Metro Weekly

Bela Fleck and the Carolina Chocolate Drops

The Grammy-winning, genre-busting bluegrass/folk ensemble Bela Fleck and the Flecktones is the headline act here, but we’re even more excited by one of two opening acts. The Carolina Chocolate Drops is a veritable black bluegrass band, a young North Carolina string trio that aims to carry the torch for a dying musical sub-genre still hampered by minstrel-show connotations. The band’s bawdy cover of Blu Cantrell’s 2001 R&B hit “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” is a jaw-dropper — and its lively full set, Genuine Negro Jig, was one of last year’s best releases in any genre — and the deserving winner of the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. Thursday, July 7, at 7 p.m. Rams Head Live!, 20 Market Place, Baltimore. Tickets are $45. Call 410-244-1131 or visit ramsheadlive.com. Also Sunday, July 10, at 7 p.m. Wolf Trap, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $25 to $40. Call 703-255-1900 or visit wolf-trap.org.

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