Dominique Flemons (born August 30, 1982) is an American

old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combinatio ...

Piedmont blues Piedmont blues (also known as East Coast, or Southeastern blues) refers primarily to a guitar style, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melod ...

, and

neotraditional country Neotraditional country (also known as new traditional country and hardcore country) is a country music style that emphasizes the instrumental background and a traditional country vocal style. Neo-traditional country artists often dress in the fas ...

multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He is a proficient player of the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills, and rhythm bones. He is known as "The American Songster" as his repertoire of music spans nearly a century of American

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...

, ballads, and tunes. He has performed with

Mike Seeger Mike Seeger (August 15, 1933August 7, 2009) was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, a ...

, Joe Thompson,

Martin Simpson Martin Stewart Simpson (born 5 May 1953) is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voi ...

Boo Hanks James Arthur "Boo" Hanks (April 30, 1928 – April 15, 2016) was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer. He was billed as the last of the Piedmont blues musicians. Hanks recorded two albums in his lifetime, ''Pickin' Low Cotton'' (2007) ...

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, ...

Old Crow Medicine Show Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, '' Remedy'', released in 2014, won the ...

, Guy Davis, and The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. A member of the

Carolina Chocolate Drops The Carolina Chocolate Drops were an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, ''Genuine Negro Jig,'' won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in ''fRoots' ...

from their inception in 2005 until 2013, Flemons has released five albums in his own name, although two of those were collaborations with other musicians. Flemons appreciates the tradition inherent in his solo work and once stated, "I want to experiment rather than to merely replicate. It can never be as good as the original, so I make the music fit my own style. I look at the old time music, the originals of black banjo music for the Carolinas, the fiddle and the sounds of folks like Sid Hemphill,

Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas Jr. (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had a lead role in the film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received Golden Globe ...

and Peg Leg Howell." His latest album, ''Black Cowboys'' (2018), was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Folk Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the folk genre. Honors in several ...

at the

61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

, and for a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Hand ...

at the 40th Blues Music Award ceremony in the 'Acoustic Album' category.

Biography

Early life

Flemons was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, United States. He is of African American and Mexican heritage. He played percussion in his high school band, and whilst a teenager played guitar and harmonica in local coffee houses. He grew up listening to his parents record collection, and expanded his knowledge by studying recordings by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, and

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

. This led him to the pioneers of

American folk music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ''roots music''. Many traditional songs have been sung ...

, including

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspire ...

, Tom Paxton, and

Ramblin' Jack Elliott Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliot Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer and songwriter. Life and career Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adnopoz, a ...

. Flemons became a frequent busker and performer on the Arizona music scene. He obtained a major in English at

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

, in

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city's estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff's combined metropolitan area has an estimated population ...

, and partook in two national

poetry slam A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. ...

s in 2002 and 2003. In Flagstaff, Flemons met Sule Greg Wilson, a local percussionist, banjo player, and folklorist. Wilson became a mentor to Flemons assisting his playing techniques and understanding of the history of the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

and

Carolina Chocolate Drops

The

is an old-time

string band A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass. While being active countr ...

from

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, ''

Genuine Negro Jig ''Genuine Negro Jig'' is the third studio album of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, one of the few African-American string bands playing today. Its label debut was released on February 16, 2010, while its vinyl version, which included the album on ...

,'' won the

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording. An award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was also presented. Prior to 1987 ...

at the

53rd Annual Grammy Awards The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights pri ...

. Formed in November 2005, following the members' attendance at the first Black Banjo Gathering, held in

Boone, North Carolina Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters for the disaster a ...

, in April 2005, the group grew out of the success of Sankofa Strings, an ensemble that featured Dom Flemons on

bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

jug A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, and ceramic, or glass, and ...

, guitar, and four-string banjo, Rhiannon Giddens on banjo and fiddle and Súle Greg Wilson on

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or oth ...

, brushes, washboard, bones, tambourine, banjo, banjolin, and ukulele, with Justin Robinson as an occasional guest artist. The Carolina Chocolate Drops released five albums including 2012's '' Leaving Eden'', and one EP, whilst Flemons was a member, and opened for

and, in 2011,

. They performed on '' Mountain Stage'', MerleFest, and at the

Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention The Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention is a popular festival devoted to old-time and bluegrass music, as well as related arts such as dance, which takes place each summer at Veterans Memorial Park in Mount Airy, North Carolina, United States. It was ...

. Additionally they have performed on '' A Prairie Home Companion'', ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

'', and

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

in early 2010, and at the 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival in

Manchester, Tennessee Manchester is a city in Coffee County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 12,213 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Coffee County. The city is located halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga on Interstate 24. Manchester i ...

