Dom Flemons

Dominique Flemons (born August 30, 1982) is an American old-time music, Piedmont blues, and neotraditional country multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter.

He is a proficient player of the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills, and rhythm bones.

He is known as "The American Songster" as his repertoire of music spans nearly a century of American folklore, ballads, and tunes.

He has performed with Mike Seeger, Joe Thompson, Martin Simpson, Boo Hanks, Taj Mahal, Old Crow Medicine Show, Guy Davis, and The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band.

He obtained a major in English at Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, Arizona, and partook in two national poetry slams in 2002 and 2003.

In Flagstaff, Flemons met Sule Greg Wilson, a local percussionist, banjo player, and folklorist.

Wilson became a mentor to Flemons, assisting with his playing techniques and understanding of the history of the blues and American folk music.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops is an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina.

A member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops from their inception in 2005 until 2013, Flemons has released five albums in his own name, although two of those were collaborations with other musicians.

Flemons appreciates the tradition inherent in his solo work and once stated, "I want to experiment rather than to merely replicate. It can never be as good as the original, so I make the music fit my own style. I look at the old time music, the originals of black banjo music for the Carolinas, the fiddle and the sounds of folks like Sid Hemphill, Henry Thomas and Peg Leg Howell."

Formed in November 2005, following the members' attendance at the first Black Banjo Gathering, held in Boone, North Carolina, in April 2005, the group grew out of the success of Sankofa Strings, an ensemble that featured Dom Flemons on bones, jug, guitar, and four-string banjo, Rhiannon Giddens on banjo and fiddle and Súle Greg Wilson on bodhrán, brushes, washboard, bones, tambourine, banjo, banjolin, and ukulele, with Justin Robinson as an occasional guest artist.

He self-released his debut solo album in 2007, Dance Tunes Ballads & Blues.

His next album was issued the following year.

American Songster was Flemons' first release on Music Maker.

He was then featured on NPR performing at the Newport Folk Festival.

Their 2010 album, Genuine Negro Jig, won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Additionally they have performed on A Prairie Home Companion, Fresh Air, and BBC Radio in early 2010, and at the 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, and at the 2011 Romp, in Owensboro, Kentucky.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops released five albums including 2012's Leaving Eden, and one EP, whilst Flemons was a member, and opened for Taj Mahal and, in 2011, Bob Dylan.

They performed on Mountain Stage, MerleFest, and at the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention.

On January 17, 2012, they appeared live on BBC Radio 3.

They performed on the Grand Ole Opry several times.

They also appeared on the UK's BBC Television program, Later... with Jools Holland.

On November 12, 2013, the Chocolate Drops announced that Flemons would be leaving to continue his own solo career.

Flemons' solo career began while he was still a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

In 2014, Prospect Hill saw Flemons enlist other musicians on his recording.

These included Ron Brendle (bass), Guy Davis (banjo, harmonica, percussion and backing vocals), Keith Ganz (banjo and guitar), Brian Horton (clarinet, saxophone), Ben Hunter (drums, fiddle, backing vocals), Pura Fé (backing vocals), Joe Seamons (backing vocals) and Kobie Watkins (drums).

The album saw releases on both the Fat Possum and Music Maker labels.

The album received national press coverage.

Prospect Hill contained seven of Flemons' own penned tracks out of a total of fourteen on the collection.

Flemons was then a member of Music Maker Relief Foundation's Next Generation Artists program, and served on Music Maker's board of directors.

He continues to discover young talent for the Foundation to assist and has promoted, recorded, and performed with more mature Music Maker artists including John Dee Holeman, Boo Hanks, Captain Luke, and Macavine Hayes.

His next album required Flemons to undertake some research work, and thus become a scholar, old record collector and part historian.

Over the past decade Flemons has performed as a soloist at venues such as, Carnegie Hall as part of a Lead Belly tribute; Cecil Sharp House; the Grand Ole Opry; at the opening ceremonies for the National Museum of African American History and Culture; at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering; and representing the United States at the 2017 Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, Malaysia.

His album, Black Cowboys (2018), was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, and for a Blues Music Award at the 40th Blues Music Award ceremony in the 'Acoustic Album' category.

Flemons was born in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.

He is of African American and Mexican heritage.

He played percussion in his high school band, and whilst a teenager played guitar and harmonica in local coffee houses.

He grew up listening to his parents' record collection, and expanded his knowledge by studying recordings by Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and Chuck Berry.

This led him to the pioneers of American folk music, including Woody Guthrie, Tom Paxton, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott.

Flemons became a frequent busker and performer on the Arizona music scene.