By Brian Burns
WUNC
This past weekend, downtown Durham was taken over by the inaugural Biscuits & Banjos Festival, a celebration of Black artists and creators and the brainchild of Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning, North Carolina-born artist Rhiannon Giddens. The festival featured musical performances, documentary screenings, lectures, dance parties, and of course, biscuits. With this being the first-ever festival of its kind, you’d expect some logistical hiccups throughout the weekend but from what I saw, there were none. It was a truly astonishing celebration of Black culture and it showcased how great downtown Durham is. There was nothing on the schedule that didn’t pique my interest, so it was hard to decide which performances to see, but here’s how the weekend went down for me.
Friday: kicking it off with Demeanor, the camaraderie of square and line dancing with Rhiannon Giddens, and the legendary Taj Mahal
My first stop was the Blackbird Stage at Lot 20. This stage had musical performances throughout the weekend that were all free to the public. The first performance came from Greensboro-based rapper and folk musician Justin Harrington, aka Demeanor. His resume includes collaborations with artists ranging from Doechii to Rhiannon Giddens, and his show brought the kind of energy you’d expect from someone with so much range. After his set, I popped up to The Pinhook to catch singer-songwriter and poet Adia Victoria. Her set was haunting and beautiful.
After my time at The Pinhook, I headed over to The Carolina Theatre to check out the great composer and bassist Christian McBride. He was joined on stage by North Carolina Central University’s Jazz Ensemble I. I loved seeing all the young local talent on showcase and working with the legendary McBride. With little time for rehearsal, he conducted them through a set of mostly original compositions and gave a lot of the players space to solo.
After Christian McBride’s set, I headed back over to The Pinhook to catch Niwel Tsumbu, an artist I wasn’t familiar with before the festival. He’s a guitarist who was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo but now lives in Ireland, where he met and worked with Rhiannon Giddens. His set was absolutely beautiful. It was a mix of different African guitar styles and he closed the set with a cover of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”
From The Pinhook, I headed over to The Armory for the first time of the weekend to catch a little bit of the Friday Night Frolic Square & Line Dance with Rhiannon Giddens & Friends. This wasn’t on my schedule initially, but I’m so glad I went because I really think it represented what the festival is all about. Giddens was joined on stage by an amazing group of players and a square dance caller who instructed the crowd on how to go through the moves. It was pure joy to see The Armory filled with dancers who were all laughing and smiling the entire time. Between square dance numbers, there were line dances and the crowd was on board for all of it.
From The Armory, I headed back to The Carolina Theatre to catch the night’s main event, Taj Mahal with Leyla McCalla. McCalla and her band kicked off the night with a set of songs from her latest record, “Sun Without The Heat,” and then brought out the legend Taj Mahal for a set of his classics mixed with more of McCalla’s originals. At 82 years old, Taj Mahal sounded fantastic and brought a lot of humor to the set too.
I finally closed out the night back at The Pinhook where Sweet Molasses: A Pop-Up Juke Joint presented by The Conjure was taking place. The Conjure is a Durham-based dance party that celebrates Black & Brown femmes and they brought a super fun mix of dance and country music to close out the night.
Saturday: Library talk, Infinity Song, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops reunion
I got a little bit of a late start on Saturday, but the first thing I caught was a panel called Libraries As Sanctuaries For Black Stories that featured librarian and TikTok star Mychal Threets and New York Times columnist and UNC sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom. As a MLS holder myself, I loved hearing from these people about how important libraries are to local communities and how in 2025 they’re as relevant and important as ever — maybe even more so. Cottom pointed out that libraries will let you walk out the door with $5000 worth of stuff, while when you go to the drug store you have to ask someone to unlock the razors for you because they don’t trust you enough to not steal them. This panel took place at The Water Tower on the American Tobacco Campus, right by our studio.
From there, I walked back up to The Blackbird Stage at Lot 20 to catch the end of New Dangerfield’s set. New Dangerfield is a Black string band supergroup that features Jake Blount, Kaia Kater, Nelson Williams, and North Carolina’s own Tray Wellington. They’re a relatively new group carrying on the tradition that the Carolina Chocolate Drops carried on from their mentor Joe Thompson.
After New Dangerfield, I went back to The Armory to catch Infinity Song, who were at the very top of my list of artists I was excited to see at the festival. I missed them a few months back at the Cat’s Cradle Back Room so I was really glad they were in town for Biscuits & Banjos. Their set did not disappoint. It was easily the most high energy performance I saw all weekend. The band’s sound is hard to describe. It’s a mix of choir music, dance music and rock music. They did a really fun cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” that had everyone in The Armory on their feet clapping their hands and singing along. At the end of the set, they mentioned that they’d be back in the Triangle soon so I would highly recommend catching them then.
After Infinity Song it was time for the main event, Rhiannon Giddens’ Carolina Breakdown ft. The Carolina Chocolate Drops Reunion at DPAC. The show started off with a set from New Dangerfield and was followed by Niwel Tsumbu. What a treat to get to see both of those artists twice at the festival. After those performances, Rhiannon Giddens came out with her band, starting her set with Elizabeth Cotten’s “Freight Train” — a local favorite if there ever was one.
After a brief intermission, it was time for The Carolina Chocolate Drops, on stage together for the first time in 12 years. The set began with the original three Chocolate Drops, Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson going through some fan favorites. Eventually, they brought out Hubby Jenkins, Leyla McCalla, Rowan Corbett, and Sule, all people who spent time in the band as it evolved. It was truly one of the most special shows I’ve ever seen. After all these years, you could tell that everyone on stage was thrilled to be there and having a great time.
Sunday: closing things out with The Legendary Ingramettes and The Bittersweet Brass Band
Finally on Sunday morning, the festival wrapped with two performances. The Legendary Ingramettes put on a barn-burner of a show at the Durham Armory. Over at The Blackbird Stage, the local Bittersweet Brass Band put on an equally high-energy performance. It was a great way to wrap things up and leave people wanting more.
The arts scene in Durham thrives on collaboration and the Biscuits & Banjos Festival gave the city a chance to show that to the fans who traveled to be here. From the food to the music to the lectures, every detail of this festival was curated and organized with love and intention and I’m truly in awe of Rhiannon Giddens and her team of organizers for putting on such a special celebration. Cheers to them and love live Biscuits & Banjos.
