Allison Russell (center) with Awna Teixeira and J.T. Nero
One of the silver linings of shows moving online is the medium's ability to bring together artists who are spread far apart — way more than six feet. In the case of Wednesday's livestream from Our Native Daughters, the distance between the four players spanned two continents, as one of the quartet's members, Rhiannon Giddens, is currently sheltering in place in Ireland.
Giddens and bandmates Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell and Amythyst Kiah played a two-hour set as part of the Shut In and Sing concert series, a virtual festival which runs daily on StageIt and operates on a pay-what-you-can model. Other artists who have appeared via Shut In and Sing include Erin Rae, Brandy Clark, Fantastic Negrito and Jeremy Ivey (with upcoming sets from Kaia Kater, Dylan LeBlanc, Christian Sedelmyer and Ruthie Foster).
According to festival co-founder Kelly McCartney, Wednesday's show, which was co-sponsored by Smithsonian Folkways, was the festival's biggest success so far. Nearly a thousand tickets were sold for the foursome's mid-afternoon performance. As each artist was in a different location, they took turns performing in half-hour increments.
Giddens kicked off the proceedings with a seven-song set that was a testament to the wide range of her virtuosic talent. She opened with "Georgie Buck," which she learned from fiddler Joe Thompson during her time with the Carolina Chocolate Drops. She also played tunes by Junior Brown (“My Man Thinks You're Dead") and Kathy Mattea ("Last Night I Dreamed of Loving You"), as well as her own "Angel City" and "He Will See You Through."
McCalla performed next, and her set included songs from Our Native Daughters' acclaimed 2019 debut album Songs of Our Native Daughters. A highlight was a moving performance of the album's "I Knew I Could Fly," which she wrote with Russell. Russell, too, incorporated songs from the album, including the powerful closer "You're Not Alone," which she introduced by nodding to the struggles many are facing due to COVID-19.
“And you are not [alone]," said Russell at the end of the song. "I have to take a breath. I’ve been getting very emotional watching my sisters, who I miss so much. The sisterhood of Our Native Daughters has been incredibly empowering for me.” She also hinted at work on a new solo album, which we'll hopefully hear tunes from soon.
Kiah concluded the performance, streaming from her home in Johnson City, Tenn. The string-band scholar moved effortlessly between guitar and banjo, with one standout from her set a fiery solo banjo take on the band's "Polly Ann's Hammer." Kiah also announced plans for a solo album, titled Wary and Strange. Her set included a new song, the wistful "Firewater," and she offered an encore of the Daughters opener "Black Myself." You couldn't hear the applause, but the requests for more in the comment panel suggest it would've been intense.
