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Folk musicians Alela Diane, Rhiannon Giddens, Mariee Siou and Uwade discuss that spark of electricity you get when songwriting goes well, how moments of personal growth and transition affect the music, going a whole year without writing a song, thinking of taxes while performing, and how songs are their own little houses or realms that have their own energy.

Alela Diane is a singer and guitarist based in Oregon, USA. She would often hear her parents harmonize bluegrass songs in the kitchen, which inspired a move to San Francisco aged 19, and started her on a path to a musical career that has garnered fans all over the world.

Rhiannon Giddens is a Grammy award-winning multi-instrumentalist and former Music Life host. She was the lead singer, violinist, banjo player and co-founder of the old-time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, and her solo work covers everything from country to opera and hip-hop.

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Mariee Siou makes ethereal and transcendental folk music, which draws inspiration from her indigenous heritage and an upbringing spent going to bluegrass festivals.

Uwade is a young singer-songwriter born in Nigeria, who started writing music during her studies in New York. Her sound is influenced by everything from Greek mythology to choral hymns to Nigerian highlife.