Chocolate Drops to perform at WCU
Grammy Award-winning black string band Carolina Chocolate Drops will perform at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 3, in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University.
The group formed in 2005 after three Durham-based musicians began meeting weekly with Joe Thompson, a black old-time fiddler with a short bowing style who was in his 80s. What the group offered was fresh interpretations of styles of southern black music from the 1920s and 1930s, including string-band music, jug-band music, fife and drum and early jazz. The band’s membership has grown and evolved over time, and its repertoire began to incorporate more blues, jazz and folk balladry alongside string-band tunes. Their awards include a Best Traditional Folk Album Grammy for the album “Genuine Negro Jig.”
Tickets are $5 for WCU students and $10 for the general public.
www.bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or 828.227.2479.