In this time of ongoing lockdowns, social distancing and temporal disorientation, vocalist-composer Rhiannon Giddens and her partner both on and off the stage, multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, offered a livestreamed performance presented by Music Worcester on Saturday afternoon from their Ireland home just south of Dublin.
Though Giddens hails from the United States and Turrisi from Italy, when they create music together, those geographical and cultural touchpoints are mere placeholders for a quest that takes them deep underground, where the sediment all looks the same.
Thus, the label of “country musician” that hangs over her head presents a fascinating conundrum in that the more she unravels her soul as an artist, the more we are compelled to ask: What country?