Spring 2025

Rhiannon Giddens, who No Depression named one of the most important roots musicians of the decade a few years ago, serves as the honorary guest editor for this Spring 2025 issue. A MacArthur “Genuis” Grant award winner and Grammy award winner, Giddens is as respected in opera as she is in bluegrass, and has spent decades practicing and preserving Black stringband musical history. In this issue, she is profiled about all her most recent projects (including the upcoming Biscuits & Banjos Festival and her appointment with the Silkroad Ensemble). She also lent her expertise to brainstorming a story idea — about the death of the middle class musician. The Spring issue also includes features on Ringo Starr’s new country record, author Flannery O’Conner’s centennial and continued influence on roots musicians, and so much more! Included in this issue: 30 Years of No Depression - Peter Blackstock 0044 At 50: Landmark bluegrass album J.D. Crowe & The New South celebrates half a century