“...belong to an era when music was not something to be sold but something from the soul.” Jeff Tamarkin, All Music Guide The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a band of three young and talented musicians, are recognized as leading the revival of old-time string band music, the antebellum combination of banjo and fiddle that used to be a tradition in most black rural communities in the South. The Drops honed their skills under the tutelage of octogenarian fiddler Joe Thompson from NC, said to be the last black traditional string band player. Thompson, who grew up playing at barn dances, “frolics” and corn shuckings, wound up performing in venues across the country, including Carnegie Hall. Dom Flemons’ guitar and jug root the band in an infectious rhythm, and he plays harmonica for additional melody. Banjo and fiddle player Rhiannon Giddens became inspired by old-time music when she fell into contra dancing after graduating from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Justin Robinson is the band’s primary fiddler. Trained in classical violin, he became interested in bluegrass and old-time fiddle music, as well as the fife and drum tradition of African-Americans in the Deep South.
• http://www.carolinachocolatedrops.com/