Musician Rhiannon Giddens brings Biscuits & Banjos back to Durham this weekend
A year ago, Grammy Award-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens turned Durham into a living map of Black string-band music and culinary heritage with the inaugural Biscuits & Banjos festival.
Now, to celebrate the anniversary, she is inviting the city back for a full day of free programs followed by a star-studded concert at the Durham Performing Arts Center.
The celebration will begin Sunday, April 26, with a day of conversations, performances, readings, dancing and literary programs at The Fruit, a concert venue on South Dillard Street in downtown Durham.
On April 27, the anniversary weekend will end with “Biscuits & Banjos Presents: Rhiannon Giddens’ Beloved Community” at DPAC. The concert will feature Giddens and her band, with Mavis Staples, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Rissi Palmer and Toshi Reagon.
A day designed to feel like Durham
Biscuits & Banjos was created to commemorate 20 years since the Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, where Giddens formed her old-time string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops. It also highlighted the contributions of Black folk, gospel, jazz, blues and string artists from North Carolina and around the country.
April 26’s lineup includes:
- Color Me Country x Beloved Community: a “songversation” between country artist Rissi Palmer and Durham-based musician Kamara Thomas.
- A conversation and performance featuring Toshi Reagon, writer and scholar Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and poet and performer Destiny Hemphill.
- Rhiannon Giddens in conversation with Kristina R. Gaddy about their book, “Go Back and Fetch It.”
- A celebration of 50 years of Edna Lewis’ cookbook “The Taste of Country Cooking,” featuring Michael Carter Jr., an activist focused on African American contributions to Southern agriculture.
- A Dip Family Reunion event with North Carolina chef and author Spring Council.
- A Durham County Public Library Bookmobile with specially curated books available for checkout.
- An Evening Frolic line and square dance with music from Jake Blount, Justin Robinson, Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Sypher, and Demeanor, with calling by Phil Jamison and line-dance song selection by Malinda D. Evans.
A night at DPAC: A Beloved Community
The Monday night concert promises to be a generational torch-passing. Giddens and her band will be joined by Black American R&B, folk and country music legends, including
- Mavis Staples, the rhythm and blues singer from The Staples Sisters behind the hits “I’ll Take You There” and “Let’s Do It Again.”
- The Blind Boys of Alabama, the blues gospel group who are majority visually impaired have won five Grammy awards since the original members debuted in 1939
- Rissi Palmer, whose music bridges the worlds of country, soul, gospel and R&B and became the first Black female country singer to chart on Billboard in 2007 with her hit “Country Girl”
- Toshi Reagon, a country, folk, gospel and blues artist who began performing in the 1978
The April event is tied to Giddens’ recent Silkroad Ensemble tour, “Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual,” which traveled to cities such as Bowling Green, Chicago, Oakland and Fairfax.
It also comes ahead of a busy season for Giddens, including the May 5 release of her new book, “Color Me Country: A Celebration of Black Women Who Shaped Country Music,” and an upcoming spring and summer tour that includes “American Tunes: Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” a concert presentation featuring Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Hurray for the Riff Raff.
If you plan to go
The free programs at The Fruit require an RSVP at biscuitsandbanjos.com.
Tickets for the April 27 DPAC concert can be purchased on Ticketmaster. The show begins at 7 p.m. and tickets start at $73.
This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 10:54 AM.