DOM FLEMONS
PROSPECT HILL
TILL THE SEAS RUN DRY–POLLY PUT THE KETTLE ON–BUT THEY GOT IT FIXED RIGHT ON–HAVE I STAYED AWAY TOO LONG–GEORGIA DRUMBEAT–I CAN’T DO IT ANY MORE–SONORAN CHURCH TWO-STEP–(TOO LONG) I’VE BEEN GONE–MARCHING UP TO PROSPECT HILL–GOOD THING–GROTTO BEAT–HOT CHICKEN–SAN FRANCISCO BABY–MY MONEY NEVER RUNS OUT
Many fans are familiar with Dom Flemons, one of the members of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, perhaps the foremost purveyors of vintage African-American blues and roots music on the scene today. Dom is not only a fantastic interpreter of these classic sounds, but he is a formidable student of the histrionics behind this great music, as well. On his latest solo set, due out July 22, 2014, he combines elements of all his studies from roots to blues to jazz and even Southwestern Native American music to create “Prospect Hill,” fourteen songs either drawn from this era of musical history, or written by Dom in that vintage style. He is also joined on this set by some of his good friends who are also well-versed in this music, including Keith Ganz, Ben Hunter, Brian Horton, and Guy Davis.
The show starts with “Till The Seas Run Dry,” a Jazz Age-era tune from New Orleans with Keith Ganz on six-string banjo and Brian Horton on clarinet, as Dom sings of the end of a love affair which will never rekindle until “the clocks run backwards and all the seas run dry!” “Polly Put The Kettle On” is adapted here from a version by Sonny Boy Williamson, with Ben Hunter’s excellent fiddle solos. One of Dom’s originals written in this classic style is the very bluesy “I Can’t Do It Any More,” performed here as a tribute to the early rock and roll and R & B shouters of the Fifties, with Dom offering up some fine acoustic blues guitar. “Sonoran Church Two-Step” was actually adapted for banjo by Dom from the original Native American arrangement, with Ben Hunter again on fiddle.
We had three favorites, too. Guy Davis adds six-string banjo to “But They Got It Fixed Right On,” full of double-entendres’ with a playful duet vocal from Pura Fe Crescioni and sax from Brian Horton, while another song of the same vein, which Dom learned from Frank Stokes, is the good-time proto-rap of “Ain’t It A Good Thing To Have More Than One Woman,” with jive patter from Guy Davis. Another of Dom’s originals is based on a true story of sorts, after Dom and a few of his cronies ate at the iconic Prince’s Hot Chicken restaurant. This one has everyone in the song clamoring for that “Hot Chicken from East Nashville, Tennessee,” with chicken-pickin sax from Brian Horton and dueling guitars from Dom and Keith Ganz.
Dom Flemons is one of the most outstanding players on the blues/roots/Americana scene today, with a never-ending repertoire of early African-American songs interspersed with jazz, blues, and R & B. “Prospect Hill” is certain to please his curent fan base and bring him a legion of new fans! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, Nashville Blues Society.
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