Dom Flemons

Known as The American Songster, Dom Flemons draws on a repertoire spanning nearly a century of American folklore, ballads and tunes. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, of African American and Mexican heritage, he plays old-time music, Piedmont blues and neotraditional country, singing and writing his own songs. His route into the tradition ran from his parents' records and the Beatles to the older folk figures of Woody Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, with the percussionist and folklorist Súle Greg Wilson deepening his grasp of the blues.

Flemons was a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops from their formation in 2005 until 2013, when he left to pursue a solo career. The group's 2010 album Genuine Negro Jig won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. Flemons has released five solo albums in all, two of them collaborations. Prospect Hill (2014) drew national press coverage, and his 2018 album Black Cowboys, which traces African Americans who helped shape the American West, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album and a Blues Music Award nomination. Traveling Wildfire followed in 2023 with another Grammy nomination in the same category.