North Carolina-based string band Carolina Chocolate Drops announced Tuesday founding member Dom Flemons will leave the group to launch a solo career.
Flemons’ departure at the end of December will leave Rhiannon Giddens as the only remaining original band member.
Cellist Leyla McCalla, who joined the band with Hubby Jenkins in 2011, will also depart to begin her own solo career.
The Chocolate Drops will carry on, however, adding cellist Malcolm Parson and multi-instrumentalist Rowan Corbett to the stage.
The Chocolate Drops feature Southern African-American music of the early 1900s with the old-time sound of the banjo, fiddle, jug and bones. The band is known for its musical experimentation, adding hip-hop and global influences to bring the traditional music into the 21st century.
Their unique sound helped the Chocolate Drops win a Grammy for the 2011 for the album Genuine Negro Jig. The band’s most recent album, Leaving Eden, was also nominated for a Grammy in 2012.
The band members’ roots in the state are deep. Their mentor was the late fiddle player Joe Thompson, a third-generation musician from Alamance County, and their songs reflect the traditional Piedmont music.
Despite international acclaim, the Chocolate Drops spend much of their time playing throughout the state, with multiple appearances at the Carolina Mountain Song Festival and our very own Memorial Hall. The band is currently on tour and will play at MerleFest in April.
After leaving the Chocolate Drops, Flemons plans to continue reinterpreting traditional folk music. He is currently working his third solo record and will be launching an Australian tour next year.
“Though my music is taking me to new places with my upcoming solo projects, I know that the Carolina Chocolate Drops will continue on to do new, amazing things,” Flemons said in a statement. “My past eight years with the band has been a wonderful experience, musically and personally. As my music grows in a new direction, I know I can count my time with them as a building block to where I am now. I am excited to continue on my musical journey exploring the hidden facets of American Music.”
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
