Biscuits & Banjos Festival debuts in Durham this weekend to celebrate NC’s Black music
In the heart of Durham’s historic Hayti District, an old house on Massey Avenue pays quiet tribute to blues legend Blind Boy Fuller.
Born Fulton Allen in Wadesboro, Fuller taught himself to play guitar and sing traditional country rag tunes on sidewalks and in the shadow of tobacco factories and warehouses. His breakthrough came in 1935, when he signed with the American Recording Co. and recorded songs like “Rag, Mama Rag” and “I Want Some of Your Pie.”
Today, his legacy as “Durham’s Bluesman” contributes to the deep history of the Hayti neighborhood where Black families and businesses thrived, and to the deep-rooted tradition of Black musicians in North Carolina, artists whose influence is found in the work of Grammy-winning folk musician and banjoist Rhiannon Giddens.
For the first time this weekend, April 25-27, a new music festival is coming to downtown Durham. The Biscuits and Banjos Festival was curated and will feature Giddens and dozens of other North Carolina blues, jazz, folk and old-time musicians.
The three-day festival is a “celebration and exploration of Black music, art and culture” in Giddens’ home state and will include performances, workshops and readings from authors, chefs and visual artists. The lineup includes Taj Mahal, Christian McBride and the NCCU Jazz Ensemble, Leyla McCalla, Infinity Song, Charly Lowry, Don Flemons and Rissi Palmer.
The weekend is also a celebration of the first Black Banjo Gathering that took place 20 years ago in Boone, and there will also be a reunion of Giddens’ Grammy-winning string band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who will be performing for the first time in over a decade.
“I’m really excited to bring the kind of music that I am most excited about: music that really doesn’t exist without collaboration, conversation, community, really, for me, the important pieces about what music is and what it does for a community, what it does for people and what it does for humanity,” Giddens said in a video abut the event.
Giddens said she chose Durham for the festival because of her “personal connection to the city and its diverse reach and thriving contemporary culture, as well as its historical Black heritage.”
Moving the needle
Country music has always been part of Black American culture and recently, with the release of Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” album, more people have learned about the genre’s roots.
Giddens is featured on the hit song “Texas Hold ‘Em” playing banjo, an instrument created by enslaved Africans in the Caribbean. Giddens often talks about the banjo’s West African roots and last week released a new album with former band mate Justin Robinson titled “What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow.” The work was recorded at the Mill Prong House and Plantation in Red Springs.
In an interview, Palmer, who lives near downtown Durham, is excited to reconnect with friends and colleagues at the festival and to catch some favorite artists live. She broke out in 2007 with the hit “Country Girl” and has helped pave the way for greater visibility of Black women in country music.
“There are so many people that are on this bill. Whether they’re doing panels or they’re performing, these are people that I consider to be friends. So many people I love are a part of this,” Palmer said.
Her radio station, Color Me Country, on Apple Music Country, tells Black, Indigenous and Latinx stories of country music that don’t always make the main airwaves.
The show was “therapeutic” when she started it five years ago, “because of my prior experience in country and just thinking that a lot of things that I took personally ... they were happening to everybody else,” she said. “It made me sad, but it also made me really examine my own path and my own feelings about country music and the industry, because they’re two very different things.”
During the festival, Palmer will perform at The Armory at 5 p.m. Friday. The performance will feature all artists from the state.
“Durham is a historical Black city, and it’s one of the few Black Wall Streets that existed in this country,” Palmer said. “We have such a rich history. I love that this festival is shining a light on Durham, because Durham deserves that.”
Palmer said she hopes people attending the festival “feel the love and appreciation and celebration that this is.”
“There’s so much homegrown, incredible talent that we have from North Carolina,” Palmer said. “Rhiannon took a really, painstaking time to hand-pick and hand-select artists from North Carolina. … I hope people recognize and take pride in the fact that there is so much that is moving the needle right here in your backyard.”
The Biscuits and Banjos Festival
The festival will be spread across the Durham Performing Arts Center, the Armory, the Carolina Theatre and American Underground. Attendees will have a chance to explore Durham and its historic sites, including Blind Boy Fuller’s house, the areas once known as Black Wall Street and downtown.
Tickets for the indoor events are sold out, but there are free events like the Friday Night Frolic Square and Line Dance at 8 p.m. Friday, as well as community art projects. A portion of ticket and merchandise sales will go to Hurricane Helene relief efforts in Western North Carolina.
Seven restaurants throughout the weekend will be honoring the festival in a “Biscuit Trail,” including Zweli’s Ekhaya, Bull City Burger, 21C and Parts & Labor Restaurant.
Additionally, Giddens will be live streaming her main set Saturday at 6 p.m. from DPAC. Tickets for the livestream are available for $19.
Find a full schedule of events and ticket information at biscuitsandbanjos.com.
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Biscuits & Banjos Festival debuts in Durham this weekend to celebrate NC’s Black music."