In February Smithsonian Folkways will release another new album in their African American Legacy series which previously included Black Cowboys by Dom Flemons which featured in our Best Albums of 2018 (Part 1).
Songs of Our Native Daughters is a new project which brings together Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell (Birds of Chicago), and Amythyst Kiah. The following video looks at the making of the album and opens with Rhiannon Giddens performing “Mama’s Cryin’ Long” a powerful slave narrative that as she says, wanted to be found.
Drawing on and reclaiming early minstrelsy and banjo music, these musicians reclaim, recast, and spotlight the often unheard and untold history of their ancestors, whose stories remain vital and alive today.
The material on Songs of Our Native Daughters — written and sung in various combinations — is inspired by New World slave narratives, discrimination and how it has shaped our American experience, as well as musicians such as Haitian troubadour Althiery Dorval and Mississippi Hill Country string player Sid Hemphill, and more.