Stagecoach 2022: Rhiannon Giddens shows off pipes, plucking skills in throwback set

As I walked into Rhiannon Giddens' set at the Palomino Stage Sunday afternoon, I felt like I'd taken a wrong turn out of the festival and ended up in a coffee shop run by a couple of old hippies.

Nearly everyone was sitting, the average age seemed well north of 40 and there were just about as many floral patterns as cowboy hats in the crowd.

But it wasn't until Giddens opened her mouth and launched into the first few lines of "O Death" that I started to appreciate the degree to which I was in for an experience that would be thoroughly unlike any other I'd had so far at the festival.

I don't know if I have the words to describe the sheer power and beauty of Giddens' voice, so it will have to suffice to say that at a festival featuring the likes of Carrie Underwood, hers easily took the cake. I had listened to a few YouTube recordings before the show, but nothing could've prepared me for the sheer force on display here. Actually, I think this was one of the best pure vocal performances I've seen, well, ever.

But while this set was more than worth checking out for Giddens' vocals alone, she's far more than just a singer. She's also an expert fiddler and banjo player, and her talent for both was on full display as she switched between the instruments over the course of the 3minute set.

At one point, Giddens explained that the banjo she was playing was a replica of one from 1858 before quipping "I'm already weird, and I play a weird banjo, which makes me even weirder." But if playing a banjo from 1858 is weird, then Giddens proved it is in the most delightful way.

It also felt fitting considering Giddens' statement to the crowd that she and her band "play the stuff that came before the radio, before the Grand Ole Opry."

One of the most poignant moments came when Giddens explained that the banjo was invented by African Americans and is a key part Black culture in the South, including her native North Carolina.

She then launched into a stirring rendition of "I Shall Not Be Moved," which was written and taught to her by Joe Thompson, who she described as "one of the last Black fiddlers in the South."

"We're all here together and it doesn't matter how we got here," Giddens said before starting to play. "We're all here now, and the only way forward is together."

Another highlight came when Giddens' guitarist, Dirk Powell, sang a stirring cover of Tommy Jarrell's "Tempie Roll Down Your Bangs," and proved that he was a fitting vocal match for Giddens.

But the best was saved for last when Giddens absolutely brought the house down with her song "She's Got You."

As she launched into the chorus one time, she paused between "she's got" and "you" to let out a loud "damn" as even she seemed overcome by the magic of the moment she had conjured.

Earlier in the set, Giddens explained before starting to play that "it has been a time." And by the end of the set, I knew exactly what she meant.

Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Stagecoach 2022: Rhiannon Giddens shows off pipes in throwback set