- Good evening everyone, I'm Rachel Raney, Director of National Productions here at PBS North Carolina.

Thank you for joining us for this very special sneak preview screening of "My Music with Rhiannon Giddens."

Now, PBS North Carolina is very proud to be the presenting station for this series, and what that means is that we're working really closely with the producers to push this series out all across the country to PBS viewers everywhere.

Now, before we get to our wonderful guest tonight, which I can't wait to introduce, let me do a bit of important business.

If you were paying attention to the chat, you probably saw that "My Music with Rhiannon Giddens" premieres on PBS North Carolina this Thursday.

Yes, that's right, this Thursday, May 4th, 9:30 PM, but here's the good news.

You can stream the series anytime online on the PBS app, on the website, including right now, the first series.

I mean, the first episode is already live up there to watch.

And by the way, the episode that you just watched is actually number three.

So the premiere episode is already online if you wanna go and watch it there.

But also tune in on Thursday night.

So now I wanna welcome our very special guests.

We have the incredible producers of this series here tonight, Will and Deni McIntyre and singer and songwriter, Rissi Palmer.

So welcome everyone, yes.

Thank you for joining us.

I wanna start here with Will and Deni, the producers of this amazing series.

Thank you for being here tonight.

This is a sequel of sorts to "David Holt State of Music," which as probably many folks watching tonight know ran for six seasons on PBS.

And I might add that PBS North Carolina helped to launch that series way back when, in the beginning days.

How did you land on Rhiannon Giddens as the host for this new iteration of the series?

- Well, Rihannon had been a guest in the very first season of "David Holt's State of Music" before we even knew that it was gonna be a series, we thought we were just making a one hour, you know, onetime special and a producer there at what was then UNC TV, Scott Davis, and also Yeah, - Brian Sodoman Brian Sodoman programmer both talked to us about turning it into a short series.

And so we were able to go back and add music that we had already recorded that I hadn't been able to fit in the original one hour show.

But one of the featured guests, one of David's featured guests on that show was Rihannon Giddens.

And we just had a blast working with her.

At the time she was getting ready to bring out her first solo album.

I think Carolina Chocolate Drops was sort of on hiatus.

And she had recorded, and I remember she brought the proofs of the cover of that album to our session and just sort of ask us, you know, like," which one do you think, which one should I pick?"

Like, what do you like?

So we got to, you know, we got to to see that.

So that's how we knew that was going on.

When David decided little over a year ago that he was ready to retire, he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's a couple years before.

And at that point we started to think, what if we had to find somebody at the last minute?

What if David ever couldn't do it on the day if we were shooting?

And we started thinking about the guests, the amazing artists that we had met, who might be a good host.

And Rihannon because of her interest in the history of the music and being, you know, working across so many different genres was just, you know, a logical person.

And so we got back in touch with her to see if she would be willing to stand in for David sometime.

And when we connected with her, she said, "really, this is what I've been thinking about with part of my mind.

It's a direction I'd like to go in."

And she had an interest in actually hosting, you know, a whole series.

So that's pretty much what got us to where we are now.

- That's amazing and I remember seeing that those, that episode with her in it as a guest, so you've really come full circle there with her.

Thank you for that.

I wanna bring Rissi into the conversation.

Good evening, Rissi.

Thank you for joining us.

- Yay, thank you for having me.

- So, oh my goodness, I'm so moved watching you perform.

I got to, I was watching a little bit.

I've seen all the episodes actually, obviously, but was just watching and just so moving.

And I have to say, I really, really want your parents' record collection, [laughs] so maybe you can kinda, you know, - I do too.

[all laughing] - Many of the guests that were in this first season of My Music with Rhiannon Giddens were, you know, musical friends of Rihannon's, which makes sense, including, you know, Justin Robinson from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Laurelyn Dossett, who's like an incredible North Carolina musician.

But if I remember correctly, you and Rihannon actually met for the first time at the taping.

- So Yeah, like in person.

So we've met before, we've been on panels together and we're actually working on a project together like a, it's kind of music, anyway, but like this has all been through email and through Zoom and FaceTime and over the phone and that sort of thing.

