No Depression's ten favourite roots albums of 2021 (so far)

No Depression magazine announces on its website its 'Favorite roots music albums of 2021 (so far)', with brief notes by different staff members on the ten albums listed. The artists most closely associated with the bluegrass and old-time scenes are Sarah Jarosz with her Blue heron suite at #7, and Rhiannon Giddens (with Francesco Turrisi) with They're calling me home at #5. Giddens and Jarosz are shown in the upper left-hand corner of the image above.

Doug Heselgrave writes: 'They're calling me home is, without reservation, her finest work to date. Intimately recorded and emotionally accessible, it is a near perfect album in which the diversity of Giddens’ musical interests coalesces to fulfill the promise hinted at in everything she has recorded up until this point.'

Variety announces, in this feature by Chris Willman, that Rhiannon Giddens will be giving a 75-minute 'mini-memoir', entitled 'To balance on bridges', on the Audible platform in its 'Words+Music' series, on Thursday next week (22 July). More details, and a 2-minute audio trailer, are here.

© Richard Hawkins