On Wednesday night (July 16, 2025), Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue transformed the Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre stage into their magical, traveling porch, inviting us to join them for an uplifting musical adventure. North Carolina (minus the humidity) became our first sonic waystation with Giddens and Dirk Powell delivering a powerful rendition of Elizabeth Cotton’s “Freight Train.”
Giddens’ former musical partner in the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Justin Robinson, stepped up on the porch with fiddle in hand to pay homage to the late Joe Thompson, a shared mentor who taught them both the banjo and fiddle tune, “Georgia Buck.” The remaining members of the ensemble joined in with Jason Sypher on upright bass, Amelia Powell on guitar, and rapper Demeanor (Giddens’ nephew) on bones and any other instrument within reach. We stayed in the Carolinas for one more number as the porch-rockin’ string band symphony played “High on a Mountain.” That, we were.
Our next musical stop was South Louisiana. Dirk Powell led with “Dimanche Apres-Midi” (or Sunday afternoon for us Anglophones), an uplifting accordion-forward Cajun tune followed by the 2-step “Back of Town.” That Zydeco-adjacent sound liberated me from my low-back chair and sent me scurrying to the garden’s dancing space.
Giddens’ rendition of a Yoruba language folk song, “Laye Olugbon,” then took us to a rich landscape of American roots music in Southwestern Nigeria. That trip across the ocean is an essential part of the American musical flight path. The banjo, brought to us by Afro-Caribbean slaves, occupies a central place in our heritage. Throughout the evening, Giddens & The Old-Time Revue demonstrated the versatility of the banjo and how, for generations, it provided struggling laborers (free and enslaved) with a conduit for telling their stories. Case in point: Giddens’ nephew, Demeanor, performed a genre-bending banjo-driven rap song, “Polyphia.” Don’t look so puzzled. Blending a traditional sound with a modern style, he showed us the best of the American roots tradition. And it all made sense! Come on, Snoop Dogg, grab that four-string!
The captivating, 20-song set made us wonder where we’d go next on our road trip. We landed in Bakersfield, California. Amelia Powell added just the right amount of Merle Haggard honky-tonk twang with her soulful rendition of “Somewhere Between.” Dirk and Amelia Powell (father/daughter) then teamed up with Demeanor on a new song they recently penned together. “Out of Sight” stayed true to its name. The catchy Cajun-roots-pop sound has all the earmarks of a hit.
Our American roots tour then took us to the Mississippi Delta when Giddens brought out a 1850s-style fretless banjo and shredded an original blues number, “Step Away Blues.” Who knew you could rock the blues with a banjo?
The evening drew to a close much too quickly. Giddens played “At The Purchaser’s Option,” a fan favorite from her fantastic 2017 folk album Freedom Highway. The ensemble ended the show with A.P. Carter’s “God Gave Noah the Rainbow Sign.” That old-school country gospel tune provided a perfect “amen” to end an evening of American Roots music.
Giddens returned to the porch and delivered a heart-stirring a cappella version of “Pretty Saro.” Her pitch-perfect, soprano voice wafted over the crowd and echoed through the mountains and back to her audience, who listened intently in the Garden. The full ensemble came out and jammed “Riro’s House” to end a perfect evening.
Fun fact: In addition to a couple of Grammys and a Pulitzer Prize in music, Rhiannon Giddens received a MacArthur “Genius” award for her work to revitalize the black string band tradition. The crowd at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre on Wednesday night witnessed that brilliance.
Sunny War opened the show with a stellar 8-song solo set. Her dreamy vocals and skillful finger picking immediately won the crowd’s attention. Listeners put aside their precious chickpea dip and chardonnay to fully embrace War’s bluesy folk. I particularly liked her gritty “He Is My Cell.” Then she played two bangers, “No Reason” and “Whole,” from her 2023 album Anarchist Gospel. I was hoping for several tracks from her remarkable new record Armageddon In A Summer Dress, but I guess that’ll have to wait for another time. I would love to see her again with a band at an intimate listening room, such as The State Room or Urban Lounge.
- Who: Rhiannon Giddens &The Old Time Revue w/ Sunny War
- What: Outdoor Concert Series 2025
- Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre
- When: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
- More from John Nelson
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