” When I first got into string-band music I felt like such an interloper. It was like I was sneaking into this music that wasn’t my own… I constantly felt the awkwardness of being the raisin in the oatmeal. “
” Getting into the banjo and discovering that it was an African-American instrument, it totally turned on its head my idea of American music – and then, through that, American history. “
” I decided to study music my last year in high school. “
” There is a black folk music audience. They’re just very small. “
” We’re not here as a black band playing white string band music. You know, we play stuff in the Appalachians, we play stuff in the white community, but we really highlight the black community’s music. “
” I really got into Gaelic music and the whole sound of it, and I got to go to Scotland. “
” When I do Gaelic music, I’ve learned about Gaelic culture, I’ve tried to learn the language. Whenever I do mouth music and there’s Gaelic speakers in the audience, and they come up and go, ‘Good job,’ I’m always like, ‘Phew. “
” You know, I really feel a responsibility to the music, and I teach workshops in music sometimes. And folks do come to me and they go, ‘How do I make this blues song my own? How do I feel like I’m not an impostor doing this?’ And I’m like, ‘That’s an excellent question.’ That’s where you should start, where you go, ‘How does this speak to me? “
All 8 Rhiannon Giddens Quotes about Music in picture
Topics: Music quotes