Flemons shows what music is about

Betsy PickleOur Town Arts

The big music news around here this week has focused on tickets for the May 31 Paul McCartney concert at Thompson-Boling Arena.

I read through my friends’ Facebook posts and empathized with them over the cost of a nosebleed seat. I scanned their mutterings about how Sir Paul should think of the hard-working fans who can’t afford his prices – or at least the scalpers’ prices once their bots have reaped the choicest tickets.

Other friends crowed about their success in finding seats that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. I’m happy for them, but my budget doesn’t extend to $300 for three hours in the presence of a legendary musician, even a beloved former Beatle.

Dom Flemons shares a story.

Fortunately, I had some musical excitement of my own. KnoxTNToday last week published an announcement that Dom Flemons would be playing Wednesday (Feb. 23) at the Clayton Performing Arts Center at Pellissippi State Community College. He was booked not only for a concert at 11:45 a.m., but also a banjo workshop at 3:45 p.m. Both were free.

I have to apologize to readers, but I did not do my share of promoting the story. Not everyone can clear their schedule to take in a midday concert, and I didn’t want them to feel disappointed. But even more, I had a vision of Flemons performing for just a lucky few of us, and I was too selfish to spread the word.

Now, Flemons has a huge following, but I don’t presume everyone knows who he is. You may remember him as a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a Grammy-winning string band that opened for both Taj Mahal and Bob Dylan. They also played Bonnaroo in 2010.

Flemons went solo in 2013 and has amassed an impressive reputation not only as a singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist but also as a storyteller and historian of early American music as developed by Black musicians. His Pellissippi State concert glowed with all of those elements.

I’d seen Flemons only once before, at the 2017 Louie Bluie Music Festival in Campbell County, but that performance was unforgettable. This set was even better.

Flemons walked out onto the stage where his instruments were already set up and immediately began charming the crowd of about 70. He introduced not only his songs, but also his instruments: a four-string banjo, a five-string gourd banjo and a six-string banjo that was made in Harlem about 100 years ago (who even knew there were different kinds of banjos?); two guitars; a couple of harmonicas (I think); a set of bones (cow bones used as percussion instruments); and quills. There might have been something else, but I didn’t take notes.

During the course of the show, Flemons explained the arc of his passion for old-time music, which began during his childhood in Phoenix, Ariz. He played percussion in high school band, but otherwise, he picked up his skills on banjo and guitar by seeking out respected musicians and learning from them.

Much of his set featured music from his Grammy-nominated 2018 album, “Black Cowboys” (which is available on CD and vinyl). Flemons shared the history of real-life Black cowboys and the music they made or that was made about them. The album contains a mixture of Flemons’ own songs and traditional tunes he has interpreted and worked into his repertoire.

I was particularly enchanted by a song called “Charmin’ Betsy,” naturally, but the highlight was Flemons sharing tales about icons such as Bass Reeves and the better-known Nat Love.

The sound crew did excellent work, and we were told that Pellissippi was recording the event. Let’s hope they share the show in some fashion on the web.

Sitting 10 feet away from a performer like Flemons as he interacts with a small, appreciative crowd is far more appealing to me than staring at a big screen to get a glimpse of a tiny-seeming musician in an arena full of noise.

No offense to the great McCartney, but I’d rather have a music experience like Flemons’ any day.

Betsy Pickle is a veteran writer, editor and arts critic who broke out of her comfort zone to make the trek to Hardin Valley from South Knoxville.

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