And it was the first time that I actually got to see her like outside of a box.

So yeah, it was nice.

And, you know, and she is someone that I have admired for years.

Like she's an artist that I respect deeply and someone that I just really find a lot of inspiration in her, in her knowledge, in her fearlessness and just her overall demeanor.

I just think she's, I think she's all the things.

- Like really, really exciting to be a part of this.

And then, you know, Will and Deni are just like adorably precious and I just love them.

And so like, it's been, it was a really great experience all around.

- You know, one of the things that really impressed us and that, you know, when we, after sort of recording the two of you together and everything, we thought we really do have a lot in common.

And one of the biggest things is you're both about something larger than your own careers.

You know, Rhiannon is about correcting the record and sort of restoring the real timeline of the legacy of American music and how it got to be American, including everybody's contribution, you know, across many genres and many decades.

And that's, you know, that even more than her own performing is kind of her, that's the essence of, you know, of her.

And you, I mean, you might not have signed up to be sort of like on the receiving end of some of the things that happened to you, but you came out of it as an advocate for, you know, other people in the music.

So you and Rhiannon, I mean, you have that in common is you're both about larger things while being, you know, great performers and everything also.

- No, thank you.

And I have to say, like she really is, you know, we're not like that far apart as far as age is concerned, but like she really is a role model for that because, you know, I just, I, that's the kind of thing that I always aspired to be like, I was like, she's respected not because, not just because she's beautiful, not just because she's a great singer, a great performer, but like, she has something important to say and she has something to really contribute to not just music, but to the culture.

And, you know, she's very important.

And so I, that's the kind of person, that's the kind of artist, that's the kind of legacy that I admire and that I want to, you know, that I want to do.

So yeah, she's totally like the blueprint, I think.

- I wanna hear more about that day.

So let me pivot here to Will and Deni first, and then I'm gonna get back to you Rissi, but Will and Deni, I, you know, clearly musical performance is at the heart of this beautifully crafted series.

It was of "David Holt's State of Music" and is in what you're doing so far with this one.

Tell me about that particular day of filming, which was right here in Durham, North Carolina, which is where I am right now.

I think that's where Rissi might be too.

I recognized the venue, which is the Hayti Heritage Center here in Durham.

Tell us about that day.

- Well, it, let me back up a little bit, Rachel.

First of all, we worked at the Hayti Cultural Center before and we love everybody there.

They've been so good to us.

We actually filmed Blind Boy Paxton there for David Holt's State of Music, so it was going back there.

And of course we've been to shows there over the years and just love working there.

So it was like going home.

- For anybody who doesn't know.

It was originally a church, that's why you have the beautiful stained glass behind Rissi and the tight shot on her.

But it was repurposed as a community center some time ago.

- And honestly, we didn't know that Rissi and Rhiannon had not met because we interviewed both of 'em on the phone.

You know, we spent all the time talking on Zoom with Rhiannon, 'cause most of the time she's in Ireland or on the road.

So, you know, we don't get to see her, like Rissi said, you know, we don't hang out, you know, [laughs] so when we got to the theater, you know, our crew set up all our stuff, we're all ready, you know, and about about the time we were ready to go, Rissi and Rhiannon like arrived together.

And honestly until five minutes ago, I didn't know that Rissi had not met Rhiannon.

And I thought they were like best buds, you know.

- So wait a minute.

So I gotta, so Rissi, the first time you ever saw Rihannon, I remember how she came in, she came in in a sweatshirt with her hair in those gigantic rollers and that was the first time [laughs].

- That was my first time seeing her in person.

Like, I like outside of like a stage setting 'cause I've seen, got the jobs and then, but I didn't know her then.

Since then, you know, everything happened during the pandemic.

So like been in the little boxes and so yeah, I never, like, I didn't know how tall she was or like anything.

And so yeah, it was great.

It was awesome.

- Yeah, she's really tall.

