The Carolina Chocolate Drops are on tour in California this week, performing at UC Santa Barbara's Campbell Hall tomorrow night then heading north to play the Napa Valley Opera House and two shows at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts this weekend. Meanwhile, fans across the country can catch the group's performance on the US broadcast of the performance show Later ... with Jools Holland, which aired in the UK last season and airs on Ovation TV tonight at 8 PM ET, with an encore presentation at 11 PM.

The Santa Barbara Independent's Charles Donelan spoke with band member Don Flemons for a preview of tomorrow night's show at UCSB and to discuss the band's place as leading figures in the resurgent old-time string band music scene.

"As this traditional African-American string band music continues to challenge many assumptions about race and musical genre, it also lays claim to a great beat you can dance to," says Donelan. "The way the Carolina Chocolate Drops approach it today ... there seems to be a good chance that this sound will live on to function as social music once again."

Hear what Don has to say at independent.com.

For more information on tonight's Later ... with Jools Holland broadcast, visit ovationtv.com. For more on the Carolina Chocolate Drops' US tour, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.