Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops

TRANSCRIPT

Rhiannon Giddens: Well, the thing is that, you know, new music is great. And we're much keyed into, you know, well, what did you write, you know, compose, compose, write, write, write. But there's also a lot of great music locked into people, you know, in our communities. You know, people you don't even know about, you know. And it's important to seek these people out.

[Joe Thompson singing, "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad," up and hot].

Giddens: And even if you don't play any instruments just talk to them about what it was like, you know, back then. And that's really the connection that, you know, keeps us going to the future is, you know, if you're rooted in the past, you know, and you can really find somebody to connect to, you know, they'd be more than happy to talk to, you know. And I think that's really important, that idea of seeking out the traditional bearers and the people who saw history, who were there when it was being made rather than just reading it in the books and talking to them about what they felt about, you know.

[End of song "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad," fade to black].