RHIANNON GIDDENS
TOMORROW IS MY TURN
NONESUCH, 2015
The solo debut, again produced by T Bone Burnett – a wondrous set of covers that showcase some of Giddens’ most inspirational women I had a list of songs that I’d been building before a solo record was even a notion. It all happened very fast. T Bone said, “Right, what do you want to do?”, so I showed him these songs. Most of the choices were mine, although I’d picked another Dolly Parton song, “Gypsy, Joe And Me”, before T Bone
suggested “Don’t Let It Trouble Your Mind”. His attitude was like, ‘Here’s the food. You’ve got to make something out of it.’
I’d already performed “Waterboy” at the Another Day Another Time show, so I really wanted Odetta’s spirit to be on the record too. She deserves to be part of the conversation. Everybody thinks that I got “Black Is The Colour” from Nina Simone, but I’d never actually heard it. I got it from Sheila Kay Adams’ version, which she did in a folk-country way, then the uptempo thing was my idea. It’s funny because people kept comparing it to Nina and I was like, “What are you talking about?” And obviously there’s the other Nina connection with “Tomorrow Is My Turn” [recorded by Simone in 1965]. I hadn’t really been singing that long, other than bits and pieces in the Chocolate Drops. So when I listen to that record I think, ‘Oh God! I’m so much better now.’ We’re our own worst critics. Then I won the BBC Folk Award. I was like, ‘For real? OK.’ It’s so funny, because there are three folk songs on that record. All of these definitions shift and they morph according to what people think. It fascinates me. But I was very honoured, it was a cool moment.