April brings the fulfillment of all that spring promises: green grass, the budding of flowers, bushes and trees and an eclectic offering of live music.  I was able to see four shows this month, including Dark Star Orchestra and 40 Mile Detour. . But I was most impressed by the performances of Dweezil Zappa, son of Frank, and Rhiannon Giddens, lead singer of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Ms. Giddens is a 42 year old African-American from N. Carolina who has the voice of an angel and mastery of the banjo and fiddle. Their music was from different worlds but the passion that they bring to their craft draws them together.

Both performances were at the Charleston Music Hall about three weeks apart.  Dweezil is the musician son of the late Frank Zappa, whose music is somewhat of an acquired taste. Frank generally employed large bands in order to deliver the myriad of sounds and time changes that the music demanded. Many of his songs’ lyrics are comical and tell some wild tales. Others make no sense except to bring to life the elaborate song structures he created.

If you’re old enough to experience the heyday of MTV, you may recall Dweezil as a VJ. He’s bounced around in various bands, including a stint with his brother Ahmet. In recent years Dweezil has been a member of the Experience Hendrix All-Star tribute to another fabulous musician. Dweezil Zappa has been honoring his father’s music since 2006. He spent nearly a decade assembling top notch musicians for his “Zappa plays Zappa” tours. While performing here in Charleston at the Music Hall early in April, Dweezil honored the legacy for three hours without an intermission.  Songs like Peaches en Regalia, Call any Vegetable and Dirty Love were performed with precision and passion. He has a sextet assembled to back him up and to do justice to the music Frank created. They did not disappoint. If you liked the music of Frank Zappa or have always been curious about it, I highly recommend taking in his performance. He is on tour through December 15.

On the opposite end of the musical spectrum is Rhiannon Giddens, an Americana music artist. She earned a Grammy Award with the Carolina Chocolate Drops and has been making her own mark as a solo artist for the last five years. Rhiannon is in her early 40’s and was raised in No. Carolina. Her prowess on the fiddle and banjo are on par with many of today’s country stars. It is her voice, that of an earthly angel, that takes it over the top for me.  In this show, she offered a generous sampling of tunes from her current album, Freedom Highway. The title track of the album was a 1965 civil rights protest song by Roebuck Staples and the title of the Staple Singers album that year. , brings to life the power of African American song from 200 years ago to today.

Her performance could be described as modern bluegrass or New Grass and roots music. She is a songstress and a fabulous musician When this woman gets her voice into a song, you just want to close your eyes and let her vocals take you away. There are a lot of Bluegrass ambassadors bringing this style of music to the country and the world. However, there’s only one band with the beautiful voice that Rhiannon Giddens has been blessed with. She is not to be missed and is currently on tour somewhere through Nov. 15.

#DweezilZappa #RhinnonGiddens #CrankMoreFrank #FreedomHighway  #CharlestonMusicHall  #DoYouBelieveInMagic