The Carolina Chocolate Drops play the Victoria Hotel in Menai Bridge

Nov 26 2008

FROM Durham, North Carolina, Rhiannon Giddens is the female voice of The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a young but seminal African- American string band who came together to play the rich tradition of fiddle and banjo music of the Carolinas and beyond.

The band recently made an impressive appearance on Later with Jools Holland on BBC2 and have just completed a major UK tour to great critical acclaim.

Giddens has recently also been working on a project with Sxip Shirey, legendary underground folk guitarist and composer from Brooklyn, New York, and member of The Luminescent Orchestrii.

Giddens and Shirey play a rare British date at the Victoria Hotel in Menai Bridge on Monday, December 1, before embarking on a short Irish tour.

With a bag of tricks that include a resophonic guitar, triple extended pennywhistles, mutant harmonicas and human beat boxing, together they cook up rural, world and urban folk influences into something delicious, surprising and new.

After a chance meeting led their two bands to record five human beat box jug band tracks, Giddens and Shirey realised something special was happening between her banjo and his guitar.

The two play their two instruments as if they were one, weaving melody and rhythm from many influences together.

Appalachian, folk, Gaelic, hip- hop, their music is an explosion of texture and sound.

In this project Giddens steps out, showcasing her full range as a singer of folk, blues, gospel, pop, Gaelic and whatever takes the moment.

Giddens is a show- stopper – not only for her incredible instrumental versatility and onstage magnetism, but also as the possessor of one of the most glorious voices in American music.

The gig is at 8pm, and tickets are now on sale at Cob Records in Bangor and Porthmadog, for further information, call (01248) 353020.