Beyoncé's record-breaking album features Limerick-based musician

THE UNMISTAKABLE banjo riff that starts Beyoncé’s Texas Hold Em and gives it its unmistakable country sound is thanks to a Limerick-based musician.

Rhiannon Giddens (pictured below), a Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winner, has made Castletroy her home for over a decade. Ms Giddens, a native of North Carolina, moved to Limerick after meeting her then partner Michael Laffan, also a musician.

The 47-year-old vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and champion of 'Old Time' American music is an artist-in-residence in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick. The university describes her as “an extraordinary American musician, who is now a doyenne of the international folk scene”.  

Texas Hold Em is the hit single from Beyoncé’s record-breaking country album Cowboy Carter which was released last Friday. It became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far.

Beyoncé said it’s the best music she has ever made.

"I wanted to go back to real instruments, and I used very old ones. I didn’t want some layers of instruments like strings, especially guitars, and organs perfectly in tune.

"I kept some songs raw and leaned into folk. All the sounds were so organic and human, everyday things like the wind, snaps and even the sound of birds and chickens, the sounds of nature," said Beyoncé, which speaks to Ms Giddens' musical soul. 

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On Monday, Ms Giddens posted on X, “Whoof what a few weeks!”  

“There’s been so much to talk about but I have been too busy livin it to make many coherent posts - a tour, a special concert, a certain country album dropping that I had a wee contribution in... it’s been a time,” wrote Ms Giddens.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner in 2021, she said Limerick is “a really nice place”.

Every time i pick up my banjo (made by Jim Hartel) I feel a lick or tune wanting to escape into the world. This is one of hundreds that come and go. I play this banjo, a replica of a banjo style from 1858, because it feels deeply cultural and spiritual to me. pic.twitter.com/XLbTIoC9A3

— Rhiannon Giddens (@RhiannonGiddens) March 29, 2024

“‘I’ve seen in the last 10 years so many improvements in Limerick. All the effort that’s gone into the art scene. I’m a champion. I do what I can,” said said.

Only last month, Ms Giddens gave a lecture entitled, “Banjos, Black String Bands, and Bursting Mythology of Early American Music”.

She has performed and conducted masterclasses across several Academy programmes. And after Ms Giddens’ masterclass collaboration with Beyoncé, her passion for her proud heritage and musical talent will be shared with a new and even wider audience.