But it was just funny that day 'cause I felt like, oh, they must be really good friends because look at Rhiannon and I mean she had like negative makeup with these gigantic rollers in her hair and she kinda slump out on the, and you were, of course you were already dressed 'cause you and Charles, we were doing your solo songs first.

So we had already, you know, put a couple of them in the can.

And you know, by the way, he's.

- Rihannon, if you're watching this, I had nothing to do with this.

I did not wanna talk about you with your curlers in your hair and all.

- Listen, still stunning.

I have a picture of us with the rollers and all that and she's still.

- Now we're gonna need to see that.

[all laughing] - You just have to visualize.

- We have an NDA on our set, Rachel.

We don't do that.

[laughs] - Well, I was just, I mean, it felt like such a great fit for the episode.

I mean, you know, Hayti Heritage Center, it's in a historically African American neighborhood here in Durham.

It's a very vibrant gathering spot for, you know, the arts and all kinds of other community events.

And so I was just, you know, really curious how you ended up there, you know, and the venues play a really important role.

I know that each venue that you select to shoot your episodes is really important to the artists or to the themes, so.

- Exactly, we try and find a venue that means something to the artist or to the music.

And it's hard because, you know, we know that's a great venue.

But to get Rissi's schedule in with Rhiannon's schedule and the crew schedule, we have a crew of about 12.

So it's, and.

- Then the venue's schedule.

- And then the venue schedule.

So it's juggling, you know, 15 or 16 things, which, you know, as a producer yourself, it's kind of what you gotta do sometimes.

- It's the, sometimes that's feels like the biggest accomplishment when you actually pull that off.

By the time you start shooting, it's like, the hard part's over just to get everybody there.

- But I gotta say one of the.

- The day before my birthday.

- Oh, that's right.

- Was it, in August?

August what?

- August 19th.

- All right.

- All right.

I gotta say one of the things that we do with our crew, 'cause we have a lot of musicians on our crew and in addition to Deni and me, but.

- Yeah, you know Aaron Beta Coffer, right?

Rissi, he worked with, he's our audio engineer.

He is listening or watching now.

He was, he registered for this, so he wanted to say hi to you, but.

- We just saw each other doing something else.

I forget what.

- That's what he said.

- Yeah, he said, yeah, that's what he said.

- So we try to set up an environment where the performers feel like they're relaxed and if they, if something goes wrong, they can redo it.

They can have another take, you can have another take, no big deal.

But immediately Charles and Rissi got into this groove.

They were like, they were just so tight.

And I have listened to that so often just to hear how you are just a little bit behind the beat, Rissi on that, and that is so important for people to realize.

- You talking about Seeds.

- Yeah, on Seeds, yeah.

- Which is just such a, it just makes it so powerful.

But man, what an incredible guitarist he is.

- He's great.

Like he's, I don't know if he's watching right now, I just texted him, but he saw the episode and he said he thought it was really amazing and thank you for the opportunity.

But Charles, we've been playing together, lord almost eight years now.

And so he knows me musically really well.

Like, he can tell, I can just look at him and he'll know like, we're off or like, where are we going?

And like that kind of thing.

And like he knows I changed the set list and like, I don't make a set list sometimes I just call it, and it, you know, he's, it's a testament to how music really is like a relationship and you know, and he's one of my closest friends and I adore him and you know, and we just, we just know each other.

So like we could just pretty much pull anything and do it.

And so like, that's why if he can't do it, a lot of times I won't do it.

Cause I was just like, no, I can't even imagine trying to develop that with somebody like in an hour or like a couple hours or something.

So yeah, he's very crucial to the operation, very.

- Is he a Durham native?

- He, no, he's Raleigh and he's in Zebulon right now.

- Yeah, that's right.

We talked about Zebulon 'cause I grew up about 20 miles east of Zebulon down in Springhope so, yeah.

I gotta ask you one thing though, Rissi you, what was it like singing with Rihannon?

- Terrifying!

- Because, you know, we've observed her singing with a whole bunch of people.

I mean it must have been terrifying, but she is so good at making people sound good.

Not that you didn't sound good, but she is just so amazing at singing harmony.

What was that like?

