Both areas, Appalachian and Piedmont, had both black and white population, and both played essentially the same type of music, for themselves and for each other. It was as common a century ago to see a black band playing for a white square dance as for a black square dance. Square dancing took no sides then; it was an equal part of the heritage of blacks as much as whites. Current times show a distinct minority of black country string bands. Then again, most blacks aren’t aware that the banjo was invented by blacks, who played the instrument long before leaving their native lands in the 1500s and later.

Following that fateful meeting at ASU, the three CCD members began getting together with Thompson on weekends to play. Later, the CCD added more area players to their weekend schedule, including Etta Baker and Algia Mae Hinton. If you’re not familiar with those names, shame on you! Do your homework or you’ll go to bed hungry.

CCD began tearing up the music circuit shortly after that first meeting, and now they’re world travelers, spreading the Piedmont Gospel far and wide. Between Thompson coming up with the music, and the CCD coming together for the music, not much happened in string band music overall, and even less in black string band music. The folk revival which took place in the 1950s and 1960s brought mainly whites together playing some of the music to mainly white audiences. The later bluegrass and newgrass bands were also almost solely a white domain. It wasn’t until four decades after the folk revival that several black string bands began forming, causing most blacks to express surprise or even dismay that these groups were playing what they perceived as white people’s music. Which explains both the group’s need for and mission of educating its audiences.

And that brings us up to Dona Got A Ramblin’ Mind, which is a 16-cut CD that CCD released in 2006 through MusicMaker.org, also out of North Carolina. “Dona” is an almost 48-minute slice of 1880 Americana, that will not let you remain seated for long. I don’t go to theaters or performance centers to see groups like CCD for that very reason. An outdoor venue, a nightclub, a dancehall, fine. This music, however, is not made to sit through. Even the musicians know that!

When you hear of the Carolina Chocolate Drops coming to your area, get your tickets sooner, rather than later. There may not be a later, since CCD are playing to packed houses that will be even more packed following their return from Europe.