#silkroad ensemble

[bttrflyblu]

SILKROAD | "Pizzica" from Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual

[nofatclips-home]

Khet el Sobeh and Wa'ouyouneha, two Palestinian lullabies performed by the Silkroad Ensemble.

[krispyweiss]

Rhiannon Giddens Receives Honorary Doctorate from University of Limerick

- “Extremely grateful to have been so embraced here,” the good doctor says

Rhiannon Giddens received an honorary Doctor of Letters from University of Limerick.

Giddens was feted Feb. 16 alongside actor Ruth Negga for representing the “transformative power of artistic practice to advance knowledge, deepen understanding, and inspire the world,” Acting UL President Shane Kilcommins said in a statement.

“Artists such as Rhiannon and Ruth do more than inspire admiration; they expand the horizon of what is possible for our students,” Kilcommins said.

Giddens, the Carolina Chocolate Drops co-founder, is an author, a Pulitzer Prize-winning opera composer, solo artist, artistic director of Silkroad Ensemble and artist-in-residence at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.

“Everybody at UL was so kind and thoughtful,” Giddens, who splits her time between Limerick and North Carolina, said in a statement.

“Extremely grateful to have been so embraced here.”

2/17/26

[danbenzvi]

On The Jukebox: "Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration Of Tom Petty"

Track listing below:

Chris Stapleton - "I Should Have Known It"

Thomas Rhett - "Wildflowers"

Luke Combs - "Runnin' Down A Dream"

Dolly Parton - "Southern Accents"

Justin Moore - "Here Comes My Girl"

Dierks Bentley - "American Girl"

Lady A - "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"

Jamey Johnson - "I Forgive It All"

Brothers Osborne - "I Won't Back Down"

Wynonna & Lainey Wilson - "Refugee"

Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson - "Angel Dream (No. 2)"

Eli Young Band - "Learning To Fly"

Ryan Hurd featuring Carly Pearce - "Breakdown"

Steve Earle - "Yer So Bad"

Margo Price featuring Mike Campbell - "Ways To Be Wicked"

Midland - "Mary Jane's Last Dance"

The Cadillac Three featuring BRELAND - "Free Fallin'"

Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives - "I Need To Know"

Rhiannon Giddens featuring Silkroad Ensemble and Benmont Tench - "Don't Come Around Here No More"

George Strait - "You Wreck Me (Live)"

[jgthirlwell]

03.24.24 Silkroad Ensemble at Big Ears Festival

[krispyweiss]

“Worried” Yo-Yo Ma Turns 70, Wishes for “Planetary Humanism”

As he turns 70, Yo-Yo Ma is “worried” about the future of humanity.

His empathy is no surprise. Though Ma is best known as the world-renowned cellist who’s brought classical music to the masses via more than 90 albums, the creation of the Silkroad Ensemble and collaborations with everyone from Emanuel Ax to James Taylor to Sting to Chris Thile and Aoife O’Donovan, he’s spent as much time caring for his fellow humans. Ma played at COVID-vaccination sites, is a United Nations peace ambassador and makes regular videos for people and populations impacted by natural and human-caused disasters.

And for his 70th birthday - Oct. 7, 2025 - Ma, in a letter addressed to “friends and fellow humans,” again focuses on others rather than himself, even as he deems himself “worried” about the world the next generations will inherit.

“I try to remember that we are … embedded within nature, and in us, are the seeds of incredible creativity and terrifying destructiveness,” Ma wrote.

“My deepest birthday wish is that all of us humans become constantly aware of these opposing forces within us, and that we actively choose to create rather than destroy. Only then can we be free to imagine, invent and construct a new way of living together. Only then can we live in equilibrium with one another and with our planet, include all the wisdom of the ages, allow awe and wonder to be a part of our lives, and most of all, treat every human being with dignity: a planetary humanism.”

May Ma’s wish come true. And soon.

10/7/25

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens - “Swannanoa Tunnel / Steel-Driving Man”

Rhiannon Giddens says it’s down to “the cosmic movements of the universe” that she and Silkroad Ensemble planned their Oct. 1 release “Swannanoa Tunnel / Steel-Driving Man” well before the titular community was ravaged by Hurricane Helene.

“I’m still processing that … and can only hope this coincidental timing can help raise funds and awareness for this stricken area,” she said in a statement.

The lead single/medley from Silkroad/Giddens’ American Railroad combines a voice-and-percussion song of disaster and death (“Swannanoa”) with a world-music instrumental (“Steel”) where East meets West meets South in a sort of 21st-century of “Within You, Without You,” where fiddle replaces sitar.

Giddens calls it “the emotional heart of the entire project,” which signals a transcendent LP slated to arrive Nov. 15.

Grade card: Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens - “Swannanoa Tunnel / Steel-Driving Man” - A

10/1/24

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens - “Far Down Far”

When it begins, “Far Down Far” evokes the Windham Hill sound - a little bit of folk music and a touch of classical before arpeggios and percussion signal a transition to a more-complex piece.

Based on the Celtic jig “The Far Down Farmer” and recorded live in 2023, the seven-minute instrumental from the Silkroad Ensemble solders multiple genres as it transitions to a percussion break sandwiched between music from two violins, cello, bass, pipa, drums, guitar and accordion. It’s the sonic equivalent of a functioning person with multiple personality disorder.

Artistic director Rhiannon Giddens does not appear on this track, though she sung the preceding “Swannanoa Tunnel / Steel-Driving Man,” which announced the Nov. 15 arrival of Silkroad/Giddens’ American Railroad.

Based on the previews, it promises to be an eclectic collection from an eclectic collaboration.

Grade card: Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens - “Far Down Far” - B

11/6/24