- It was, well first of all, dream come true cause I have often imagined myself as a Carolina Chocolate Drop, but I was just like, I am nowhere near as good musically, like as a musician as they are.

So that would never happen.

But it was a dream come true.

Like really, like she really is, you know, when someone's good is when they come in and they mold to what you're doing as opposed to being like, well that's not right, you can't do that.

Like, she's just like, okay, cool.

So that's how we're playing it, great.

And then she adjusted and went and like, she's really good at following your voice.

Like, I'm not a great harmony singer, I'm not a great background singer.

I know that about myself.

There's an art to that and there really is like, when you see background singers, like they really are extremely skillful and people that can do harmony and that sort of thing.

Like that's a skill.

And I haven't, I'm not great at it.

I can do it, I'm not great at it, but she's great at it.

- Well, she really, I mean having done this whole season because with everybody, you know, she does like one song with each of the artists featured on the episodes.

I think the only one she didn't actually sing on was Joy Clark.

She played viola and Joy just sang.

But I mean now we've heard her, like, she sings with you, she sings with Alli Russell, she sings with Adia, Victoria who's, and she sings with Charlie Lowry.

So just, I mean and those are all like wonderful singers with great voices, but not at all necessarily alike.

- Right.

- Just to see her like calibrate her, she focuses so hard when she's singing harmony with you.

It's like she's trying to get her pulse rate to be the same.

- Yeah, exactly as yours.

- It's masterful.

It really is.

- I wanna jump in here and clearly Will and Deni need no moderator.

[all laughing] Let's just be real clear.

I could just go have a glass of wine in the other room, come back in a few minutes.

But I did wanna ask you Rissi, how did you select the songs that you played?

How did that unfold?

- Well, first of all, "I'll fly away."

I was gonna sing something different.

Actually we had talked about a different song before.

I don't know if you remember the emails, but I had a, we were gonna do Wayfair and Stranger.

And then for some reason, like the morning of, I had been walking around singing "I'll Fly Away" and that was my mother's favorite song.

And that was a song that we used to sing a lot.

And I was like, it would actually really be cool to do that and to have fiddle on that and like to hear how that sounds.

And so I sprang that on everybody literally.

So a little behind the scenes note, we just did that.

Like we just played that.

When that happened, like that was not practiced, that was not discussed prior to like, I literally told her right before we walked up on stage and set up that that's what we were gonna do.

And so we just ran it a couple times and then we did it.

Now mind you, there were several takes and it wasn't discussed.

- It was just a couple.

It was really just a couple.

Yeah, yeah.

- It felt like there were so many, okay, great.

- And the other stuff that we did, like your songs, your solo songs, not only did we have Country Girl and Seeds, but I hated not to be able to fit Somerville.

- Aw, because I love that.

I love that song so much.

But in terms of what fit in with the conversation, it just seemed like it was more, the other two were just had more to do with what was gone over in the interview so.

- 100 percent.

- You know, and sometimes it comes down to just timing.

Like one song is 15 seconds longer, oops, too long in a short, you know, and a half hour show.

So.

- No, I think that, I think it wove into the conversation really well.

But yeah, I just chose three songs like the I'll Fly Away, you know, and then Country Girl because it was my very first song ever.

And Seeds, I just feel Seeds marked a turning point for me as an artist.

That was the moment that I started, I always say this, I started thinking globally as opposed to thinking individually and it marked a change just in my career and everything.

And then Somerville, I just love Somerville.

It's one of my favorite songs that I wrote and you know, I love that song, so yeah.

- Well now everyone's gonna be clamoring to see that tune that ended up on the cutting room floor, which, you know, with a 25 minute, you know, episode, I'm sure that there's a lot of incredible material that's not in the actual episode, so.

- That's very much so, and that's why we hope that, yeah.

Rissi, one thing that you may not know about PBS NC is Rachel and her team are working with the network on a streaming project.

And so we hope that at some point I'll be able to go back in and you remember, well you might remember how much more there was to the interview.

