The Carolina Chocolate Drops are a three piece string band hailing from Durham, South Carolina. Where they lack in size they make up for in genuine southern soul stomping music. They performed at the Michigan Theatre for a special show put on by the University Musical Society for elementary, middle, and high school students.
The band’s members include Dom Flemens, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson. All of these musicians play multiple instruments, from the banjo to violin to the jug. The chemistry between the three comes from more than the music, they have bonded as a family.
Omari Rush, the education manager at UMS, announced the show quickly to leave more time for the music. “That’s it for me, please help me welcome the Carolina Chocolate Drops.” With that the clapping started and did not end until almost a minute after the first song “Little Rabbity”. The audience was more than enthusiastic, the students could not only feel the music but they felt the energy pouring out of the Chocolate Drops.
In between songs the band took time to explain the history behind the music they were playing and also the instruments themselves.
Flemens, who started on the jug, taught the audience how it works. “The first thing you need to know about playing the jug is that you don’t need a jug.” Flemens said while demonstrating a technique which involved buzzing your lips with rhythm. After he was satisfied with what he heard from the audience Flemens gave them one last bit of advice “Recess is the time when you can play the jug, classrooms are for the learnin.”
From the jug the chocolate drops then moved to the kazoo. An un-imposing instrument, Giddens wielded it with great technique. “The kazoo is all about you not the kazoo,” said Giddens, a common theme with the Chocolate Drops. Their music was not about the instruments they played and fitting into the genre of string trio, it was about the soul. What gave the hundreds of students in the Michigan Theatre the time of their lives was the connection that they had with the musicians performing.
To end an amazing noon-time performance the Chocolate Drops taught the audience how to play a beat using their body as an instrument. No one was scared to jump in and almost immediately the theatre was filled with claps, pats, and smacks – almost in unison. “Alright watch me first and then we’ll do it together this time,” Giddens said “Alright, now do it again. Nice! One more time.” Every student from every school was playing music.
The Carolina Chocolate Drops were an act that really brought people together. They ended with the same great humor and fun that they started. “Alright how about a round of applause. Okay, how about a square of applause now, maybe a triangle? That was easy, can you do a dodecahedron of applause?”
