Grammy Award and Pulitizer Prize winner Rhiannon Giddens has announced her forthcoming album, Hope is the Thing with Feathers, is due out September 18 via Nonesuch Records, and has shared a brand new single called "Carolina Rain."

Listen below:

Recorded live with only a few overdubs at The Cypress House in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, the album is said to capture the sound of musicians hanging out, doing their thing. It features Francesco Turrisi, Dirk Powell, Niwel Tsumbu, Justin Robinson, Charly Lowry, members of the Giddens family, and others.

Says Giddens of the record:

"Louisiana, the Congo, Italy, the Carolinas - all of these influences and people coming together to make something: that is American music. It’s how American music came to be, and that was the original thought of creating a band with the musicians that I’ve been playing with for years, and featured on this album."

In addition to four original songs penned by Giddens and Powell, the album reportedly also features interpretations of pieces from a myriad of sources: Ola Belle Reed (“High on a Mountain”) and Elizabeth Cotton (“Freight Train”); Indigenous activist, singer-songwriter, and storyteller Pura Fé (“Going Home”); and traditionals including “Cluck Old Hen” and “Walk with Me.”

The new single and album come as Giddens prepares to launch American Tunes: Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing, her 5-date summer music series with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Hurry for the Riff Raff on June 26.

Giddens recently created new music for Ken Burns' upcoming PBS documentary The American Revolution and filmed An Ode To Mary Jo, her leading-role film debut featuring Ed Helms, Jason Isbell, Steve Earle, Regina Taylor, and others.

It's going to be quite the year for the Sinners music supervisor, who just earned a Grammy Award nomination for best folk album for her 2025 collaboration with Justin Robinson, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow.

She's also heading out on tour, with dates in July, August, and November. Check all that our below.

Hope is the Things with Feathers is out September 18. Pre-order here. Full tracklist:

1. Angel Fire Rise
2. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
3. Step Away Blues 
4. Wish in Vain
5. Carolina Rain
6. High on a Mountain
7. Freight Train
8. Walk with Me
9. Cluck Old Hen
10. Going Home
    

Tour Dates:

07/17 Trumansburg, NY @ Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival
07/18 Oak Hill, NY @ Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival
07/19 Hanover, NH @ Hopkins Center for the Arts
07/22 Wilmington, NC @ Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
07/25 Lyons, CO @ RockyGrass
07/28 Bar Harbor, ME @ Criterion Theater
08/20 Lenox, MA @ Seiji Ozawa Hall Tanglewood *
08/21 Waterloo, NY @ The Vine Theater at del Lago Resort *
08/22 Chautauqua, NY @ Chautauqua Institution *
11/01 Minneapolis, MN @ Walker Art Center (Mack Lecture Series)
11/14 New York, NY @ Carnegie Hall (with Silkroad Ensemble & Yo-Yo Ma)
11/25 Hamburg, DE @ Elbphilharmonie *
11/26 Hamburg, DE @ Elbphilharmonie *
11/27 Hamburg, DE @ Elbphilharmonie *
11/28 Hamburg, DE @ Elbphilharmonie *
11/29 Hamburg, DE @ Elbphilharmonie *

* Performance with Silkroad Ensemble — Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual

American Tunes series dates:

06/26 Seattle, WA @ Chateau St. Michelle (with Mary Chapin Carpenter and Hurray for the Riff Raff)
06/27 Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater (with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Hurray for the Riff Raff)
07/30 Bentonville, AR @ The Momentary (with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Hurray for the Riff Raff)
08/01 Asheville, NC @ Hellbender by The Orange Peel (with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Hurray for the Riff Raff)
08/02 Pelham, TN @ The Caverns Outdoor Amphitheater (with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Hurray for the Riff Raff)

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