So what what we're planning to do at some point is like I'll go back in and reedit for whatever time, you know, Rachel tells me they have for their, for what PBS is trying to do with streaming and then we'll, you know, we'll get more of it up there so I can restore your Lenny Kravitz hot take [laughing] that I had to get.

- I was waiting for it.

So, that's cool.

That's awesome.

I love that there's an opportunity for a recut and like.

- Yeah, it's gonna have an afterlife and maybe in the afterlife I'll be able to get Somerville in there too.

'Cause it was a really, it was a really nice version of that song.

- And the other thing Rissi that's exciting about working with PBS NC is that we're gonna get this in the classroom.

They have a teaching module that we're working with now to get lesson plans as the whole thing so we can roll it out.

So you can see this in the classrooms, you know, Rhiannon's real big on education, you know.

And you know, it's something we all believe in, so.

- Yeah, it's on some social media platform today.

She just got the proofs back for her second children's book that's gonna be out in the fall.

Something about, it's not I'll fly away, but it's something about fly, like if we could fly or something like that.

And she had, you know, she had one that came out late last fall as well, so.

- No, we have "Build us a house."

- That's it!

That's it.

That was it.

- Great.

- My little one likes that book a lot.

We read that.

- Aw, how old is your daughter now?

- Well, both of 'em, they will both be 12 and three next month.

- I guess it was the 12-year old that like real early in the pandemic you did some great just home videos with her in the kitchen.

- Cooking, the little one was still like in a pack and play.

- For sure, yeah.

- So like, she grew up during the pandemic, literally.

- I was just so impressed that your daughter was actually helping you in the kitchen sing to you, you know, she was into it.

It was cool.

- She was heckling me more than anything, but yeah.

[all laughing] - What they do?

- So, this came up earlier in the conversation that we're having here, but you know, I know that Riannon and because I spoke to her a little while ago and she explained that she purposely kind of curated and invited a number of female artists of color to be part of this first season of "My Music with Rhiannon Giddens."

And, you know, as Will and Deni were mentioning, Rissi, that definitely seems to be one of the many kind of things that you have, you know, in common with Rihannon is this desire to amplify other artists and to shine a light on other artists and for you specifically women of color in country music.

So tell me a little bit about some of the things that you've got going on right now to do that incredible work that you do.

- Excuse me, I have a sinus infection.

See y'all please, excuse me.

So, well first of all, thank you.

So I have a radio show called Color Me Country Radio with Rissi Palmer.

It's on Apple Music Country.

And part of the entire first season actually was dedicated to women of color.

And I did that on purpose because of the lack of airplay that women get in country music period.

And then if you add on, you know, being a person of color, it's minuscule.

And so I wanted to keep the focus that way.

So I still do that with the radio show, with the playlists that I'm asked to curate.

I make sure that I keep a 50, 50 balance of women and men and I also try to be mindful of not just Black women, I wanna make sure that indigenous women are included, Latinx women are included, AAPI women, pretty much anybody of color.

And so I do that.

We have an artist grant fund that I started in December of 2021 called The Color Me Country Artist Grant Fund.

And you know, we've been very fortunate thanks to organizations like CMA and CMT and Brandi Carlile's Looking Out Fund, we've raised over a hundred thousand dollars in the last three years and we've been able to give grants, micro grants to over 70 artists.

And with that money, I was also able to take seven women of color, including Charlie to London last year, last August.

We were actually about to go when we shot this.

- And so like, this was like my last big thing before I got ready to go to Nashville and to London.

But I took seven women, one Latinx, one indigenous, the rest Black women to the Long Road Festival in Leicestershire.

You have to say it like that.

And we performed at the Long Road Festival on my own stage for an entire day.

And it was magical.

It was absolutely amazing.

And you know, I just try to, anything that I'm doing, I try to curate and make sure that everybody somehow is being represented and being a part of it.

And even in, you know, who I choose for the band, who I choose to do business with, who I just wanna make sure that everybody has an opportunity to get the experience to be over here so that they can work.

'Cause that's the biggest thing.

Like, you can't work if you don't have experience.

