Carolina Chocolate Drops Dropping By
By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 20, 2010 4:40PM
Hailing from Durham, NC, the Carolina Chocolate Drops keep the tradition of old-time Southern string music alive. The Drops is composed of three musicians - Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson - trained in traditional Piedmont banjo and fiddle music under the guidance of Joe Thompson, who at age 91 might just be the last living fiddler from the golden age of Piedmont string music.
You may have caught the Drops when they stopped in town back in February, touring in support of their fifth studio album Genuine Negro Jig. The album juxtaposes tradition and modernity, featuring antique tunes like “Cornbread and Butterbeans” and “Trouble in Your Mind” alongside banjo-filled reworkings of more contemporary songs, such as Tom Waits’ “Trampled Rose” and Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style.”
Their old-time string music raises historically significant topics like the South pre-Civil War and the role of black musicians in white Southern music (for example, the banjo evolved from an instrument native to West Africa and introduced by enslaved Africans in Appalachia). But the music doesn’t actually require the listener to know its history to enjoy it; at its roots, its purpose is to bring people together in dance and song and build a stronger sense of community.
Separated from their musical style by several decades, the Drops manage to deliver old-time string music with a fresh, youthful vigor. This energy is only intensified in their live performance. Giddens mesmerizes with an opera-trained voice, Robinson becomes a human beatbox, and Flemons flings his guitar around in an acrobatic frenzy. The stage is in a constant state of flux as all three dance, sing, and trade off with a plethora of instruments, including banjo, fiddle, kazoo, jug, bones, and harmonica. The Drops will be playing this Friday night at Park West, the not-so-CTA-accessible venue known for its amazing acoustics. Also playing is Pieta Brown.
Carolina Chocolate Drops play Friday, October 22 at Park West, 322 W Armitage, 8 p.m., $20, All Ages