View Full Version : Carolina chocolate drops
fishdawg40
Feb-20-2008, 10:16am
This group is amazing. They hail from North Carolina and are steeped in traditional African American string band music from that area. They are young too, maybe 30 at the most. Here are links for their website and a video on youtube, be prepared they are hot!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdLRCSOZ7wo
http://www.carolinachocolatedrops.com/
p.s. For those that care there's no mandolin.
When the Chocolate Drops were in Minneapolis in November 2006, one of them was playing a 4-string mandolin with a gourd back. #It's made by Steve Catania and looks like this (http://www.4physics.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/34/products_id/355).
dan@kins
Feb-21-2008, 4:34pm
Love 'em. Seen 'em plenty. Good to see some young folks keeping the old music alive.
They are mentoring under Joe Thompson. They tore it up at Merlefest last year!
I think they are closer to 20 than 30.
Lee Callicutt
Feb-21-2008, 9:10pm
I've only seen their stuff on YouTube, but they are wickedly good, aren't they?
fishdawg40
Feb-22-2008, 12:29pm
I've only seen their stuff on YouTube, but they are wickedly good, aren't they?
Yeah, I stumbled upon their CD the other day and went home and googled them. It's always cool when you get blown away unexpectedly. They'll be coming round my parts in the next few months, can't wait!
mrmando
Feb-22-2008, 12:58pm
They pulled out of Wintergrass -- what happened?
Their replacements, the Ebony Hillbillies, are pretty amazing, though.
Dave Harbst
Feb-22-2008, 1:36pm
Fun, fun, fun! Check out this link where they do "Salty Dog" and have two dancers on stage with the band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQfkyXvwB00&feature=related
mandolinlee
Mar-06-2008, 4:00pm
Carolina Chocolate Drops, especially their girl banjo player, was recently featured in Banjo Newsletter.
Lee
JeffD
Mar-06-2008, 10:57pm
They are one of the featured artists in one of the archived shows at the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour.
Great stuff.
birdman98
Mar-24-2008, 12:28am
We were playing at the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau last year and they were the featured "guest artists".
We were the last act to play before them, so we like to say that we OPENED for them http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
We'd like to think that the huge crowd of people who piled into the place during our little set were there to see US....not just trying to grab a decent seat to see the Chocolate Drops. But then reality sets in...
They were great, great, great. Lots of energy that didn't seem to translate onto the album of theirs' that I've heard (which is still awesome).
jeffyork
Mar-29-2008, 9:17am
I just found out my band, the Rivanna River Chiggers is opening for them on April 11th here in Charlottesville. We're nervous, but honored and excited. Being a young band (<1 year) formed from a jam, we're really lucky to get this opportunity.
Come on out to the show if you're in the area and say howdy.
www.myspace.com/rivannariverchiggers
Bob DeVellis
Mar-29-2008, 9:59am
Gotta love 'em. In the first clip in fishdawg40's original post, they're playing on Franklin Street here in Chapel Hill with the UNC campus in the background.
They'll be performing at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas, on 5 July. Chocolate Drops at the Ozark Folk Center (http://www.ozarkfolkcenter.com/events-calendar/special-events/default.asp?id=448)
mandozilla
May-10-2008, 5:29pm
The Carolina Chocolate Drops, the Ebony Hillbillies, and Sankofa Strings are Treasures!
African American string band music may have died out with fiddler Joe Thompson when his time comes. It's great that they're resurrecting African American string band music and keeping it alive. They are excellent musicians and entertainers and put on good shows.