Singer and instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens once trained as an opera singer at Oberlin Conservatory, and that classical background is still audible in the power and control she displays in her voice. She found old-time string band music later, through contra dancing, which sent her down a path of rediscovering Black roots music.

Giddens co-founded the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a band that revived the Black fiddle and banjo tradition and won a Grammy in 2010. In addition to being a two-time Grammy Award winner, Giddens won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her opera Omar. She also co-founded Our Native Daughters, a group of Black women banjo players and singers who explore the stories of enslaved and marginalized women.

Among her many amazing songs, we have chosen “I’m On My Way” for Music of the Week—an original song from the 2019 album there is no Other that she created with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi.

It’s a song about moving forward on faith and instinct rather than a clear map. Sometimes life does not afford us a full overview of what is going on. Yet, what’s important is to carry on and not stop.

I’m On My Way… I don’t know where I’m going, but I know what to do…