Carolina Chocolate Drops at Culture Room 5/11

The 1920s were a seminal time in American music, and not just because of the fruitful jazz scene (though the decade that delivers "Rhapsody in Blue" is still the one to beat). In the rural Piedmont region of North and South Carolina, African-American jug-and-string-band music formed a short-lived but still...

By Stacey Anderson

May 5, 2011

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The 1920s were a seminal time in American music, and not just because of the fruitful jazz scene (though the decade that delivers "Rhapsody in Blue" is still the one to beat). In the rural Piedmont region of North and South Carolina, African-American jug-and-string-band music formed a short-lived but still influential scene; musicians gathered for the truly communal experience of sharing vocals and trading their instruments (also including fiddle, bones, harmonica). Young trio Carolina Chocolate Drops keeps the groove alive with original, authentic string music and cleverly retrofitted covers of Blu Cantrell and Tom Waits. Go quick, before Ken Burns makes a documentary about it!

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