People aren't gonna hire you most likely if you've never done the thing that you wanna do.

So if you wanna do it, you gotta, you have to have someone give you the chance.

And so I try to be that person whenever I can to give the chance 'cause someone gave a chance to me.

So, you know, I just think that that's really important.

- I, you know, I really like what you said in the show and you know, about personally discovering that there's gonna be more to it than look pretty, sing pretty, that, you know, the important thing was gonna be and to be in a position to make the decisions, you know?

And I think that for Rhiannon too, that's like, it's not just show up, come in through the musician's door, do your thing, get paid, you know, and that's it, just a one-off thing forever.

But the important thing is gonna be to have women in positions to make those strategic decisions for labels or whatever comes after labels, you know, or, you know, whatever platforms are in the future to make sure that people with amazing talent actually get heard.

'Cause that power does not come with the talent.

- No.

- You know.

- Listen, I mean, I, it's just, I don't think people realize, especially women in this business, how much power you can have and how little the industry will let you know that you do have.

And so yeah, it just felt like it, for me, it feels like I wanna be in a position where I, not only am I empowering, I don't wanna be a gatekeeper.

Like I would like to be someone who gives you the opportunity to be my peer and to be able to go higher than me even.

And so like that it's just really important.

I think what Rihannon did with the show and you know, what I try to do in my own business, we have to do, we have to work that way, we have to.

- That's it.

And I think one of the things that guides us is I, and I've seen this quote attributed to Duke Ellington and also to Louis Armstrong and that is "there are two kinds of music, good and bad."

And so we tried, you know, we're all for the good, you know, stay away from the bad whatever.

- It's bad, it's all music.

I mean it's just.

- And so this season, you know, we got introduced to some people, some of whom we'd, we had seen before, like Allie Russell.

She was not, Revelation I, you know, and Rissi Palmer.

But I mean, there are people like Charlie and like Adia Victoria, Joyce Clark.

Oh my Lord, they're just wonderful performers and I just, I hope they're gonna get a whole new following with this series.

- We hope that, yeah, we hope this is just, you know, part of like amplifying their voices just across and really just the chance to, I think PBS viewers, I think that the PBS demographic is very receptive to this.

They just have to, you know, they're not the no, just the meat and potatoes, you know, just gimme sports and some people yelling at each other about the news, you know, like, no, my PBS audience is, you know, a little more sophisticated, but they just haven't had the exposure because as you say, these artists don't necessarily get radio play.

And there are millions of people out there I think, who haven't really found where music distribution is going after radio that still seems to be kind of up for grabs.

- That's the thing.

- You know and so now we're like, it's with Rachel working on the streaming thing and you know, we throw, we put stuff up on YouTube when we don't have to get the rights cleared.

And you know, performers out there gigging as hard as they can, but it's just, it's gonna be interesting to see, it can only be good that right now it's kind of shaken up 'cause that means that there are openings where maybe there didn't used to be.

- 100%, well said.

- Well I would be remiss if I didn't, before we close out tonight, if I didn't ask all of you all, and I'll start with you Rissi, what is next?

What do you have going on?

Where can we see you, hear you, tell us a little bit about what's going on in Rissi's world?

- I feel like I should have an office at PBS.

[laughs] Everything that's been on this year, - I like that.

- From American Masters and like all this and like the Southern Songbirds concert and stuff.

So like, yet again I'm on your tv, everybody.

No, so I actually leave tomorrow for tour.

I'm going out on tour with Nico Marks, who is another amazing, incredible Black country artist and one of my favorite people in the world.

So we are embarking on a three week tour and we start in DC tomorrow at the Kennedy Center and we'll be.

- No too shabby.

[laughs] - I know, not too bad.

But yeah, we're gonna be going to Boston, New York, Atlanta, Nashville, Connecticut, and Maine.

I've never been to Connecticut or Maine, so this'll be my first time.

So that's what I'll be doing for the next couple weeks.

My show is a biweekly show on Apple music.

It's free if you listen live every Saturday at noon Eastern.

And you know, I'm just working, I'm working on new music and an album that'll hopefully be out before the year ends.

