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“Part of a beautiful American tradition”: A music theory expert explains the country roots of Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ‘Em, and why it also owes a debt to the blues

The lead single from Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s Grammy-nominated country album, goes under the musical microscope ...
Los Angeles Times

Rhiannon Giddens is ready to meet a major moment of revival in Black music history, with banjo in hand

Rhiannon Giddens is down at the river, carrying a flame of heritage, and she’s inviting anyone who wants to join her to come down and light their own wicks. Rivers are traditionally sites of salvation ...
WUNC

"Who gets to play the banjo in America?" A special program from The Broadside.

Twenty years ago, the old-time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops turned heads and wowed audiences. They were young. They were Black. And with their fiddles and banjos, they launched a movement that ...
American Songwriter

Born on This Day in 1937, the Bluegrass Banjo Legend Who Helped Broaden the Genre’s Audience

On this day (October 29) in 1937, Sonny Osborne was born in Thousandsticks, Kentucky. After learning to play the banjo as a child, he formed a group with his brother, Bobby Osborne. Together, the ...