Nonesuch

Whether it was during her time in the Carolina Chocolate Drops or alongside Elvis Costello and co. as a member of the New Basement Tapes, Rhiannon Giddens has managed to stand out in any pack that counts her amongst their ranks.

But as she firmly states in the title of her solo debut, Tomorrow is My Turn, she shows the world who the heiress of the Americana crown really is in this industry regardless of how many dudes she’s got trailing behind her. These 11 new songs were crafted with love by producer T-Bone Burnett, who really expounds upon those touching and insightful one-on-one sessions between he and Giddens that provided the great highlights of that Showtime documentary about the sessions for the New Basement Tapes album, Lost in the River. He enlisted some of his most trusted veteran session men who’ve been working with him for years for this record, chief among them guitarist Colin Linden, bassist Dennis Crouch and drummer Jay Bellerose, not to mention Jack Ashford of the legendary Funk Brothers on tambourine.

What this ensemble puts together is nothing short of a revelation that helps propel Giddens straight into the center of the Country, Bluegrass and Blues triad that provided the namesake for New York City’s greatest music club along with a gale force gospel punch, as her excellent selection of covers (Dolly Parton’s “Don’t Let It Trouble Your Mind”, Sister Rosetta Thorpe’s “Up Above My Head”, Geeshie Wiley’s “Last Kind Words”, which fans of the 1995 documentary Crumb will immediately recognize) testifies.

However, its the sole original number, closing cut “Angel City”, that offers a pure glimpse of the promise the solo career of this magnificent mother of two has to offer us in the years to come.