Good lord willing and the creek don't rise.

And yeah, I'm just raising my babies and trying to grow my hair back out.

I miss, that's the other thing.

I miss my hair, like looking at the episode, I was like, oh, but you know, just waiting on my hair.

- It's so great.

Is it still, the new album that's not "Still here," that's just the single, right?

- Still here is one of the new, is going to be on the new album.

- It's a single - Yeah.

- What's it gonna be called, the album, because I.

- Album is going to be called "Survivor's Joy" and it's actually named that because of Alison Russell.

Alison Russell came on my show and we had a conversation and she said, people talk about survivor's guilt, no one talks about survivor's joy.

And I was like, ugh.

So she named my album and I think that's the name of her memoir actually.

So there you go.

- Man, that is Alison Russell in a nutshell, isn't it?

She has, she is so full of joy for somebody who's been through everything she's been through and for everybody, the viewers, the second episode in this season, Alison Russell is the guest artist, so you'll get a chance to hear a little bit of her very tough and interesting story.

- So Will and Deni, obviously season one is you know, about to get out into the world.

Is there anything you can share about what's next?

- Well, we're still promoting season one, so it's sort of like birthing a baby and.

- Oh God, no, the labor goes on way, you'd be dead.

You'd be dead.

No, no, no, it's not like birthing a baby.

[all laughing] - Okay, bad analogy.

- Cut, take two.

- Thank you for that question, Rachel.

What we're working on is promoting Season one and we're also working on season two.

We're gonna be doing.

- Well Rhiannon is, you know, you know Rissi, she's doing that.

She's the artistic director for Silk Road Ensemble, which viewers may may know that that was a sort of a cross-cultural musical enterprise that was started by Yo-Yo Ma back around the turn of the millennium.

But he left several years ago and now Rhiannon's the artistic director and they have a thing that they're doing, a big nationwide campaign around the building of the American railroad.

And so what we're gonna be doing with Rhi is focusing on music from the cultures of the different ethnic groups that built, that actually built the American Railroad, Chinese, Mexican, indigenous Americans, Black Americans, you know, and - Irish.

- And Irish and the music that, that's right 'cause Mave is one of the, so it's the music that those different, you know, traditions contributed and then of course the railroad made it all accessible and through them into contact with each other sometimes for the first time.

So season two looks like being sort of having that focus because that's what, you know, that's what Rhiannon's doing anyway.

And this is her music and you know, she'll take us, you know, Rhiannon, she jumps genres and she'll, wherever she goes, she's gonna, I guess she'll take us with her.

So we're looking forward to the ride.

- Well thank you for sharing that.

First, we can't wait to, you know, immerse ourselves in this first season and then to hear more about what's coming up next.

Well we are definitely officially out of time, but I wanna thank all of you for joining us tonight.

This has been a really just fun conversation and I also wanna thank everybody who logged on and was part of the event this evening and participating in the chat and watching the sneak preview.

And I'm gonna say, once again, "My music with Rhiannon Giddens" airs this Thursday, 9:30.

It'll be a different episode than the one you saw tonight, so don't forget to tune in.

And you can also watch it online streaming on the PBS app or on the website and also be on the lookout in your email inbox because we are gonna send you a survey link about tonight's event and also a link to the recording of tonight's event and the conversation in case you wanna share it, in case you wanna re-watch it or if you wanna share it with other folks who maybe couldn't join us here tonight.

Finally, to ensure that PBS North Carolina continues to bring you popular PBS shows, riveting documentaries, inspiring arts and music programs, I hope that you are inspired to make a tax deductible donation to PBS NC.

And of course you can do that safely and securely at pbsc.org.

And for those of you who are here tonight who are already a member, thank you.

Thank you again everybody for joining us.

Those of you on camera watching from home or wherever you are, and please tell everyone you know about this incredible series.

Take care.

- Thank you all.

- Thanks, Rissi.

Have fun on tour.

Thanks, Rissi.

- Thanks.

- Say hi to Charles.

- Thanks Rachel, bye.