North Carolina–based Carolina Chocolate Drops follow up their critically lauded label debut—2010′s Grammy Award–winning Genuine Negro Jig, which reached #1 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart and #2 on the Billboard Heatseekers and Folk Charts—with Leaving Eden, due February 28 on Nonesuch Records, with vinyl to follow on March 20. The group returns with a record of original compositions, covers, and traditional songs produced by Buddy Miller (Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant, Patty Griffin, Solomon Burke). The album is available for pre-order now; a download of the track “Country Girl,” which NPR named a Song of the Day, is included.

With Leaving Eden the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ founding members Dom Flemons and Rhiannon Giddens expand their lineup to include multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins; during their live sets the members share singing duties and swap instruments regularly. (Cellist Leyla McCalla also joins the band on the record.)

The Drops have toured year-round internationally since the band’s inception, playing festivals such as Bonnaroo, SXSW, and Telluride and selling out concert halls and clubs. The band regularly receives critical accolades from publications such as the Seattle Times, which said “What a treat to bask in this Grammy-winning group’s top-notch musicality, easy good humor and understated but sparkling showmanship with just the right dollop of historical background.” And the Capital Times (Madison, WI) said, “The string band performed a joyful, high-energy show that had the packed, sweaty theater moving and cheering for the entire time. The band’s sound is rooted in, and very reverent to, the traditional African-American string band sound of generations ago. But the attitude is anything but old-timey, as the band brought in hip-hop and soul elements, a no-holds-barred energy, and just a sense of playfulness to the songs.”

Leaving Eden

Kerr's Negro Jig

Galactic Soul

Love To Fly

World of Hassle

The Return of Mickey Milan

https://open.spotify.com/track/1YXjtzxG9vc2TI2SbsaXtg?si=3ff4d7e0b9984552

Have you brushed your teeth lately?
I bet you haven’t, baby.
I bet you hate it when you see me out with all of your friends.
Me and you was a nightmare,
Life is a daydream.
Now you’re gone, I don’t feel so crazy.
I don’t feel so worthless,
Without purpose,
But I love MDMA.

I see you all in the club,
Your ass all over the pole.
Then it’s all over a guy,
He’s tryna get to the hole.
Go to the corner, let him finger you for eighteen dollars.
Little did he know your pussy’s dry from all the marijuana.

You moved on, you do this, I told you I knew it.
Your teeth are rotting lately,
Does he remind you daily?
Is he the best you could find?
Is he so calm and so kind?
Your future is ruined,
I tried my best, you blew it.

I’m missing someone to pose with,
And going to shows with.
I signed up for a life, and you broke it.
You signed up for love and stepped on it with eight inch heels.
I hope you find your soulmate,
I know he won’t find his.
One day you’ll ask me to lie, and I’ll say, “Fuck off, bitch.”

I’ve got eight fucking love songs for someone I don’t love anymore.
Damn.
That’s sad.
That’s actually really embarrassing.
I don’t know what to say after that.
Yeah.

Baby, we were locked in,
Why you gotta call a locksmith?
You yell so damn loud I fucking lost it.
You suck so damn hard, he’ll really like you.
I should’ve never tried in the first place.
I mean never, like ever.
My life was hell and flames, just like the Nether.
I miss our Minecraft world.
I hate this.
I don’t want your brain, but your body’s contagious.
I feel bad for, like, all your friends.
At some point they’ll realize you’re not who you say you are.
Baby, you know it’ll go like the last time,
Like last time,
Like last time.

You moved on, you do this, I told you I knew it.
Your teeth are rotting lately,
Does he remind you daily?
Is he the best you could find?
Is he so calm and so kind?
Your future is ruined,
I tried my best, you blew it.

I’m missing someone to pose with,
And going to shows with.
I signed up for a life, and you broke it.
You signed up for love and stepped on it with eight inch heels.
I hope you find your soulmate,
I know he won’t find his.
One day you’ll ask me to lie, and I’ll say, “Fuck off, bitch.”
prod. peril

Champagne

Django Django