, and at the 2011 Romp, in Owensboro, Kentucky. On January 17, 2012 they appeared live on BBC Radio 3. They performed on the Grand Ole Opry several times. They also appeared on the UK's BBC Television program, '' Later... with Jools Holland''. On November 12, 2013, the Chocolate Drops announced that Flemons would be leaving to continue his own solo career.

Solo career

Flemons solo career began while he was still a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. He self-released his debut solo album in 2007, ''Dance Tunes Ballads & Blues''. His next album was issued the following year. ''American Songster'' was Flemons first release on Music Maker. He was then featured on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

performing at the

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

. Over the past decade Flemons has performed as a soloist at venues such as, Carnegie Hall as part of a Lead Belly tribute;

Cecil Sharp House Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, ...

; the Grand Ole Opry; at the opening ceremonies for the

National Museum of African American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...

; at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering; and represented the United States at the 2017

Rainforest World Music Festival The Rainforest World Music Festival (often abbreviated as RWMF) is an annual three-day music festival celebrating the diversity of world music, held in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, with daytime music workshops, cultural displays, craft displays, ...

in Kuching, Malaysia. In 2014, ''Prospect Hill'' saw Flemons enlist other musicians on his recording. These included Ron Brendle (bass), Guy Davis (banjo, harmonica, percussion and backing vocals), Keith Ganz (banjo and guitar), Brian Horton (clarinet, saxophone), Ben Hunter (drums, fiddle, backing vocals),

Pura Fé Pura Fé (born Pura Fé Antonia "Toni" Crescioni) Tuscarora/Taino, is an Indigenous singer-songwriter-musician, story teller, instructor, seamstress, artist and reviver of Canoe song/dance and woman's drum. Pura Fe is the founding member of the ...

(backing vocals), Joe Seamons (backing vocals) and Kobie Watkins (drums). The album saw releases on both the

Fat Possum In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple e ...

and Music Maker labels. The album received national press coverage. ''Prospect Hill'' contained seven of Flemon's own penned tracks out of a total of fourteen on the collection. Flemons was then a member of Music Maker Relief Foundation's Next Generation Artists program, and served on Music Maker's board of directors. He continues to discover young talent for the Foundation to assist and has promoted, recorded, and performed with more mature Music Maker artists including

John Dee Holeman John Dee Holeman (April 4, 1929April 30, 2021) was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His music includes elements of Texas blues, R&B and African-American string-band music. In his younger days he was also known for ...

, Boo Hanks, Captain Luke, and Macavine Hayes. His next album required Flemons to undertake some research work, and thus become a scholar, old record collector and part historian. The project entailed depicting the story of African Americans who helped to shape the American West, and the tunes they were familiar with. They included "

Home on the Range "Home on the Range" is a classic cowboy song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Home" in 1872 or 1873 ...

", which the field recorder and musicologist

John Lomax John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 – January 26, 1948) was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist, and a folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk music. He was the father of Alan Lomax, John Lomax Jr. and Bess Lo ...

recorded from a black cook in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. Equally "

Goodbye Old Paint __NOTOC__ "Goodbye Old Paint" is a traditional Western song that was created by black cowboy, Charley Willis. The song was first collected by songwriter, N. Howard "Jack" Thorp in his 1921 book ''Songs of the Cowboys''. Members of the Western Wri ...

" was first recorded by Lomax as performed by a white fiddler, but Flemons discovered that "... another musician talked about how he learned the song from an ex-slave who worked for his father on the ranch." That has been credited as the black cowboy and former slave, Charley Willis. Thus the songs and poems that were used in the ensuing album depicted a century old story, following the footsteps of thousands of African American pioneers. The individuals unearthed included

Nat Love Nat Love (June 14, 1854 – February 11, 1921) was an American cowboy and writer active in the period following the Civil War. His reported exploits have made him one of the more famous heroes of the Old West. Early life Nat Love, (pronounced "N ...

and

Bass Reeves Bass Reeves (July 1838 – January 12, 1910) was an American law enforcement official, historically noted as the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River. He worked mostly in Arkansas and the Oklahoma Territory. During his lo ...

, the latter being the first black Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi, who some believe was the model for the

Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

. Flemons duly wrote a song about the leading black movie cowboy of his time,

Bill Pickett Willie M. Pickett (December 5, 1870 – April 2, 1932) was a cowboy, rodeo, Wild West show performer and actor. In 1989, Pickett was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Personal life Pickett was born in the Jenks Branch community of Willia ...

