Rhiannon Giddens and the Silkroad Ensemble had always planned to release “Swannanoa Tunnel” today as the first single on their upcoming album, American Railroad. There was no way they could have known that this week, after Hurricane Helene barreled through Western North Carolina and left a path of destruction in its wake, the song would take on a whole new meaning.
First sung in the late nineteenth century to the accompaniment of hammers striking steel, the song “Swannanoa Tunnel”—sometimes called “Asheville Junction”—details the plight of wrongfully imprisoned Black laborers leased to Western North Carolina Railroad and forced to build the tracks that would transport timber and other resources from Appalachia to the coast. Along the already hazardous route, the Swannanoa Gap proved one of the most treacherous sections, requiring six tunnels to be cut through mountains, including the 1,832-foot Swannanoa Tunnel. An estimated 125 to 300 laborers died in the effort.
Over the weekend, the small towns along that rail line—like Swannanoa, Black Mountain, Ridgecrest, and Old Fort, among countless other mountain outposts—saw nearly unfathomable devastation from rain, wind, flooding, fallen trees, and mudslides. The death toll is still rising. When Giddens, who grew up across the state in Greensboro, sings the spine-chilling lyrics, they feel as if they could’ve been written for this moment: “I’m going back to Swannanoa Tunnel / That’s my home, babe, that’s my home / Asheville Junction, Swannanoa Tunnel / All caved in, babe, all caved in.”
“I learned [this song] because of the amazing scholarship of two professors from Warren Wilson College, and [it] is the emotional heart of the entire project,” Giddens wrote today in an Instagram post. “I’m still processing that Swannanoa was completely devastated by Hurricane Helene and can only hope this coincidental timing can help raise funds and awareness for this stricken area.”
The Grammy-winning folk artist, banjo player, and songwriter pointed to a handful of organizations providing lifesaving aid to those in the area: Appalachian Funders Network, BeLoved Asheville, World Central Kitchen, and Operation Airdrop. For more ways to help, see our list here.
