26 Facts About Dom Flemons

Dominique Flemons was born on August 30,1982 and is an American old-time music, Piedmont blues, and neotraditional country multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter.

Dom Flemons is a proficient player of the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills, and rhythm bones.

Dom Flemons is known as "The American Songster" as his repertoire of music spans nearly a century of American folklore, ballads, and tunes.

Dom Flemons has performed with Mike Seeger, Joe Thompson, Martin Simpson, Boo Hanks, Taj Mahal, Old Crow Medicine Show, Guy Davis, and The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band.

Dom Flemons played percussion in his high school band, and whilst a teenager played guitar and harmonica in local coffee houses.

Dom Flemons grew up listening to his parents' record collection, and expanded his knowledge by studying recordings by Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and Chuck Berry.

Dom Flemons became a frequent busker and performer on the Arizona music scene.

Dom Flemons obtained a major in English at Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, Arizona, and partook in two national poetry slams in 2002 and 2003.

In Flagstaff, Dom Flemons met Sule Greg Wilson, a local percussionist, banjo player, and folklorist.

Wilson became a mentor to Dom Flemons, assisting with his playing techniques and understanding of the history of the blues and American folk music.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops released five albums including 2012's Leaving Eden, and one EP, whilst Dom Flemons was a member, and opened for Taj Mahal and, in 2011, Bob Dylan.

On November 12,2013, the Carolina Chocolate Drops announced that Dom Flemons would be leaving to continue his own solo career.

Dom Flemons was then featured on NPR performing at the Newport Folk Festival.

In 2014, Prospect Hill saw Dom Flemons enlist other musicians on his recording.

Prospect Hill contained seven of Dom Flemons' own penned tracks out of a total of fourteen on the collection.

Dom Flemons was then a member of Music Maker Relief Foundation's Next Generation Artists program, and served on Music Maker's board of directors.

Dom Flemons continues to discover young talent for the Foundation to assist and has promoted, recorded, and performed with more mature Music Maker artists including John Dee Holeman, Boo Hanks, Captain Luke, and Macavine Hayes.

Dom Flemons duly wrote a song about the leading black movie cowboy of his time, Bill Pickett, and used other stories including cowboys who became Pullman porters and, in turn, became important figures in the civil rights movement.

Dom Flemons played old musical instruments such as the six-string banjo and the quills, as was originally used by Henry Thomas.

In 2017, Dom Flemons was featured on David Holt's State of Music on PBS.

Dom Flemons performed as the bluesman Joe Hill Louis on CMT's television program Sun Records.

Dom Flemons launched a podcast, American Songster Radio, on WUNC National Public Radio and issued a couple of instructional DVD's via Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop.

In 2012, Dom Flemons collaborated to record an album with the Piedmont blues guitarist and singer Boo Hanks, entitled Buffalo Junction.

Four years later, Dom Flemons played along with the British guitarist Martin Simpson, to jointly record the album, A Selection of Ever Popular Favourites.

Dom Flemons plays a Deering 4-string banjo, a Gibson GB-1 6-string and a rare, oversized 1920s era Clef Club banjo.

Dom Flemons won a Grammy Award as part of the Carolina Chocolate Drops for their album, Genuine Negro Jig.