, and used other stories including cowboys who became

Pullman porter Pullman porters were men hired to work for the railroads as porters on sleeping cars. Starting shortly after the American Civil War, George Pullman sought out former slaves to work on his sleeper cars. Their job was to carry passengers’ bag ...

s and, in turn, became important figures in the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. ''Black Cowboys'' (2018) was issued as part of the African American Legacy Recordings series issued in conjunction with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. Flemons played old musical instruments such as the six-string banjo and the quills, as was originally used by

. In 2017, Flemons was featured on '' David Holt's State of Music'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. He also performed as the bluesman

Joe Hill Louis Joe Hill Louis (September 23, 1921 – August 5, 1957), born Lester Hill, was an American singer, guitarist, harmonica player and one-man band. He was one of a small number of one-man blues bands (along with fellow Memphis bluesman Doctor Ross) ...

on CMT's television program ''Sun Records''. Flemons launched a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

, American Songster Radio, on WUNC

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and issued a couple of instructional DVD's via Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop.

Collaborations

In 2012, Flemons collaborated to record an album with the

guitarist and singer

, entitled ''Buffalo Junction''. Four years later, Flemons played along with the British guitarist

, to jointly record the album, ''A Selection of Ever Popular Favourites''. It was released on

Fledg'ling Records Fledg'ling Records is a British independent record label founded in 1991. The label has re-released some albums previously issued by Hokey Pokey Records which was also run by the Fledg'ling founder—David Suff. David Suff having been half o ...

Musical instruments

Flemons' foremost instrument is the banjo, with

having had an influence on Flemons playing style. Flemons plays a Deering 4-string banjo, a Gibson GB-1 6-string and a rare, oversized 1920s era Clef Club banjo.

Recent times

As of 2019, Flemons lived in the Washington, D.C. area.

Accolades and awards

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' commented that ''"most folk artists go by "singer-songwriter" or simply "musician." But "American songster" speaks to a greater truth about the work Flemons, a multi-instrumentalist, has accomplished as a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and now..., as a solo artist."'' Flemons won a Grammy Award as part of the Carolina Chocolate Drops for their album, ''

.'' His latest solo album, ''Black Cowboys'' (2018), was nominated for a

and for a 2019

in the 'Acoustic Album' category.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Selected other recordings

*2008: ''Heritage'' :

:4-String Banjo, Clappers, Drums (Snare), Jug, Percussion, Vocals *2009: ''Carolina Chocolate Drops & Joe Thompson'' :

/ Joe Thompson :Vocals, Guitar, Jug *2009: ''All the Pretty Horses'' : The Elftones / Rhiannon Giddens :Banjo, Harmonica *2009: ''Drunken Barrel House Blues'' :

Eden and John's East River String Band Eden and John's East River String Band are an American, New York City-based duo, who play country blues from the 1920s and 1930s. The members are John Heneghan (guitar, mandolin and vocals) and Eden Brower (ukulele and vocals). The duo often hav ...

:Guest Artist, Dancer, Guitar, Harmonica, Jug, Quills, Vocals *2010: '' Genuine Negro Jig'' :

:4-String Banjo, arranger, composer, Drums (Bass), Foot Percussion, Guitar, Jug, Throat Singing, Vocals *2010: '' Carolina Chocolate Drops/Luminescent Orchestrii'' ( EP) :

/ Luminescent Orchestrii :4-String Banjo, composer, Handclapping, lyricist, Vocals *2011: ''Be Kind to a Man When He's Down'' :

:Guest Artist *2012: '' Voice of Ages'' :

The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...

:Arranger, Quills *2012: '' Leaving Eden'' :

:4-String Banjo, arranger, composer, Drums (Bass), Drums (Snare), Guitar, Jug, Quills, Vocals *2013: ''Celebrates 50 Years of Music'' :

Tom Rush Thomas Walker Rush (born February 8, 1941) is an American folk music, folk and blues music, blues singer, guitarist and songwriter who helped launch the careers of other singer-songwriters in the 1960s and has continued his own singing career f ...

:Banjo, composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Harmonica, Pan Pipes, Vocal Harmony, Vocals *2014: '' Haven't Got the Blues (Yet)'' :

Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

:Harmonica, Jug *2015: ''American Originals'' :

Cincinnati Pops Orchestra The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra is a pops orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, founded in 1977 out of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Its members are also the members of the Cincinnati Symphony, and the Pops is managed by the same ...

/ John Morris Russell :Banjo, Harmonia, Percussion, Vocals

References

External links

Flemons discography at Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flemons, Dom 1982 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists Guitarists from Arizona American blues singers American blues harmonica players Piedmont blues musicians African-American banjoists American percussionists American multi-instrumentalists Old-time musicians African-American country musicians American folk singers American folk guitarists Singers from Arizona Songwriters from Arizona Musicians from Phoenix, Arizona 21st-century American guitarists Grammy Award winners The Carolina Chocolate Drops members American musicians of Mexican descent African-American male songwriters African-American guitarists 21st-century African-American male singers