The Carolina Chocolate Drops have been named to The Root 100, the "list of young achievers and pace setters for 2010" from The Root, which says of the performers on the list: "We like them because they lift black music out of the box into which some critics try to shove it." The Boston Phoenix describes the band's recent Boston show as "a beauty ... The crowd were standing and packed, and hooting and hollering from the beginning." They conclude their US tour this weekend, then head to Europe.
The Carolina Chocolate Drops have been named to The Root 100, the "list of young achievers and pace setters for 2010" from The Root magazine, led by Editor-in-Chief Henry Louis Gates Jr. Managing Editor Joel Dreyfuss writes of the performers on the list: "We like them because they lift black music out of the box into which some critics try to shove it." The Chocolate Drops are noted as a trio that "reinvents traditional black string band music." Read more and see the complete list at theroot.com.
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The band brings their extensive US tour to a close this coming weekend after three performances in the Midwest this week: tonight's show at Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Friday's at Park West in Chicago, and a Saturday night set in Monmouth, Illinois, closing out the day's Deep Blue Innovators Blues Festival at the Rivoli Theatre.
Previewing Friday's show, the Chicagoist says "the Drops manage to deliver old-time string music with a fresh, youthful vigor. This energy is only intensified in their live performance ... The stage is in a constant state of flux as all three dance, sing, and trade off with a plethora of instruments, including banjo, fiddle, kazoo, jug, bones, and harmonica." Read more at chicagoist.com.
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Last weekend, the band made a return trip to the Boston, performing at the Paradise Rock Club, a change from their previous area gig at the Somerville Theatre, and a shift from seated hall to rock club. It's this difference around which Boston Phoenix writer Jon Garelick centers his review, and it’s a move the band was more than capable of making, having whipped New York's Bowery Ballroom crowd into a frenzy the night before.
The Paradise show, like the earlier one in Somerville, was "a beauty," says Garelick. "The band knew what they were doing" in making the shift of venues, he writes. "The crowd were standing and packed, and hooting and hollering from the beginning ... When the band asked for sing-alongs, the crowd sang along. When they encouraged people to dance, they danced."
Garelick goes on to cite the band's "requisite stagecraft and charisma" and note: "The playing all around was virtuoso."
Read the complete review at thephoenix.com.
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The Chocolate Drops begin a three-week European tour, starting with a show at the famed Union Chapel on November 8, returning to the States to continue their tour at the end of November. For more information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
Head to the Nonesuch Store for a copy of the band's Nonesuch debut album, Genuine Negro Jig, with seven exclusive live bonus tracks included with the complete album MP3s available at checkout.
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