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String band jamboree: Time Out Chicago Feature
by James Porter
The folks at Music Maker really believe in the Carolina Chocolate Drops. So much so that they just reissued their so-far only album, Dona Got A Ramblin’ Mind, with two additional tracks (”Little Sadie,” “Black Annie”) and a new cover. Previously, the sleeve was formatted like most of the other releases on the label, with the artist’s name in raised letters on a white background, directly above their photo. This new version has a show-poster design printed on a jug against a multicolored backdrop, looking less like a folklore project and more like a young working band getting a crack at the market. Hope they make it.
This African-American trio is still in their ’20s and early ’30s playing black traditional string band music from the ’20’s and ’30’s. Their CD is not flawless - at its’ worst it can sound detached and scholarly, but when the spirit hits, it doesn’t take long for them to gain momentum. While all three members (banjoist/fiddler Rhiannon Giddens, fiddler Justin Robinson, and guitarist/banjoist Dom Flemons, pictured here with fiddler Joe Thompson, third from left) sing well, the credits don’t specify who sings when; the twangy male voice taking the lead on “Old Cat Died” and “Tom Dula” is a definite standout.
We have no earthly idea where all these nouveau string bands have come from. The soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? came and went seven years ago, but it seems like the glut of old-timey and bluegrass bands have sprung up in the last two or three. K.C. Groves (of the band Uncle Earl) recently told No Depression magazine that she said yes to depression when she noticed audiences in their early ’20s at bluegrass shows (where was this new young audience when she was in college herself?). Unfortunately this new breed can be dull as dirt, sounding like 1970’s yacht-rock with a banjo player. The Drops are an exception; not quite at the “el perfecto” stage yet, but a great deal more listenable than the competition.