Vienna Carroll

Vienna Carroll brings a rich, soulful sound rooted in the Black church—the source of her earliest musical inspiration. Blending forgotten stories of Black heroes with traditional spirituals and freedom songs, she creates a sound she calls Afro-Future Roots Music—a funky, modern take on Black Folk.

She learned music from the Black Ladies of her youth, including her formidable great-grandmother who played guitar along with the Grand Ole Opry radio on Saturday nights but only proper Pentecostal chords on Sundays. Summers on her grandmother’s 125-acre Alabama farm meant long drives down dusty roads to church services where the only instruments were clapping hands and fervent voices.

Vienna deepened her connection to this legacy at Yale University, where she earned a BA in African American Studies and focused on early Black music traditions. Her influences include Nina Simone, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ray Charles, and the enduring spirit of the Black church.

Her captivating appeal has earned her performances with her band, The Folk, at prestigious venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York City's iconic Bitter End. She has also graced the stage in Harlem’s renowned Marcus Garvey Park, featured in Questlove’s Summer of Soul.

The Folk, Vienna’s stellar band, are Keith Johnston (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Jon Hendricks) on guitar; Stanley Banks (George Benson) on bass; Washboard XT/Newman Taylor Baker (Matthew Shipp, McCoy Tyner, Henry Grimes) on washboard; and guest artist Ken Scharf (Ray Charles).

Last year Vienna toured internationally, honoring a fugitive from U.S. slavery in New Zealand and making stops across both the North and South Islands. Back home, her performances included an inaugural arts festival in Wyoming, Pinkster celebrations throughout New York City, and a lively Fiddlers Fest in upstate New York.

Collaborations with textile artists, poets, and storytellers added a rich, interdisciplinary dimension to her work—and were great fun, too.

Vienna Carroll & The Folk have also performed at The Langston Hughes House, Harlem; American Folk Art Museum, NYC; Logan Arts Center, Chicago; and the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival, NH.

Vienna’s soon to be released CD, Harlem: Afro-Future Roots is shot through with today’s rhythms and grooves, and features a guest appearance by Robert Stern (Gil Gutierrez) on violin.  It is a special collection of Spirituals honoring the shackled-and-chained 31 ancestors who in 1826, on a boat from Baltimore to deep south death, threw their captors overboard and escaped to freedom.

Vienna’s Harlem Field Recordings CD was released at NYC Lincoln Square’s American Folk Art Museum and is Funky Black Folk music that features Vienna, Stanley Banks, Washboard XT/Newman Taylor Baker, Keith Johnston, and guests Nioka Workman (Anthony Braxton, David Murray) on cello; Melanie Dyer (Joe Bonner, Reggie Workman) on viola; and Henrique Prince (Ebony Hillbillies, Sun Ra Arkestra) on violin.  The cover artwork is by Ken Daley.

Vienna's first CD, Singin Wid A Sword in Ma Han, reprised tunes from her award-winning play of the same name in collaboration with Washboard XT.

Her next CD Vienna Carroll Live was a live recording at NYC’s famous Living Room and featured Washboard XT, Michael O’Brien (Harry Connick Jr, Ruben Blades) on bass, Melanie Dyer and Keith Johnston.

Mary Had a Baby is Vienna’s Christmas EP infused with holiday spirit, including jazz standards and the traditional Spiritual of the title’s name. It is dedicated to Harriet Tubman and the United States Colored Troops who together rescued nearly 800 enslaved people during the Combahee River Raid in 1863. Though it was in June, it was Christmas for them!

Mary Had a Baby features Vienna, Dan Furman (Primordial Jazz Funktet) on piano; Michael O’Brien, and Keith Johnston on background vocals and percussion. The cover artwork is by Adjoa Burrowes.

Vienna also released a digital jazz Valentine’s CD, Love to You, with Bruce Edwards (Sun Ra) on guitar. She also performs jazz with Michael Howell (Dizzy Gillespie).

Other Projects:  SHALLOW BROWN: Thessalonia and the Free Sailor, First Langston Hughes Playwright Showcase, Harlem NY | Valor In The Hills, award-winning series about a free Black NY community during the Civil War. Hudson River Museum, Yonkers NY | First NYC Underground Railroad Festival Juneteenth Celebration, Plymouth Church of the Pilgrim, Brooklyn NY | Singin Wid A Sword In Ma Han, NYC Fringe Festival Audience Favorite Award | CT Sea Music Festival, Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival.

Vienna lives in Harlem with her wife Katharine, her garden and window boxes.