The Carolina Chocolate Drops were 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 No ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. 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 prio ...

, and was number 9 in ''

fRoots ''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occas ...

'' magazine's top 10 albums of 2010.

Career

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 Dominique Flemons (born August 30, 1982) is an American old-time music, Piedmont blues, and neotraditional country multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He is a proficient player of the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills ...

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, an ...

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 Rhiannon Giddens (born February 21, 1977) is an American musician. She is a founding member of the country, blues and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she is the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player. Giddens i ...

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 othe ...

, brushes, washboard, bones, tambourine, banjo, banjolin, and ukulele, with Justin Robinson as an occasional guest artist. All shared vocals. The purpose of Sankofa Strings was to present a gamut of African American musics: country and classic blues, early jazz and "hot music", string band numbers, African and Caribbean songs, and spoken word pieces. The Chocolate Drops' original three members: Giddens, Flemons, and Robinson, were all in their twenties when the group formed after Flemons' move from Phoenix (where he and Wilson lived), to North Carolina, home of Giddens and Robinson. Wilson, nearly a generation older than the other Drops, was occasionally featured with the group into 2010, including contributions to the recordings, ''Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind'', ''CCD and Joe Thompson'', ''Heritage'' (with songs culled from Sankofa Strings' independently-released CD, ''Colored Aristocracy'') and nearly half of ''

''. All of the musicians sing and trade instruments including

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

, and

kazoo The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifi ...

. The group learned much of their repertoire, which is based on the traditional music of the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region of North and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, from the eminent African American old-time fiddler Joe Thompson, although they also perform old-time versions of some modern songs such as

Blu Cantrell Blu Cantrell (born Tiffany Cobb; March 16, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. Cantrell rose to fame in 2001, with the release of her debut single, " Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)", which peaked at number two on the US ''Billboa ...

's R&B hit " Hit 'em Up Style (Oops!)." The Carolina Chocolate Drops have released five CDs and one EP and have opened for

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, Mu ...

and, in 2011,

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 ...

. They have performed on ''

Mountain Stage ''Mountain Stage'' is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio (NPR). Hosted by Larry Groce from the show's inception until 2021 and current ...

'', 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 ''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

'', ''

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 6 ...

'', 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 th ...

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 is ...

, and at the 2011 Romp, in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

. On 17 January 2012 they appeared live on BBC Radio 3. They have performed on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

several times. They have also performed on the UK's

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

program, '' Later... with Jools Holland''. On February 7, 2011, the band announced that beatboxer Adam Matta and multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins would be joining the band, while Justin Robinson was departing. In early 2012, they announced that the New Orleans based cellist Leyla McCalla was joining the band on its next tour. CCD contributed a track, "Political World," to the Bob Dylan tribute compilation, ''

Chimes of Freedom (album) ''Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International'' is a charity compilation album featuring new recordings of compositions by Bob Dylan by multiple artists, released on January 24, 2012. Proceeds from the al ...

'' released in January 2012. Their next album, '' Leaving Eden'', followed soon afterward in February 2012. In an interview, Jenkins said,

"''Leaving Eden'' was an interesting album because iddlerJustin obinsonhad just left the group, and they had already decided to record with
Buddy Miller Steven Paul "Buddy" Miller (born September 6, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. Miller is married to and has recorded with singer-songwriter Julie Miller. ...
, and had even picked the recording dates. It was an interesting time to be coming in, because they were ready to do different things with the new members. So it was a trial-by-fire period."

They toured with Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band in 2012. Later in 2012, the Drops were nominated for numerous awards by the Chicago Black Theater Alliance for their work in ''Keep a Song in Your Soul: The Roots of Black Vaudeville''. Staged by the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, written by Lalenja Harrington (Rhiannon Giddens' sister) and Sule Greg Wilson, and featuring veteran hoofer Reggio MacLaughlin, and ragtime pianist and MacArthur Fellow Reginald R. Robinson, the program examined the hopes and realities, music, and dances of the Great Migration. Also in 2012, the Drops contributed a song, "Daughter's Lament", to ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel set ...

'' soundtrack. In 2013, they were nominated 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. Handy, " ...

for 'Acoustic Artist'. Also in 2013, the Drops contributed a song, "Day of Liberty", to the two-CD album Divided & United''. On November 12, 2013, the Chocolate Drops announced that Dom Flemons would be leaving to embark on his own solo career, and introduced two new members: cellist Malcolm Parson and multi-instrumentalist Rowan Corbett. In 2014 the Chocolate Drops worked with choreographer

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music. Fr ...

and dancers

Robert Fairchild Robert Fairchild (born June 9, 1987) is an American dancer and actor. He is best known for originating the role Jerry Mulligan in the musical ''An American in Paris'', and as Munkustrap in the 2019 film ''Cats''. He was a principal dancer at the ...

and

Tiler Peck Tiler Kalyn Peck (born January 12, 1989) is an American ballet dancer who is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. As well as ballet, she has performed in musical theatre shows and has made cameo appearances in films including ''Donni ...

to create ''Cornbread Duet''.{{r, Seibert In 2014, the group stopped regularly performing together, and members have pursued solo work and other projects since. Hubby Jenkins left the band in 2016. Rhiannon Giddens has released a number of solo recordings and was recently named as the artistic director of the Silk Road Project.

