^ September 28: Carolina Theater, Greensboro, NC^ September 30: University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC^ October 1: Modlin Center at University of Richmond, Richmond, VA+ October 2: Paramount Theatre, Charlottesville, VA* November 5: George Mason University Center for the Arts Concert Hall, Fairfax, VA@ November 9: The Granada Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA@ November 10:Balboa Theater, San Diego, CA@ November 11: Soka Performing Arts Center, Aliso Viejo, CA@ November 12: The Soraya at CSUN, Northridge, CA@ November 15: Bing Concert Hall, Stanford, CA@ November 16: Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at UC Davis, Davis, CA@ November 17: Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA@ November 18: Green Music Center, Sonoma, CA@ February 10, 2024: Maison de la culture de Creteil, Creteil, France February 11, 2024: Doornroosje Main Hall, Nijmegen, Netherlands February 13, 2024: Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands February 14, 2024: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium February 17, 2024: Elb Philharmonie, Hamburg, Germany February 18, 2024: Lido, Berlin, Germany February 19, 2024: Kulturkirche Ost, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany February 21, 2024: Barbican Centre, London, UK February 23, 2024: Pavillion Theatre, Glasgow, UK February 25, 2024: Vicar St., Dublin, Ireland March 14, 2024: Worcester, MA, Holy Cross University March 16, 2024: Beacon Theatre, New York, NY March 19, 2024: State College, PA, Penn State March 20, 2024: Cincinnati, OH, Memorial Hall April 15, 2024: Vancouver, BC, Chan Centre April 17, 2024: Beaverton, OR, The Reser April 18, 2024: Beaverton, OR, The Reser April 19, 2024: Seattle, WA, Meany Center April 21, 2024: San Francisco, CA, The Fillmore April 22, 2024: Monterey, CA, Golden State Theater April 23, 2024: Santa Barbara, CA, Granada TheaterApril 25, 2024: Ace Theatre, Los Angeles, CA April 27, 2024: Tucson, AZ, The Rialto April 28, 2024: Mesa, AZ, Ikeda Theater April 30, 2024: Dallas, TX, Longhorn Ballroom May 2, 2024: Austin, TX, Paramount Theatr
^with Adia Victoria *with Charly Lowry +with The Legendary Ingramettes @Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens
