Rhiannon Giddens Forms Our Native Daughters, Shares Harrowing 'Mama's Cryin' Long'
Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell and Amythyst Kiah are Our Native Daughters. Their debut album comes out Feb. 22. Terri Fensel/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
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Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell and Amythyst Kiah are Our Native Daughters. Their debut album comes out Feb. 22.
Terri Fensel/Courtesy of the artist Through Carolina Chocolate Drops and her versatile solo work, Giddens has demonstrated clearly that folk music is intrinsically tied to the black experience. Now, she's formed a folk supergroup of sorts called Our Native Daughters, featuring former bandmate Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell (of Birds of Chicago) and Amythyst Kiah. Their debut album, Songs of Our Native Daughters, is a restoration of narrative, to render in song the pain and resilience of black women over the course of American history.
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Each member of Our Native Daughters contributes songs, harmonies and instruments to the record, reaching back to their ancestors and experiencing parallels within their own lives. Giddens brought "Mama's Cryin' Long" to the group, as she explains in a short documentary about the recording. The words stem from a slave narrative about a woman who stabs an overseer after being raped repeatedly; the killing is turned into a song by a child who saw the blood stains on the dress.
Giddens takes the lead vocal as McCalla, Russell and Kiah respond in unison, accompanied only by a handclap and drum. The story is told in short fragments — "Mama's hands are shakin' (and she can't get up) ... It was late at night (when she got the knife) ... She went to his room (when she got the knife)... Mama's dress is red (it was white before)" — that drive toward the end. The performance leaves the quartet visibly shaken, but embedded in the harrowing end seems to be hope: "Mama's in the tree (and she can't come down) ... Mama's flyin' free (and she can't come down) / Mama's flyin' free (and she won't come down)."
