"Carolina Chocolate Drops"
at the Narrows Center for the Arts
Friday, 09/10/2010 – 8:00 PM
The Chocolate Drops started playing around, rolling out the tunes wherever anyone would listen. From town squares to farmer’s markets, they perfected their playing and began to win an avid following of foot-tapping, sing-along, audiences.
In 2006, they picked up a spot at the locally-based Shakori Hills Festival where they lit such a fire on the dance tent floor that Tim and Denise Duffy of the Music Maker Relief Foundation came over to see what was going on. Rhiannon remembers being skeptical when this local Hillsborough, N.C., guy with a goofy smile and a roster of old blues musicians offered to take them on and promote their music. The band was still figuring out who they were and Duffy was offering to house them with people like Algie Mae Hinton, musicians who were not pretenders to a tradition, but the real thing. The band moved up through the festival circuit, from the Mt. Airy Fiddler’s Convention to MerleFest. They shared the stage with their new fan, Taj Mahal, and traveled to Europe.
In 2007 they appeared in Denzel Washington’s film, The Great Debators and joined Garrison Keiler on Prairie Home Companion. In 2008, they received an invitation to play on the Grand Ole Opry. “The Drops were the first black string band to play the Opry,” Duffy notes. “The Opry has a huge black following but you don’t see that on stage.” Opry host, Marty Stewart, pronounced the performance a healing moment for the Opry. Rolling Stone Magazine described the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ style as “dirt-floor-dance electricity”. If you ask the band, that is what matters most. Yes, banjos and black string musicians first got here on slave ships, but now this is everyone’s music. It’s OK to mix it up and go where the spirit moves.
$20 inadvance; $23 day of show
THE VENUE
Narrows Center for the Arts
www.ncfta.org
508-324-1926
16 Anawan St., Fall River
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Gallery:
Wednesday - Saturday
Noon - 5:00 p.m. and by appointment
Admission is free during regular Gallery Hours. All concert ticket-holders are welcome to view the exhibition on a performance night.
The Narrows Center for the Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The 280-seat facility hosts high-quality, national and local performing and visual artists, musicians, writers and performers.
Located in Fall River, Massachusetts' waterfront district, The Narrows Center for the Arts is on the top floor of an attractive old mill building with spectacular views of Fall River's pier, the Braga Bridge and Battleship Cove. The Center's wonderfully sunlit space provides superb acoustics, creating the perfect ambiance for events and programs. The space is divided into 4 areas: The Narrows Gallery, the Performance Area, the Narrows Cafe and the Resident Artist Studios.
