The Carolina Chocolate Drops follow last weekend's performance at the Newport Folk Festival, which NPR's Ann Powers included among her "Newport favorites," with an opening set for Bob Dylan in Ohio tonight. Says Powers: "Bridging the false divides separating blues from folk from country, this North Carolina band also doesn't hesitate to see the folk in the present day." While in Newport, the Chocolate Drops took some time to record a three-song set for Sleepover Shows. "Let’s just put it out there: The Carolina Chocolate Drops are the reason the Newport Folk Festival exists," asserts Sleepover Shows. Watch the set here.
As noted earlier this week in the Nonesuch Journal, the Carolina Chocolate Drops follow last weekend's performance at the Newport Folk Festival, which NPR's Ann Powers included among her "Newport favorites," with an opening set for the legendary Bob Dylan at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering, Ohio, tonight. Powers says: "Bridging the false divides separating blues from folk from country, this North Carolina band also doesn't hesitate to see the folk in the present day."
Also covering their Newport set, the Providence Journal's Rick Massimo writes: "The Carolina Chocolate Drops, the keepers of the black string-band tradition, were even more of a smash, coming back this time as a quartet with two new members, including percussionist and beatboxer Adam Matta, who fit in well, particularly on a beatbox-jug duel during 'Old Cat Died.'”
While in Newport, the Carolina Chocolate Drops took some time to record a three-song set for Sleepover Shows, the Boston-based site that features acoustic or stripped-down performances of their favorite bands.
"Let’s just put it out there: The Carolina Chocolate Drops are the reason the Newport Folk Festival exists," assert the folks at Sleepover Shows in their introduction to the session. "If the reason is to continue the history and tradition of American Folk music, they apply, performing lively interpretations of some of the greatest traditional folk songs ... If the goal of the festival is simply to entertain you, the Chocolate Drops accomplished that by simply performing one of the liveliest sets on Sunday."
Read more, including details from the recording session, at sleepovershows.com. And watch the resulting videos below:
"Corn Shucking Jig," from Brigg’s Banjo Instructor
"I Truly Understand That You Love Another Man"
"Run Mountain"
In addition to all of the touring goodness, the Carolina Chocolate Drops are hosting a special eBay auction, featuring an autographed banjo from the band, to benefit the Center for the Study of the American South in Chapel Hill and its music programming. The auction is open through August 13 at ebay.com.
To find out where the Chocolate Drops are playing, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour. To pick up a copy of their recent EP with Luminescent Orchestrii and their Grammy-winning Nonesuch debut album, Genuine Negro Jig, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the music at checkout.
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