Members

Carolina Chocolate Drops play Mirror Lake, Lake Placid, NY

;Current *

: 5-string banjo, dance, fiddle, kazoo, voice *Rowan Corbett: Guitar, bones, snare drum, cajon, djembe *Malcolm Parson: Cello, melodica ;Previous *

: 4-string banjo, guitar, jug, harmonica, kazoo, snare drum, bones, quills, voice * Hubby Jenkins: Guitar, mandolin, 5-string banjo, bones, voice *Adam Matta: Beatbox, tambourine * Leyla McCalla: Cello, tenor banjo, voice *Justin Robinson: Fiddle, jug, beatbox, dance, voice *Súle Greg Wilson: 5-string banjo, banjolin, bodhrán, brushes, bones, dance, gourd, kazoo, tambourine, ukulele, voice, washboard

Discography

Albums

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" , - ! rowspan="2" style="width:26em;", Title ! rowspan="2" style="width:20em;", Album details ! colspan="4", Peak chart positions , - style="font-size:smaller;" ! style="width:45px;", US ! style="width:45px;", US Grass ! style="width:45px;", US Folk ! style="width:45px;", US Heat , - ! scope="row", ''Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind'' , * Release date: September 12, 2006 * Label: Music Maker , — , — , — , — , - ! scope="row", ''

The Great Debaters ''The Great Debaters'' is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by and starring Denzel Washington. It is based on an article written about the Wiley College debate team by Tony Scherman for the spring 1997 issue of ''American Legacy''. ...

'' Soundtrack
(with

Alvin Youngblood Hart Alvin Youngblood Hart (born Gregory Edward Hart; March 2, 1963) is an American musician. Career Hart was born in Oakland, California, and spent some time in Carroll County, Mississippi, in his youth, where he was influenced by the Mississippi ...

Sharon Jones Sharon Lafaye Jones (May 4, 1956 – November 18, 2016) was an American soul and funk singer. She was the lead singer of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, a soul and funk band based in Brooklyn, New York. Jones experienced breakthrough succe ...

and

Teenie Hodges Mabon Lewis "Teenie" Hodges (November 16, 1945 – June 22, 2014) was an American musician known for his work as a rhythm and lead guitarist and songwriter on many of Al Green's soul hits, and those of other artists such as Ann Peebles and Syl J ...

) , * Release date: December 11, 2007 * Label:

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, — , — , — , — , - ! scope="row", ''Heritage'' , * Release date: February 18, 2008 * Label: Dixiefrog , — , — , — , — , - ! scope="row", ''Carolina Chocolate Drops & Joe Thompson''
(recorded live at MerleFest, April 25, 2008) , * Release date: May 26, 2009 * Label: Music Maker , — , — , — , — , - ! scope="row", ''

'' , * Release date: February 16, 2010 * Label:

Nonesuch __NOTOC__ Nonesuch may refer to: Plants * ''Lychnis chalcedonica'', a wildflower * ''Medicago lupulina'', a wildflower Places and structures *Nonesuch, Kentucky *Nonesuch Island, Bermuda *Nonesuch Mine, Michigan *Nonesuch Palace, mis-spelling of ...

, 150 , 1 , 2 , 2 , - ! scope="row", '' Carolina Chocolate Drops/Luminescent Orchestrii'' EP , * Release date: January 25, 2011 * Label: Nonesuch , — , 3 , 11 , 32 , - ! scope="row", '' Leaving Eden'' , * Release date: February 24, 2012 * Label: Nonesuch , 123 , 1 , 6 , 2 , - , colspan="6" style="font-size:8pt", "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , - ! Year ! style="width:10em;", Video ! Director , - , 2012 ! scope="row", "Country Girl"{{cite web, url=http://www.cmt.com/videos/carolina-chocolate-drops/765686/country-girl.jhtml, title=CMT : Videos : Carolina Chocolate Drops : Country Girl, publisher=

Country Music Television Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...

, access-date=May 8, 2012 , Thomas Ciaburri

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite news , last =Seibert , first =Brian , title =Fouéttes and Pirouettes to the Southern Banjo and Fiddle , newspaper =New York Times , location =New York, United States , date =13 April 2014 , url =https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/14/arts/dance/carolina-chocolate-drops-and-twyla-tharps-cornbread-duet.html , access-date = 7 July 2020

External links

Carolina Chocolate Drops official site

Carolina Chocolate Drops MySpace page

* class=artist, id=p824118, pure_url=yes Allmusic discography

Videographic documentation

Chocolate Drops Revive String-Band Sound
by Karen Michel, ''Weekend Edition Sunday'', January 28, 2007
Carolina Chocolate Drops Keep Piedmont Sounds Alive
from ''

News & Notes ''News & Notes'' was a National Public Radio program focusing on issues affecting African-Americans and African diaspora communities. The listenership was multiracial and international. The program aired for one hour each weekday and was hosted by ...

'', February 12, 2007
Carolina Chocolate Drops On ''Mountain Stage''
January 6, 2009 {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Carolina Chocolate Drops Musical groups from North Carolina Old-time bands Nonesuch Records artists Musical groups established in 2005 Culture of Durham, North Carolina Performing arts pages with videographic documentation Piedmont blues musicians 2005 establishments in North Carolina Grammy Award winners