American Railroad | Silkroad Ensemble, Rhiannon Giddens [CD] CD

Silkroad’s newest initiative, American Railroad, illuminates the impact of African American, Chinese, Irish, and other immigrant communities on the creation of the US Transcontinental Railroad and connecting railways in North America, as well as the indigenous communities who were displaced by it. Exploring the dissemination of cultures across the United States, the railroad was to North America what the Silk Road was to Asia and Europe.

– gaillardcenter.org

‘American Railroad,’ a new album from The Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens, will be released November 15 on Nonesuch Records. The album is the culmination of four years of research, collaboration, and music-making, having brought Silkroad artists all across the United States to uncover and uplift the stories of those who built the transcontinental railroad and connecting railways across North America.

“We shed light on those who have been erased or overlooked throughout American history and merge with it Silkroad’s unique ability to amplify voices from a multitude of backgrounds and cultures,” Giddens says. “The result is a tapestry of stories, traditions, and musics that have shaped our multifaceted cultural identity, and that must be heard and recognized. I hope audiences will leave with a clearer sense of where we come from, how we got here, what it cost us—and that we collectively reflect on where we’re headed.”

Musicians:
Rhiannon Giddens, banjo, fiddle, voice
Shawn Conley, bass
Pura Fé, conch, lap-steel guitar, voice
Haruka Fujii, percussion
Sandeep Das, tabla, voice
Karen Ouzounian, cello, voice
Mazz Swift, violin, voice
Niwel Tsumbu, guitar
Francesco Turrisi, frame drums, accordion
Kaoru Watanabe, Japanese flutes, percussion
Michi Wiancko, violin, voice
Wu Man, pipa
Yazhi Guo, suona, Chinese percussion