Finney Chapel, Oberlin College: fairly awesome venueHad a blast last Saturday night over in Finney Chapel in Oberlin, as we caught the last three acts of the weekend Folk Festival. Cam in halfway through the set of Roosevelt Dime, whose novel lineup includes bass/drums/banjo/trumpet/clarinet. Yeah, they can make some noise.
Roosevelt DimeMy favorite of the three, musically, was called Crooked Still. Also a nontraditional lineup, they went with singer (playing some guitar)/violin(fiddle)/cello/upright string bass/banjo. The mesmerizing rapid fire banjo and fiddle work was underpinned beautifully by the cello and bass, and the singer's voice was haunting and just right for the mood of the music.
Crooked StillLast up was an incredible entertaining trio called the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Three African Americans from, yeah, (N.) Carolina, with a female handling most leads with an absolutely marvelous voice. They traded the instruments around, all seeming proficient on three or four, and handled banjo (the instrument of the night, evidently), fiddle, guitar, snare, autoharp, castanet-like bones. And, um, jug (see below). Evidently there is a history of Black bluegrass-type music; the predecessor of the banjo migrated here from Africa, in fact. Anywhow, the Drops had the kids dancing in the aisles.
Carolina Chocolate DropsA wonderful evening of purely enjoyable music.
1 comment:
Oh, that sounds like fun. I love that type of music. Looks like a pretty venue too.
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