It’s not everyday that you come across a band that is doing something new by playing the music of the past. But for the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a trio of African-American old-time musicians from Durham, North Carolina, that is exactly what they’re achieving, in part by reviving the music of black string-bands from the early part of the 20th century and breathing new life into that tradition right here in 2008. And while the roots of that tradition stretches back hundreds of years, for the Carolina Chocolate Drops the roots of their journey together began not that long ago. Their starting point as a band began in Boone, North Carolina in April of 2005, at a gathering known as the Black Banjo Gathering.
The Black Banjo Gathering was organized to bring together an informal group of black musicians, scholars, and historians who were interested in or involved in preserving the music of black string-bands and jug-bands that were once prevalent during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in American music. It was here that Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson, (both from North Carolina) and Dom Flemons (from Phoenix, Arizona) discovered a shared common thread in their love for this music, and from that thread was woven the Carolina Chocolate Drops.
Since that time the trio of multi-instrumentalists and vocalists have toured across the U.S. as well as overseas, winning audiences over not only with their superb talents, but also with their honest approach to the songs and tunes that, at their heart, celebrate the real roots of American music. The band’s most recent release Dona Got a Ramblin’ Mind also has earned the band widespread critical acclaim (it came in at #49 on Paste magazine’s Top 100 albums of 2007).
And while the band’s performances touch on elements of jazz and early blues, it is the string-band music of the hills of North and South Carolina that is at the core of the Carolina Chocolate Drop’s sound. What is most interesting today is how closely related that music is to white Southern culture, while the music’s black roots are largely overlooked or simply forgotten. I recently spoke to the band’s Dom Flemons by phone and we talked about why string-music as part of the African-American musical experience fell out of favor in the early part of the 20th Century.
He notes that one of the big reasons for the disappearance of black string-music was brought about by the movement of blacks from the rural areas of the South towards the cities and urban centers. But maybe more importantly Flemons says, is the fact that old-time music eventually became a part of country music and that “country music by its nature is very nostalgic. For blacks, that nostalgia carried with it a great deal of hurt“.
So what’s changed? Why the renewed interest in a style of music that has been largely overlooked for almost seventy years? Flemons points to a crop of new, young black musicians who look at string-band music and understand that it’s part of their history. That it’s their music too. “If you trace the history of the banjo, it goes all the way back to Africa. Part of what we’re doing is making sure that that part of the black musical experience is celebrated. Sometimes you have to reach back and grab the past so that you can bring it forward with you to the future.”
The Carolina Chocolate Drops perform Thursday, April 10th at the Gravity Lounge in Charlottesville. Show starts at 7:30pm. $15.
Georgia Buck by The Carolina Chocolate Drops
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Tagged as: Carolina Chocolate Drops, charlottesville, Gravity Lounge, live music
I can see where the fascination with Kerouac comes… Dude, you rock as always. This reminds me of some of the music described “On the Road.” Some kind of b-bop which brings me back to Georgia Buck. This is the real music we miss out because most of us ignore the beauty of such music. Here lies the passion of music… and Shaun has woken it.
glad you enjoyed the post five. i give all the credit to the music and those folks who play it. me, i’m just passing it around.
The drops are fantastic.
I mean no offense by threadjacking thus, but the range of music covered on this side of the fence is REALLY narrow. We have like two or three art posts and then its a parade of guitar stuff. Folk / rock / alt / punk… on and on. Are there any plans on covering anything else, or is it a function of write what you know? Again, no offense.
/sincerely curious
I think part of it is, at least for myself, that I write what I know. That’s not to say I won’t write about what I don’t know. BTW-no offense taken. I also think that as the site grows, the function of the site grows in proportion. Obviously, you try to cover as many bases as possible, but in the end I think it’s really hard to be all things to all people. We do the best we can. And we’ll keep on doing.
We need people who know about other types of music to post about it.
B’Yo: I’m reviewing a jazz CD right now. Soon as I’m done it’ll be up here. My offer still stands that I’m accepting anything for review, I will listen and write about it all. Failing that I may have to get Spicybear to buy me a Plan9 gift card and go buying local artists CDs.
hey squid, be looking for a CD that should be coming your way very soon. Streamline I believe is the band. It was sent out Monday. They are tentatively scheduled to be @ Satellite very soon.
I don’t know how many people made it down to the Gravity Lounge last night to check out the Carolina Chocolate Drops, but if you didn’t make it you really, really missed out. First of all, it was probably one of the largest crowds I’ve ever seen at the Gravity. It was standing room only and then some. People were sitting on partial walls, on stairs, on the floor…it was packed. The Rivanna River Chiggers warmed up the crowd with a taste of local old-time music, but this night clearly belonged to the Chocolate Drops! They played jugs, snare drums, the quills, fiddles, banjos, guitars, the bones, harmonica, auto harp…you name it, they played it, and they played with a joy and a precision that is rare in music today! Highlights included a killer rendition of the old blues tune “Viper Man”, old timey classics like “Sally Ann”, country standards from the likes of Grandpa Jones (”Rattler”), and what was clearly the crowd favorite, an acoustic, soulful, version of Blu Cantrell’s “Hit Em Up Style”!!! It was a night of transcendent musical expression. If you missed them this time around, no worries, they are coming back in October. October 25th to be exact. These guys are not to overlooked.
You gotta take this off the front page. Every time I come in here, I get hungry. Mmm chocolate drops…