Dom Flemons has always been gracious with his time and his knowledge of roots music. Yesterday was no exception. Our conversation touched on many topics with Dom relating his early experiences at Northern Arizona University. He was an English Major as well as a slam poet. He found his way to the Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, NC which introduced him to his musical heroes and his future Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmates. We discuss the early influences of Joe Thompson on the band’s understanding of African American string band music. The topic eventually leads to his discussion of the genesis of his latest project; The Black Cowboy. We talk about the influences of many musicians and poets leading to his most recent release. Dom relates the influence of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in focusing his research. We finish our conversation with discussion of his recent nomination for an Emmy Award for his work on a PBS special on Songwriting.

Dom Flemons is a wealth of information on many musical genres. He has worked with the Smithsonian to help mentor another generation of young artists. We all ought to be very thankful that such a generous thoughtful encyclopedia of near forgotten music and scholarship exists to pass on to the next generation of young artists and musicians.