Press release from The Center for Culture Preservation:
The Center for Cultural Preservation, WNC’s cultural history and documentary film center is thrilled to feature legendary musician, Dom Flemons, co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Grammy-award winning musician in the Center’s concert A Special Evening with Dom Flemons on March 25th. The concert is a fundraiser for the Center’s forthcoming film on Appalachian moonshine history.
Dom’s stellar career includes multiple Grammy and Emmy nominations as well as being featured in the Center’s award-winning PBS film on the history of Appalachian mountain music, A Great American Tapestry. According to Flemons, “I think old time music is always appealing in the way that it’s deceptively simpler than other types of music. So it’s really accessible and easy. And the stories are mostly about the human condition.”
But what inspired Flemons to focus his life on traditional music was when he discovered the history of it. “When we think of American music, of course, there is this European influence, but what makes it American is the extra flavors that went in with all this stuff. Alongside the great tunes from Ireland and Scotland were the African-American and Native American traditions. And when the two things combine, it’s a perfect combination. And I mean—and that’s what makes American music American is all that stuff coming together.
According to David Weintraub, the Center for Cultural Preservation’s director and filmmaker, “Dom is not only a gifted multi-instrumental performer, he does his own research on traditional music and the talented African-American forefathers and foremothers that were the bedrock of old time music in this country. He not only performs their musical jewels but he personifies them through his performances touching us with not only the power of their notes and words but with the force of history.”
Dom Flemons will perform his unique blend of traditional music that have connected southern people to its history for generations at the March 25thconcert at 7:30 PM which will be made available virtually to ticketholders. In addition to performing, Dom will set aside time to converse with the audience, allowing participants to have the opportunity to ask their questions. Tickets are a donation of $20 per person or $35 per household and will help support the making of the Center’s newest film, Moonshining in the Mountains, and can be purchased by registering online at www.saveculture.org or calling the Center at (828) 692-8062.
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