New time for old sound for Chocolate Drops

Photo by Julie Roberts, Julie Roberts

The Carolina Chocolate Drops (Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson and Dom Flemons) are breathing new life into Piedmont-style string-band music.

Note: Admission to the show is $15. A previous version of this story incorrectly said admission is free to "Scott Joplin and Treemonisha" ticket holders.

Like a lot of musicians, Dom Flemons found inspiration by tracing his favorite music back to its roots.

"I got into a lot of '60s folk music, early rock and roll, and stuff like that," remembers the 26-year-old Arizona native.

But for Flemons, and his bandmates in the North Carolina trio The Carolina Chocolate Drops, the musical trip back in time stopped on an unlikely chord, the largely forgotten string-band music that flourished in the Piedmont hill region of North Carolina at the turn of the 20th century.

Photo by Julie Roberts

The Carolina Chocolate Drops (Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson and Dom Flemons) are breathing new life into Piedmont-style string-band music.

The Drops -- Flemons and banjoists/fiddlers/vocalists Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson -- will play Saturday at the Orpheum after the Opera Memphis performance of "Scott Joplin and Treemonisha." Arranged by Opera Memphis and the locally based North American Folk Alliance, the Drops' performance is a complement to the opera's exploration of early African-American music, organizers say.

The performance costs $15.

Today, string bands are seen as an antecedent of white country and bluegrass music, but the style enjoyed just as much popularity among black musicians of the era. Indeed, the banjo, a common string-band element essential to the Piedmont style, is an instrument with direct African roots.

The three future members of the Drops met one another, as well as their mentor, fiddler Joe Thompson, at a 2005 scholarly gathering at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., called Black Banjo.

Now 90 years old and still performing, Thompson is believed to be the oldest practitioner of the Piedmont style of string-band music, noted for its use of fiddle and banjo, and for driving rhythms that emphasize its role as dance music.

"Meeting Joe was essential," says Flemons of the schooling he and his bandmates continue to receive at the tip of Thompson's bow. "He taught us the repertoire, and, more importantly, he taught us how to play together."

Borrowing a name from a 1920s group called the Tennessee Chocolate Drops, the trio quickly gained attention for what seemed a fresh, new sound to contemporary ears. Their 2006 debut on the Music Maker label, a collection of traditional tunes called Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind, was a hit by the modest standards of blues and roots music, and they were one of the most-talked-about performers at the 2007 Folk Alliance conference in Memphis.

Last year, the group collaborated with Memphian Alvin Youngblood Hart on the soundtrack to the Denzel Washington film "The Great Debaters."

Still, despite the fact that they are now superstars in the world of string-band music, Flemons says it has been tough to break through to new audiences, particularly black audiences.

"For the most part, a lot of black people don't know that they're connected to this music," Flemons says. "It's hard to get black people to come out. But when they do, they really enjoy themselves."

The Carolina Chocolate Drops

About 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the Orpheum, following Opera Memphis' performance of "Scott Joplin and Treemonisha."

Admission: $15. Tickets available at the door, the Opera Memphis box office (6745 Wolf River Parkway), and by phone at (901) 257-3100.

For more information, visit operamemphis.org.

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