Rhiannon Giddens Quotes

Historically, black music has influenced other cultures and other genres and created other genres.

The colored folks been singing it and playing it just like I'm doin' now, man, for more years than I know. I got it from them.

We have to let the younger generations take our music - and approach it the way they want - but just teach them where it all comes from.

I came through folk music simply because it was easy to get into it.

There's no way that music could ever go down the tubes. I can't imagine a civilization without music. When you realize today that music is such a part of people's lives. And will always be, really.

Unfortunately, the young generation, who I believe have their own place in the sun like I had mine; but I wish it was possible there were other ways to have them understand this music was here before they came, and the reason that it was here.

A lot of young musicians in Stockholm are about keeping tradition alive and moving it forward at the same time.

I went to school for folk music back when I was a teenager and learned hundreds of songs.

The consolidation of the music business has made it difficult to encourage styles like the blues, all of which deserve to be celebrated as part of our most treasured national resources.

I'm from Louisiana, and that's where I got my start, in Cajun music. There's a huge music scene down there centered around our culture. Those are people that are not making music for a living. They are making music for the fun of it. And I think that's the best way I could have been introduced to music.

Right, different generations come along, and discover the music, I think.

Because of the fashion, the young people don't have any access to the history of music, unless people like me revive it. There are very few people to revive it, because you can't earn any money doing it.

I had a lot of older musicians looking out for me, teaching me, and showing me things when they saw how interested I was in music from a young age. They would take me to the side and just play some things in my ear, and I would try to play it back to them.

Doing the classics is always nice because it's a part of the archive, and that's what people love to hear, and I don't mind that.

I remember so vividly the first time I saw one of Marshall Wyatt's superb compilations called 'Folks He Sure Do Pull Some Bow' and seeing a picture of a black fiddler and freaking out. I had stumbled upon the hidden legacy of the black string band and I wanted to know more.

I grew up with KTSU, and that station gave me so much info about the pantheon of black sounds: reggae, gospel, blues, soul, hip hop, and mostly they played jazz. That was a major part of how I understood music.

I was using them as teachers for technique but I was never trying to be a folk.

And my career, the things that have happened have happened because of my music education background.

I think singing traditional country is wonderful, because I'm bringing it to my generation and to the younger kids.

I go stay a week in these little towns that don't have an art outlet and... go to the schools and play some of the old Texas music, sort of 'go through the Texas country roots' is what they call it.

When I was a young musician, the only option available to pursue secondary education in music was to attend a classical conservatory.

There was the best teachers from the Czech Philharmonic, highly dedicated people, some of the best musicians in the world passing on the knowledge about the country, about the principles, and about the music.

I see it as my job to try to keep Bach in the mainstream and present his music with, rather than without, its emotional core.

I think the most exciting thing is that you expect people our age to know the music, but actually a lot of kids know the music, and if anything is left, we have left really good music, and that's the important part, not the mop-tops or whatever.

I've actually been playing music ever since I was a young a kid. I got my first guitar when I was about 7 or 8 years old, so I've always been doing music.