Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual

Silkroad
  • 4.9 (63)
  • Music Commentary
  • Updated Weekly

Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual,  a new podcast hosted by Grammy Award-winning musician and Silkroad Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens. Sanctuary is produced in partnership with PRX and Silkroad. As we mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, we reflect on the state of America today. Historically, people from all over have sought sanctuary in America. Across these different cultures, music has played an essential role in healing, community-building, and belonging.  Silkroad's music draws from various cultures and the sanctuary traditions of its artists. Through interviews with musicians and academics, we’ll trace the roots of these traditions and explore how Silkroad weaves them into its new work. Scenes will follow Silkroad artists into community events as they celebrate this cross-cultural creation, share their performances, and form new ways to connect.  Join us weekly on Thursdays as we celebrate the music, traditions, and communities that represent sanctuary.

Episodes

  1. Trailer

    Introducing: Sanctuary

    Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual is a new podcast hosted by Grammy Award-winning musician and Silkroad Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens. Sanctuary is produced in partnership with PRX and Silkroad. As we mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, we reflect on the state of America today. Historically, people from all over have sought sanctuary in America. Across these different cultures, music has played an essential role in healing, community-building, and belonging. Through interviews with artists and academics, we’ll trace the roots of this tradition and see how Silkroad melds this into their new work. Scenes will follow Silkroad artists into community events as they celebrate this cross-cultural creation, share their performances, and form new ways to connect. Join us weekly on Thursdays as we celebrate the music, traditions, and communities that represent sanctuary.

  2. 12/19/2024

    Episode 5: Boston

    Our final episode brings us to Boston, MA where, at the turn of the 20th century, Black men and women worked as Pullman porters and maids – serving predominantly white travelers while reinforcing a hierarchy reminiscent of the Antebellum South. Wives, sisters, and daughters largely made up the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters – and served as their mouthpiece – keeping the economic, social, domestic, and political interests of railroad workers at the center of their activism. We’ll hear from special guests Kerri Greenridge, Larry Tye, Melinda Chateauvert, and Helen Credle, as well as from musician and Silkroad collaborator Cécile McLorin Salvant, whose song “Have You Seen My Man?” gives voice to the legions of Black women who awaited the safe return of their loved ones aboard the trains, while they took care of home in communities like Boston’s South End neighborhood.

    Episode 5: Boston

  3. 12/12/2024

    Episode 4: Standing Rock

    Centuries before the Dakota Access Pipeline snaked beneath Lakota-Sioux land, the transcontinental railroad barreled through it. Standing Rock Sioux Reservation leaders Dave Archambault Sr. and Jr. discuss how the economic and social expansion of America often comes at the expense of indigenous people. We’ll also hear from musician and Silkroad collaborator Pura Fé about her time in Standing Rock for the #NoDAPL occupation,  ethnomusicologist Everardo “Ever” Reyes take on how songs like Fé's “Mahk Jćhi” are a part of a long tradition of indigenous protest music and Standing Rock Sioux tribe member and historian Dakota Goodhouse on the legacy of Sitting Bull and how Indigenous people opposed and resisted westward expansion.

    Episode 4: Standing Rock

  4. 12/05/2024

    Episode 3: California

    Episode 3 brings us to California, where historians Karen Ishizuka and Roland Hsu detail the contributions of Japanese and Chinese railroad laborers in a country that leveraged xenophobic laws in attempts to eradicate their cultural heritages. Haruka Fujii, Associate Artistic Director of the Silkroad Ensemble, also walks us through ‘Tamping Song’—an ode to ‘Tamping Ondo,’ a Japanese work song that captures the spirit of laborers dedicated to the rail.

    Episode 3: California

  5. 11/21/2024

    Episode 2: New York

    Episode 2 of the American Railroad podcast brings us to Hell’s Kitchen, a New York City neighborhood that historian Miriam Nyhan describes as transformed by immigration and expansion of the state’s railroad boom. Despite tensions between Black and Irish railroad workers, living and laboring side-by-side created a distinctly American sound. We hear from Kestrel Wolgemuth from New York’s Irish Arts Center (IAC), as well as from artist and catalytic agent Lenwood “Leni” Sloan and Silkroad Ensemble member Maeve Gilchrist, as they use music to capture the energy and urgency of the time during their workshop at the IAC.

    Episode 2: New York

  6. 11/14/2024

    Episode 1: North Carolina

    Episode 1 takes us to North Carolina, where host and Silkroad Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens reveals the origins of the popular Appalachian folk song, “Swannanoa Tunnel” and how professors Jeffrey A. Keith and Kevin Kehrberg’s research sparked important conversations about erasure and ownership in Appalachian music. We’ll also hear from Banjo player Tray Wellington about his experience as a Black band leader making a way in a genre not well known for performers who look like him.

    Episode 1: North Carolina

  7. Trailer

    American Railroad: Trailer

    Embark on "American Railroad," a five-episode podcast that seeks to right historical wrongs by highlighting the untold stories and unheard voices from the diverse communities that built America’s railway systems. Hosted by Grammy Award-winner and Silkroad Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens, American Railroad is produced in partnership with PRX.

    American Railroad: Trailer

  8. Trailer

    American Railroad: Teaser

    From Silkroad and PRX, the American Railroad podcast is where history and music come together. New episodes begin November 14.

    American Railroad: Teaser
  • 3 Trailers
    5 Episodes

Trailers

4.9
out of 5
63 Ratings

About

Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual,  a new podcast hosted by Grammy Award-winning musician and Silkroad Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens. Sanctuary is produced in partnership with PRX and Silkroad. As we mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, we reflect on the state of America today. Historically, people from all over have sought sanctuary in America. Across these different cultures, music has played an essential role in healing, community-building, and belonging.  Silkroad's music draws from various cultures and the sanctuary traditions of its artists. Through interviews with musicians and academics, we’ll trace the roots of these traditions and explore how Silkroad weaves them into its new work. Scenes will follow Silkroad artists into community events as they celebrate this cross-cultural creation, share their performances, and form new ways to connect.  Join us weekly on Thursdays as we celebrate the music, traditions, and communities that represent sanctuary.

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