Carolina Chocolate Drops to Reunite for Inaugural Rhiannon Giddens Festival
2025 just keeps on giving when it comes to gettin’ the ol’ band back together, including some that we never thought we’d have an opportunity to ever see again. You can officially add pioneering Black roots collective the Carolina Chocolate Drops with Oasis, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and (*cough*) Rascal Flatts.
First formed in 2005, the Carolina Chocolate Drops launched the careers of Rhiannon Giddens and Dom Flemons, with Leyla McCalla, Hubby Jenkins, and others using the group as a proving ground early in their careers. Though they never officially broke up, Dom Flemons left the group in 2013 to pursue a solo career, and after 2014, the group ceased touring as Rhiannon Giddens focused on solo projects.
The occasion for the reunification is the inaugural Biscuits & Banjos Festival being organized by Rhiannon Giddens set for April 25th-27th, 2025 in downtown Durham, North Carolina. The Carolina Chocolate Drops will headline the festival, with Rhiannon Giddens, Dom Flemons, and Leyla McCalla all performing solo as well. Taj Mahal, jazz performer Christian McBride, Rissi Palmer, The Legendary Ingrammettes, and New Dangerfield will also perform.
Along with music, the festival will also have a strong food and storytelling component as it takes place in various venues and spaces in downtown Durham. There will also be lectures, square dancing, banjo lessons, and a biscuit cook-off. The event was inspired by the Black Banjo Gatherings that first helped introduce Rhiannon Giddens to the Black legacy of the banjo.
“This festival has been a long-time dream of mine,” Giddens says. “It’s about honoring the connections that tie Black culture together across time and geography, whether it’s through music, food or storytelling. The Black Banjo Gathering was such an important milestone for me personally, and I want Biscuits & Banjos to bring that same spirit of discovery and community to today’s generation of artists and fans.”
Proceeds from the event will go to North Carolina hurricane relief efforts. Tickets will go on sale Friday, October 25th at biscuitsandbanjos.com.
October 22, 2024 @ 6:03 pm
Wow! This is exciting. I may have to plan a road trip.
October 22, 2024 @ 8:35 pm
Rhiannon Giddens is an incredibly intelligent, well spoken, an talented musician. This is cool.
October 23, 2024 @ 7:53 pm
Isn’t “well spoken” a dog whistle? Black people don’t need to be “well spoken” to succeed. Check your privilege, please.
October 23, 2024 @ 8:24 pm
I didn’t take that comment as a “dog whistle.” Rhiannon Giddens is well-spoken, I thought she spoke well for herself and the idea behind this festival in the video she made, and that’s why I included it, and I think that’s what the commenter was talking about.
I think what we need to check is a world where compliments are flipped around as insults to gain rhetorical advantage on people online.
October 23, 2024 @ 6:38 am
I thought I read that all CCD members throughout their run will be part of this. And so that would mean that original member Justin Robinson is going to be there. He left some time after the Genuine Negro Jig album (released in 2010) and he sang lead on some of those songs (e.g, Trouble in Your Mind, Cornbread and Butterbeans, Sand Boys). I saw them a few times in the early 2010’s, but never with Justin.
Anyway, this seems pretty damn cool. And having the great Taj Mahal there is one hell of a cherry on top.
October 25, 2024 @ 7:35 am
I got mine. Onesies and Twosies left in center orchestra. Still a fair amount available in left and right orchestras as well as balcony.
October 23, 2024 @ 6:53 am
HELL YEAH.
October 23, 2024 @ 8:03 am
Good news. I do like the Carolina Chicolate Drops.
October 23, 2024 @ 3:37 pm
That is the same weekend at Merlefest.
October 23, 2024 @ 3:56 pm
Lelya McCalla’s this year’s album, Sun Without the Heat, is excellent.
October 29, 2024 @ 6:10 pm
I AM a well-spoken (as well as GQ cover boy handsome) black man.Anyway,it’s great that the Carolina Chocolate Drops are back,and Rascal Flatts…..well,they ARE the first Country boy band.