Rhiannon Giddens imbues her brand of folk music with miles-deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, pursuing an authentic understanding of the country’s musical origins through art. A two-time Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning singer and instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, and composer of opera, ballet, and film, Giddens has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased. As Pitchfork once said, “few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration” — a journey that has led to NPR naming her one of its 25 Most Influential Women Musicians of the 21st Century and to American Songwriter calling her “one of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet.”

Tickets: TheSchaeferCenter@appstate.edu, 800-841-2787 or 828-262-4046, or the Schaefer Center box office (733 Rivers St). Tickets on sale August 27 at 10am.