On What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson sound like they’re having a blast just playing music, but in all honesty they’re also reviving a legacy. The former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmates reunite for an intimate, reverent exploration of North Carolina’s rich old-time traditions, digging deep into the fiddle and banjo music that once echoed through porches, fields, and grange halls across the state.

It’s a stripped-down affair: just Giddens’ banjo, Robinson’s fiddle, and 18 tunes steeped in history, time, and place. Produced by Giddens and Joseph “joebass” DeJarnette, the album honors the duo’s late mentor, Joe Thompson, a towering figure of the Piedmont string band tradition, as well as the legendary Etta Baker. Several tracks were learned directly from their playing, others from time-worn recordings. And in a poetic twist of fate, nature itself joined the session as cicadas from two broods, not seen together since 1803, form a haunting chorus on tracks recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s homes, as well as the Mill Prong House, a former plantation. It’s living history, alive with birdsong, buzzing, and the echoes of untold stories.

Giddens has long built her career on honoring these silenced histories. A two-time Grammy winner, MacArthur “Genius” grantee, and Pulitzer Prize recipient, she’s used her platform to pull the roots of American music out of the shadows, whether through opera, film scores, or children’s books. From her 2023 original album You’re The One, to her banjo line on Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em,” Giddens is an artist bridging past and present without missing a beat.

Robinson, too, is no stranger to cultural preservation. A Grammy winner and multi-disciplinary artist, he’s an eighth-generation Afro-Carolinian whose work spans music, food, and land. As a fiddler, Robinson rekindled his childhood love of violin after falling for the raw energy of old-time blues jams at UNC-Chapel Hill. He co-wrote “Kissin’ And Cussin’” on Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Genuine Negro Jig album and later fronted his own project, Bones For Tinder. Off-stage, he’s equally devoted to the land, co-founding the Earthseed Land Cooperative and educating others on Afro-diasporic foodways through his platform, Country Gentleman Cooks.

Together again, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson don’t merely play these songs, they embody them. What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow is two friends sitting outside with instruments in hand, letting the land and the ancestors speak. It’s music as protest, preservation, and prayer.