Rhiannon Giddens makes history with Steve Martin Prize

Rhiannon Giddens, one of the most acclaimed performers in the universe of contemporary folk music, has won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. She is both the first woman and the first African-American to do so. The 39-year-old Greensboro, N.C., native, a co-founder of string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, is the seventh…