Rhiannon Giddens Instagram – My GRAMMY story from 2010.
Back in 2010, the Carolina Chocolate Drops (at that time the original trio, myself, Dom Flemons, and Justin Robinson) were up for a Best Folk Music GRAMMY. It felt like a big deal to us even though I was (and still am) conflicted about the ‘industry’ part of the music industry – but after years of championing homegrown fiddle and banjo music from the Carolinas this felt like the big leagues! We were working class musicians at that time – I remember when Dom used to drive and I would be literally making CDs in the back seat as we went from gig to gig. We were making enough money to live, but barely – and we were young and healthy and lucky.
People might not know this, but it’s expensive to go to the GRAMMYs – if you are nominated, you pay for your flight, hotel, hair makeup, dress, food, what have you, yourself. All nominees receive a plus one to the ceremony and after party, and for a lot of non-mainstream folks, win or lose, it’s a moment of a lifetime.
I have lots of feels about awards for art, as I’ve mentioned before, but I get the need to celebrate an artform, and a lot of good people are trying to make things better.
So we decided to go – I had a nursing toddler by the time the Grammy nomination came, and I brought her and her dad Mike as my plus one.
It was a surreal experience – i bought my gown from somewhere, did my own hair and makeup, and we found a holiday inn in the less glitzy part of Los Angeles. We got a car to drop us off at the red carpet interview spot, and I remember clearly that absolutely zero press was interested in us 😂. I liked to say we were old time music spies that day. We filed into the afternoon ceremony, where 99 percent of the categories go and looked nervously in the program for where our category was. It was parked in the middle of the list, so we settled in for a wait. My daughter Aoife would occasionally want to nurse so i went to the restroom the first couple of times and then just gave up and nursed her in the auditorium – it was dark and i had a shawl on for just that purpose, and strapless gowns for the nursing win! (cont.) | Posted on 22/Jan/2024 18:49:02
