The Carolina Chocolate Drops: On Their Way

Well, there’s an old expression: what goes ‘round comes around. But who could imagine that string band street music from the Roaring 20s could ever be resurrected and moreover be warmly and enthusiastically welcomed by a whole new audience of listeners? After all this is the technological age, wherein tunes born of slick, sophisticated, computer enhanced engineering are downloaded (some say stolen) in a flash to personal iPods. How can, you say, instrumentation of such a primitive origin - washtub basses, earthenware jugs, kazoos, washboards, fiddles, banjos, and resonating, steel guitars ever have a chance to speak to or appeal to such a zoned out, plugged-in generation? But then who can gainsay the overnight success of the upstart Carolina Chocolate Drops, who like a breath of fresh air, gain converts each day to their Gospel of real, authentic Piedmont blues, played in their inimitable manner with nary a hint of irony.

Source: Blues Art Journal