THE CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS

LEAVING EDEN

NONESUCH, 2012

A new lineup and Buddy Miller as producer on the Drops’ swansong, issued in the wake of tours with Bob Dylan and Taj Mahal

It was an interesting dynamic at this point, because we went from a trio – which is kind of an inherently stable structure and something that started equally – to hiring people. So Dom and I, as the owners of the band, suddenly had people who we were paying. It was an odd mix, but we made it work. Hubby [ Jenkins] is an amazing musician and I worked with him for years after the Chocolate Drops. And Leyla [Mccalla, cellist] came in and we worked with Adam [Matta] for a brief time. So we were trying to figure it out and we came up with a cool record. Dom’s an equal opportunities music inhaler too, but those songs on the record by Cousin Emmy, Etta Baker and Hazel Dickens were ones I was obviously drawn to. There are so many strong women in that field of music. Cousin Emmy’s “Ruby Are You Mad At Your Man?” is just a killer. In the studio, Buddy Miller is a pretty laid-back guy and has an encyclopedic knowledge of American music, so the guys were very comfortable with him. Touring with Taj Mahal and Bob Dylan were really seminal times. Opening for Taj was really the first time we’d opened on tour for anybody and we learned a lot from that experience. And we all got to shake Dylan’s hand. I don’t listen to him, so for me that moment was like [nonplussed], ