Grammy Award-winning student of American music Dom Flemons to perform in Rochester
When Dom Flemons takes the stage, he brings with him sounds and traditions from more than a century of American music.
The Grammy Award-winning musician, touring under the moniker The American Songster, is set to perform Friday, Nov. 11 at the Rochester Civic Theatre as part of Rochester Civic Music’s 2022 indoor theater series.
As a songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, Flemons’ repertoire spans ragtime, blues, country western, bluegrass, and string band music.
Flemons often draws from songs that may have all been forgotten if not for him breathing new life into the material. In doing so, he helps audiences rediscover old-time songs — many of them recorded on monotone 78 RPM records — and listen to them in the way they were meant to be experienced.
"I find there is a power in that, just to be able to modernize the sound for a live audience to experience — because many folks have never had the opportunity to hear all of this early music in its natural form,” says Flemons. “In some ways, it allows for interpretation of history as well as the sound of live performance on the early material.”
Flemons was born in Phoenix and later spent time in North Carolina, where he followed his ear to the sounds of early blues and folk. While there, he co-founded the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an old-time string band.
In 2010, the group released the album, Genuine Negro Jig, which won the award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards.
“We were presenting a style of music that no one had heard for 100-150 years, not at least on the scale of popular music,” says Flemons.
Now as a solo artist, Flemons continues to lean into the traditions of old-time music — influenced by the likes of Charlie Patton and Papa Charlie Jackson — while still finding space to write songs that are all his own.
"Naturally, I was drawn to a lot of this older music — and so I started to play it and interpret it and then I found over the years I am still part of a very rare breed of musician that plays the old-time material,” he says.
In 2018, Flemons released the Grammy-nominated album Black Cowboys, a collection of original songs about the role of African-Americans in the post-Civil War settlement of the American West.
With each song on the album, such as “Steel Pony Blues,” Flemons says he is trying to paint a picture — not necessarily a narrative — for the listener while letting the finger-picking on the guitar take care of the rest.
"As a writer, I try to find where the genre can fit into the lyrics of the song I am writing,” says Flemons. “I also try to make sure whatever it is that it comes off simple enough for a listener to enjoy it one time, but complex and challenging enough so that you would want to hear it again."
Ticket info
Tickets are available at Rochester Civic Music in City Hall (walk-in or by phone, no handling fees), the Mayo Civic Center Box Office (walk-in, no handling fees), and Ticketmaster (online). Order by phone at 507-328-2200 or in person at 201 4th St. SE, Suite 170 (City Hall). Group rates available. More information at rochestermn.gov/civicmusic.
