The Carolina Chocolate Drops were an old-time

string band A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass. While being active count ...

from Durham,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Their 2010 album, '' Genuine Negro Jig,'' won the

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording. An award for Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, Best Contemporar ...

at the

53rd Annual Grammy Awards The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights p ...

, and was number 9 in ''

fRoots ''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occas ...

'' magazine's top 10 albums of 2010.

Career

Formed in November 2005, following the members' attendance at the first Black Banjo Gathering, held in

Boone, North Carolina Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters of the disaster and me ...

, in April 2005, the group grew out of the success of Sankofa Strings, an ensemble that featured Dom Flemons on

bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

jug A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold and serve liquids, but not normally to drink from directly. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and usually a pouring lip. Jugs throughout histor ...

, guitar, and four-string banjo, Rhiannon Giddens on banjo and fiddle and Súle Greg Wilson on

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A Goatskin (material), goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or ot ...

, brushes, washboard, bones, tambourine, banjo, banjolin, and ukulele, with Justin Robinson as an occasional guest artist. All shared vocals. The purpose of Sankofa Strings was to present a gamut of African American musics: country and classic blues, early jazz and "hot music", string band numbers, African and Caribbean songs, and spoken word pieces. The Carolina Chocolate Drops' original three members: Giddens, Flemons, and Robinson, were all in their twenties when the group formed after Flemons' move from Phoenix (where he and Wilson lived), to North Carolina, home of Giddens and Robinson. Wilson, nearly a generation older than the other members, was occasionally featured with the group into 2010, including contributions to the recordings, ''Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind'', ''CCD and Joe Thompson'', ''Heritage'' (with songs culled from Sankofa Strings' independently-released CD, ''Colored Aristocracy'') and nearly half of '' Genuine Negro Jig''. All of the musicians sing and trade instruments including

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...

, and

kazoo The kazoo is a musical instrument that adds a ''buzzing'' timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (itself a membranophone), one of a class of instruments that modify the player's v ...

. The group learned much of their repertoire, which is based on the traditional music of the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region of North and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, from the eminent African American old-time fiddler Joe Thompson, although they also perform old-time versions of some modern songs such as

Blu Cantrell Tiffany Cobb (born March 16, 1976), known professionally as Blu Cantrell, is an American contemporary R&B, R&B singer. Cantrell rose to fame in 2001, with the release of her debut single, "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)", which peaked at number two ...

's R&B hit " Hit 'em Up Style (Oops!)." The Carolina Chocolate Drops have released five CDs and one EP and have opened for

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

and, in 2011,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. They have performed on ''

Mountain Stage ''Mountain Stage'' is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio (NPR). Hosted by Larry Groce from the show's inception until 2021 and curr ...

'',

MerleFest MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College. The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, was hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson prior to ...

, and at the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention. Additionally they have performed on ''

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' was a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

'', ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosl ...

'', and

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

in early 2010, and at the 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, and at the 2011 Romp, in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a Home rule in the United States, home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the List of cities in Kentucky, fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is loca ...

. On January 17, 2012, they appeared live on BBC Radio 3. They have performed on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

several times. They have also performed on the UK's

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

program, '' Later... with Jools Holland''. In February 2011, the band announced that beatboxer Adam Matta and multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins would be joining the band, while Justin Robinson was departing. In early 2012, they announced that the New Orleans–based cellist Leyla McCalla was joining the band on its next tour. CCD contributed a track, "Political World," to the Bob Dylan tribute compilation, ''

Chimes of Freedom (album) ''Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International'' is a charity compilation album featuring new recordings of compositions by Bob Dylan by multiple artists, released on January 24, 2012. Proceeds from the al ...

'' released in January 2012. Their next album, '' Leaving Eden'', followed soon afterward in February 2012. In an interview, Jenkins said,

"''Leaving Eden'' was an interesting album because iddlerJustin obinsonhad just left the group, and they had already decided to record with
Buddy Miller Steven Paul "Buddy" Miller (born September 6, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in T ...
, and had even picked the recording dates. It was an interesting time to be coming in, because they were ready to do different things with the new members. So it was a trial-by-fire period."

That same year, the group toured with Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band. Later in 2012, the Drops were nominated for numerous awards by the Chicago Black Theater Alliance for their work in ''Keep a Song in Your Soul: The Roots of Black Vaudeville''. Staged by the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, written by Lalenja Harrington (Rhiannon Giddens's older sister) and Súle Greg Wilson, and featuring veteran hoofer Reggio MacLaughlin, and ragtime pianist and MacArthur Fellow Reginald R. Robinson, the program examined the hopes and realities, music, and dances of the Great Migration. Also in 2012, the Carolina Chocolate Drops contributed a song, "Daughter's Lament", to ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' are a series of Young adult fiction, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The series consists of a trilogy that follows teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and two ...

'' soundtrack. In 2013, the band was nominated for a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

for 'Acoustic Artist'. Also in 2013, the Carolina Chocolate Drops contributed a song, "Day of Liberty", to the two-CD album Divided & United''. In November 2013, the Carolina Chocolate Drops announced that Dom Flemons would be leaving to embark on his own solo career, and introduced two new members: cellist Malcolm Parson and multi-instrumentalist Rowan Corbett. In 2014 the Carolina Chocolate Drops worked with choreographer

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1965 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance, which merged with American Ballet Theatre in 1988. She regrouped the compa ...

and dancers Robert Fairchild and

Tiler Peck Tiler Kalyn Peck (born January 12, 1989) is an American ballet dancer who is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. As well as ballet, she has performed in musical theatre shows and has made cameo appearances in films including '' Don ...

to create ''Cornbread Duet''. 2014 was also the year that group stopped regularly performing together, and members have pursued solo work and other projects since. Hubby Jenkins left the band in 2016. Rhiannon Giddens has released a number of solo recordings and was recently named as the artistic director of the Silk Road Project. The original members of the Carolina Chocolate Drops reunited for the inaugural Biscuits & Banjos festival in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

on April 26, 2025.https://www.biscuitsandbanjos.com/schedule

Members

;Members in 2014 * Rhiannon Giddens: 5-string banjo, dance, fiddle, kazoo, voice * Hubby Jenkins: Guitar, mandolin, 5-string banjo, bones, voice *Rowan Corbett: Guitar, bones, snare drum, cajon, djembe *Malcolm Parson: Cello, melodica ;Previous * Dom Flemons: 4-string banjo, guitar, jug, harmonica, kazoo, snare drum, bones, quills, voice *Adam Matta: Beatbox, tambourine * Leyla McCalla: Cello, tenor banjo, voice *Justin Robinson: Fiddle, jug, beatbox, dance, voice *Súle Greg Wilson: 5-string banjo, banjolin, bodhrán, brushes, bones, dance, gourd, kazoo, tambourine, ukulele, voice, washboard

Discography

Albums

Music videos

References

External links

Carolina Chocolate Drops MySpace page

*

Allmusic discography AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carolina Chocolate Drops Musical groups from North Carolina Old-time bands Nonesuch Records artists Musical groups established in 2005 Culture of Durham, North Carolina Performing arts pages with videographic documentation Piedmont blues musicians 2005 establishments in North Carolina Grammy Award winners