The Carolina Chocolate Drops Shine a Light on Country Music's Neglected Roots
by Juli Thanki
According to Patrick Huber’s Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South, the role of North Carolina’s Piedmont region—the pre-World War II textile capital of the world—in the formation of country music tends to be ignored, as many tend to view the genre as solely a product of the rural South. The Carolina Chocolate Drops have spent the last five years touring and recording extensively, drawing attention to the oft-ignored history of the African-American string band and reviving the Piedmont sound as they blend it with… well, just about everything. Their newest release, Genuine Negro Jig, effortlessly transitions from Civil War Era fiddle tunes to Blu Cantrell’s 2001 single “Hit ‘Em Up Style”, placing old songs in modern context and imbuing new songs with centuries-old sound. Perhaps the most dynamic band in roots music, the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ live shows are, quite simply, spellbinding as they make a joyful noise with fiddles, banjos, bones, autoharps, jugs, and good old handclaps. Having recently nailed down a Bonnaroo slot, the trio (Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson) will get the opportunity to bring their irresistible sound to their largest audience to date. We caught up with Justin Robinson, the band’s fiddler/beatboxer/footstomper fresh off their European tour.
The son of an opera singer, Robinson grew up studying violin (he’s not the only one with ties to opera, either: bandmate Giddens is a classically trained soprano; contra dancing was her gateway drug into the world of old time and folk music). It wasn’t until he attended the University of North Carolina that he began developing an interest in old time music: “I really liked it, I really wanted to play it, and I’m the type of person who goes for things whole hog.” One thing led to another and soon Robinson found himself at the 2005 Black Banjo Gathering, which is where the musicians who would eventually become the Chocolate Drops first met. Under the tutelage of fiddler Joe Thompson, the last surviving African-American traditional string band musician, Robinson, Flemons, and Giddens began honing their own sound.
Although the Chocolate Drops are heavily influenced by the Piedmont sound, they wouldn’t describe themselves as a purely old time band. “We listen to a lot of traditional music but we can only use it as it’s relevant to us,” Robinson says. “We don’t try to recreate stuff [exactly as it is on a record] because that recording is already there.” Instead, the goal is to keep the “bare bones” of the original song and then incorporate their own varied influences. The result bridges past and present, and in a time where many aren’t aware of the banjo’s heritage or of the African-American influence in folk and country music, draws connections between genres often thought of as disparate.
Read the Full Essay @ Popmatters
by Juli Thanki
According to Patrick Huber’s Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South, the role of North Carolina’s Piedmont region—the pre-World War II textile capital of the world—in the formation of country music tends to be ignored, as many tend to view the genre as solely a product of the rural South. The Carolina Chocolate Drops have spent the last five years touring and recording extensively, drawing attention to the oft-ignored history of the African-American string band and reviving the Piedmont sound as they blend it with… well, just about everything. Their newest release, Genuine Negro Jig, effortlessly transitions from Civil War Era fiddle tunes to Blu Cantrell’s 2001 single “Hit ‘Em Up Style”, placing old songs in modern context and imbuing new songs with centuries-old sound. Perhaps the most dynamic band in roots music, the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ live shows are, quite simply, spellbinding as they make a joyful noise with fiddles, banjos, bones, autoharps, jugs, and good old handclaps. Having recently nailed down a Bonnaroo slot, the trio (Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson) will get the opportunity to bring their irresistible sound to their largest audience to date. We caught up with Justin Robinson, the band’s fiddler/beatboxer/footstomper fresh off their European tour.
The son of an opera singer, Robinson grew up studying violin (he’s not the only one with ties to opera, either: bandmate Giddens is a classically trained soprano; contra dancing was her gateway drug into the world of old time and folk music). It wasn’t until he attended the University of North Carolina that he began developing an interest in old time music: “I really liked it, I really wanted to play it, and I’m the type of person who goes for things whole hog.” One thing led to another and soon Robinson found himself at the 2005 Black Banjo Gathering, which is where the musicians who would eventually become the Chocolate Drops first met. Under the tutelage of fiddler Joe Thompson, the last surviving African-American traditional string band musician, Robinson, Flemons, and Giddens began honing their own sound.
Although the Chocolate Drops are heavily influenced by the Piedmont sound, they wouldn’t describe themselves as a purely old time band. “We listen to a lot of traditional music but we can only use it as it’s relevant to us,” Robinson says. “We don’t try to recreate stuff [exactly as it is on a record] because that recording is already there.” Instead, the goal is to keep the “bare bones” of the original song and then incorporate their own varied influences. The result bridges past and present, and in a time where many aren’t aware of the banjo’s heritage or of the African-American influence in folk and country music, draws connections between genres often thought of as disparate.
Read the Full Essay @ Popmatters
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