SHOW PREVIEW: Carolina Chocolate Drops at The Handlebar

There’s never a shortage of great bluegrass and folk acts coming through Greenville’s Handlebar, but rarely is there an act in folk music period that has gained the notoriety of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. While they play a style of music thats still seen as alive here in the south where its a part of our heritage, the Carolina Chocolate Drops have brought their old-timey take on folk to such a large audience that they’ve become world-renowned, and they’ll be stopping at the Handlebar this Friday, July 13th for the second time in the last two years. This show was actually rescheduled from their previous date in May, but I say better late than never when one takes into account how big this group has gotten since their last stop here.

Despite the fact that CCD’s style borrows more from traditional bluegrass than other modern folk acts like Mumford and Sons and the Avett Brothers, they’ve still managed to bring in a surprisingly non-bluegrass audience with albums like 2010′s Genuine Negro Jig. They manage to cover everything from folk ballads, blues, and of course hyperactive bluegrass picking while carrying perfect three-part harmony. They’ve also been known to please crowds with their ability to make unusual bluegrass covers, such as the previously mentioned album’s cover of Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘em up Style” and Run D.M.C.’s “You Be Illin’”.

They recently nabbed a grammy and were the first all African American group to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. It also doesn’t hurt when your group gets a song featured on one of the year’s biggest movie soundtracks, as is the case for CCD as they are amidst the likes of Taylor Swift and the Arcade Fire on the Hunger Games soundtrack. The show is only $16 so it should go without saying at this point that if you’re a fan of anything remotely close to this style of music, or if you just need some good exposure to it (you do) then you don’t want to miss this show. The show is this Friday, July 13th at 8:00 p.m.