Austen->Contradance->Banjo diva

Rhiannon Giddens is a phenomenal artist of our time. This group probably first encountered her as a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. In this interview on the very, very pop-oriented podcast Song Exploder, she tells how being a Jane Austen fan led her to a contradance ( which she thought was English country dance ), and how that exposed her to traditional music and led her to join a group playing Celtic music.
It’s a bit off-track for our usual “resources,” but I hope some of you will find it worth a listen.

The podcast has too many ads for my taste, but the host is a good interviewer and the production is excellent. Here, culled from tons of people and groups I’ve never heard of, are some other episodes with some tenuous link to folk and traditional music.

Special Episode: Jeff Tweedy
Episode 281: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Partners: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Episode 200: Yusuf / Cat Stevens
Episode 198: Jewel
Episode 161: Sheryl Crow
Episode 154: Mumford & Sons
Episode 143: The Decemberists
Episode 97: Sara Watkins
Episode 74: Old Crow Medicine Show
Episode 71: The Lumineers
Episode 38: tUnE-yArDs