Dom Flemons: Finding New Ways Forward By Reviving Music's Past

For those who adhere to the old adage that “If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room,” you would likely feel comfortable being in the company of Dom Flemons. Now living in Chicago, he has called many places home, from his native Arizona to North Carolina to Washington, D.C., and has covered even more musical territory, mastering the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills, and bones in many styles along the way. He won widespread acclaim as a founding member of The Carolina Chocolate Drops, and after leaving the group in 2013, has not missed a beat, playing at Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry, the opening ceremonies for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and has represented the United States at the 2017 Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, Malaysia. These accomplishments only scratch the surface of his remarkable career, to say nothing of his warmth, openness and modest charm.

Dom Flemons at the Outback Opry drive-in concert 09-05-20 (photo: Daniel Coston)

Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you might reach out to someone you know who is a fan of music, history or culture and let them know about this series. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Pandora, NPR One -- pretty much everywhere you can find podcasts. And once you subscribe, it helps even more when you give it a good rating and a review. Top ratings, and especially your reviews, will make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. My full interview with Dom Flemons is on video, which is on my YouTube here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW. Our theme songs are by Joshua Meng. This is Southern Songs and Stories, celebrating the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Music heard in this episode:

“‘Til The Seas Run Dry” by Dom Flemons from Prospect Hill

“Going Backward Up the Mountain” by Dom Flemons from Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus

“Georgia Drumbeat” from Dom Flemons’ Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus

“Shake Your Moneymaker” by Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band with Dom Flemons and Steve Cropper

“My Money Never Runs Out” by Dom Flemons from Prospect Hill

SpringSkunk Music Fest Podcast part 1

April was a packed month. It began with the conclusion of our spring fund raiser at WNCW, went on with SpringSkunk Fest at the Albino Skunk Farm the next week, followed by a few days off to decompress, and MerleFest a couple of weeks after that. Plus, life -- a week on the air to fill in for vacationing colleagues (a somewhat rare treat these days), baseball games, yard work, and so on. It felt like there was never much time to devote to making the companion audio piece to our video work, which did see a couple of videos released soon after the festival, thanks to Aaron Morrell.

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band closes out Thursday night at SpringSkunk

It was time to buckle down and take a crack at making this podcast a reality. It was daunting. Sure, I have produced a lot of audio for WNCW -- interviews, round table discussions, even a long form series on refugees in North Carolina. But this was new territory, with about a dozen interview subjects, the full compliment of music played at the festival, and a story line that remained nebulous.

Nikki Talley and husband Jason Sharp play Thursday afternoon at SpringSkunk

It wound up being a big project, with more pieces and parts than I had ever managed. But the memories were still with me, the ideas kept coming, and the technical hurdles of dealing with widely varying sets of audio were overcome. I finally began writing, and then stitched together the episode you find here.

Pretty Little Goat, who seem to relish playing music at any hour of the day

I hope you enjoy this, the beginning of a three part documentary podcast series. Please support the artists you like here, as well as the festivals in spring and fall on the Skunk Farm in Greer, SC. We would appreciate your help in continuing our endeavor, too. You can find out how on our Patreon page here. Stay tuned for more video from the Jon Stickley Trio, and a lot more. Fes-taa-vul!!