Rhiannon Giddens adds a Brevard College date on Tuesday, Nov 10

The MacArthur fellow and roots-music scholar books a weeknight college show just down the road from Asheville, days after a public conversation in Boston.

The banjo case comes out of the van on a Tuesday this time, and the stage is a college campus rather than a downtown theater. Rhiannon Giddens plays Brevard College in Brevard on Tuesday, Nov 10, with the show set to start at 7 p.m. The date was announced on Oct 28, which leaves Asheville-area fans a short window to plan a weeknight drive.

That window is the story. A Giddens show usually lands in a theater; the rooms she headlines typically hold around 1,800 people. A college date on a Tuesday is a different kind of booking, the sort that tends to come together quickly and get noticed late. If you have been meaning to see her and never lined up a weekend for it, this is the one to grab.

For anyone just catching up: Giddens is one of the most decorated figures in American roots music. The MacArthur Foundation named her a fellow in its class of 2017, and her work moves between performance, scholarship and history, with a focus on the Black roots of American folk and country traditions. This year alone, the University of Limerick in Ireland put her forward for an honorary Doctor of Letters.

She has stayed busy on stage, too. Earlier in 2026, Nonesuch announced a short series of summer concerts under the banner "American Tunes: Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," with Giddens sharing bills with Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Hurray for the Riff Raff. In 2025 she released "What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow" with Justin Robinson, a record built around the old string-band repertoire that has always been at the center of what she does.

The Brevard date also sits right after a more talk-driven appearance up north. On Nov 8, Boston University hosts "An Evening with Rhiannon Giddens" at its Tsai Performance Center, a conversation with a professor from BU's College of Fine Arts about her life and work. Two days later she is back in front of a crowd with instruments in hand.

Expect a show that is as much about the songs' history as the songs themselves. Giddens tends to talk about where a tune came from before she plays it, and a college audience in the mountains is a natural crowd for that. Genres on our listing run across folk, country and indie, which is about as close as a tag gets to describing her range.

What we do not have yet is ticket and price information, so keep an eye on the show page linked here and on Brevard College's own event channels. With a Tuesday night start of 7 p.m., the drive from Asheville is an easy after-work trip, and you will be home at a reasonable hour.

Shows like this one do not stay quiet for long. If the old-time tunes, the fiddle and the banjo are what got you into this music in the first place, Brevard on Nov 10 is worth leaving work a little early for.

Sources: JamBase: Rhiannon Giddens at Brevard College, Nov 10, 2026 (jambase.com); MacArthur Foundation: Rhiannon Giddens, Class of 2017 (macfound.org); Wikipedia: Rhiannon Giddens (en.wikipedia.org); University of Limerick: Rhiannon Giddens (ul.ie); Nonesuch: Rhiannon Giddens Announces Shows with Hurray for the Riff Raff, Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter (nonesuch.com); mxdwn: Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson announce What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (music.mxdwn.com); Boston University: An Evening with Rhiannon Giddens (bu.edu)