The Carolina Chocolate Drops Legacy
In 2005, Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson founded The Carolina Chocolate Drops as a way to honor the legacy of their mentor Joe Thompson and the traditional string band music of North Carolina. The Carolina Chocolate Drops' legacy extends far beyond their musical achievements and they have sparked a renewed interest in Black string band music, encouraging scholars, musicians, and enthusiasts to delve deeper into this rich tradition. Their work has also fostered a greater appreciation for the diversity and complexity of American roots music, highlighting the interconnectedness of various genres and the contributions of Black country music throughout American history.
The Carolina Chocolate Drops have opened for musicians such as Taj Mahal and Bob Dylan, performed on Mountain Stage, MerleFest, A Prairie Home Companion, FreshAir, BBC Radio, Bonnaroo Music Festival and made history as the first black string band to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. In 2007, The Carolina Chocolate Drops appeared in the Golden Globe nominated, Oprah Winfrey executive produced, Denzel Washington directed feature film The Great Debaters, starring Denzel and Forest Whitaker.
In 2010, they won a GRAMMY for their album Genuine Negro Jig and then received a 2012 GRAMMY nomination for their album Leaving Eden which were both released on Nonesuch Records. Robinson left the band in 2011 and Flemons toured with the group from 2005 to 2013 and officially pursued his solo career in 2014. In 2016, The Carolina Chocolate Drops were inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame and they are featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. and at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, TN.
As the Carolina Chocolate Drops' influence continues to grow, their story serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of preserving and celebrating our cultural heritage. By shining a light on the forgotten voices of Black string band musicians, they have enriched our understanding of American music and its enduring power to connect us to our past, present, and future.
“The older I get, the more I realize how lucky we were to have Joe Thompson. He was 86 when we started playing with him and he was delighted to see it being passed on within the Black community... But, it was significant for him because he was the last one in his family to play that music and to see us pick it up, I think that really made him happy.”
“When we first started the Carolina Chocolate Drops, it was always a three-person collective. For it to be a collective, each individual has their own intentions, their own ways of doing their material and the way they decide to play.”
Founding Members
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Dom Flemons
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Rhiannon Giddens
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Justin Robinson
Past Members
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Sule Greg Wilson
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Leyla McCalla
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Hubby Jenkins
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Malcolm Parson
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Rown Corbett
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Adam Matta
The [original] members of Carolina Chocolate Drops all come from diverse musical backgrounds, sharing singing duties and swapping instruments throughout their sets. Dom Flemons has immersed himself in the music of the past, with a prodigious record collection and an immense knowledge of the different playing styles of the blues, country, and string band traditions. In addition to their work with Joe Thompson, Rhiannon Giddens—a Piedmont native—studied opera at Oberlin Conservatory while Justin Robinson, the group’s main fiddler, also plays banjo; and he grew up in a house full of musicians—his mother is a classically trained opera singer and cellist, his sister a classical pianist and his grandfather a harmonica player.
Over the years, the Carolina Chocolate Drops have performed with Sule Greg Wilson who was originally part of Sankofa Strings with Dom Flemons and Rhiannon Giddens. Also, there were various iterations of the group that included Leyla McCalla, Hubby Jenkins, Malcolm Parson, Rowan Corbett, Adam Matta, and a few of Rhiannon Giddens’ family members.
* The Carolina Chocolate Drops (Rhiannon Giddens, Dom Flemons, Justin Robinson) at Joe Thompson’s home in Mebane, NC in 2005. Photo credit: Lissa Gotwalls
