Rhiannon Giddens has shared the behind-the-scenes video below offering a brief look at the making of her critically acclaimed new album, Freedom Highway. The album, released last week on Nonesuch, includes nine original songs Giddens wrote or co-wrote, along with a traditional song and two civil rights-era songs.

"It's so personal," she says in the video. "But it's not just personal in the way that these are my stories. It's personal in that ... it's a huge chunk of my soul."

Giddens co-produced Freedom Highway with multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell at The Cyprus House, his Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, studio, with the bulk of recording done in wooden rooms built prior to the Civil War. Together they assembled the players, which included her superb touring band, local musicians from the bayou, a soulful horn section from New York, and talented family members. The principle recording was done over an intense eight day period. The video was made at The Cypress House by director Harvey K. Robinson.

Giddens and Powell kick off a short, four-city duo tour of the US Northeast tonight, making stops in Western Massachusetts, upstate New York, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. The full-band Freedom Highway tour begins later this month. For details, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

To pick up a copy of Freedom Highway, head to iTunes, Amazon, Rhiannon Giddens's shop, or the Nonesuch Store, where it is available on CD, LP, MP3, FLAC, and HD digital. You can also listen to the album on Spotify and Apple Music.