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Across the Blue Ridge #124 - Dom Flemons, American Songster, and Some Choice Bluegrass Recordings

by Paul Brown

Dom Flemons, who bills himself as “The American Songster”, with “Big Head Joe”, the giant banjo-guitar he plays on this Across the Blue Ridge episode. Flemons performs repertoire from European-American and African-American traditions, pointing out what Americans of various ancestries and walks of life have in common. Paul Brown

Dom Flemons brings to life music of America's past from black and white traditions – and their shared repertoire and styles – as he travels the world pointing out what people have in common, rather than what separates them.  His engaging shows prompt us to see, as he calls them, the pieces of the American puzzle in the hope of creating “a more perfect union”.  This week we hear selections from his November, 2017 Muddy Creek Music Hall performance, and we find out a bit about his life story and how he came to be the musician he is – from a Phoenix, Arizona kid exposed to country music, rock, R&B, and gospel, to a founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and now a solo performer.  He describes how the Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, NC in 2005 changed his life, and much more.  Also on the show, banjo songs from Gina Clowes, and a new album from bluegrass stalwart Peter Rowan, honoring Carter and Ralph Stanley. 

Playlist

  1. How Many Biscuits Can You Eat
    Coon Creek Girls
    Coon Creek Girls
    County
     
  2. Good Old Fashioned Heartbreak
    Gina Clowes
    True Colors
    Mountain Home
     
  3. True Colors
    Gina Clowes
    True Colors
    Mountain Home
     
  4. Too Late To Cry
    Peter Rowan
    Carter Stanley's Eyes
    Rebel
     
  5. Drumbeats On The Watchtower
    Peter Rowan
    Carter Stanley's Eyes
    Rebel
     
  6. Say Won't You Be Mine
    Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys
    The Complete Mercury Recordings
    Mercury
     
  7. Break 1 - Big Tilda
    Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys
    The Complete Mercury Recordings
    Mercury
     
  8. Mean Black Cat
    Charley Patton
    Times Ain't Like They Used To Be V.3
    Yazoo
     
  9. Old Cindy Gal
    Dom Flemons
    ATBR field recording
     
  10. Medley: Take Me Back, Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor, I'm Looking For The Bully Of The Town
    Dom Flemons
    ATBR field recording
     
  11. Have I Stayed Away Too Long
    Dom Flemons
    ATBR field recording
     
  12. Old Joe Clark
    Joe Thompson
    Family Tradition
    Rounder
     
  13. Georgia Drumbeat
    Dom Flemons
    Prospect Hill
    Music Maker
     
  14. Hot Chicken
    Dom Flemons
    ATBR field recording
     
  15. Your Baby Ain't Sweet Like Mine
    Dom Flemons
    ATBR field recording
     

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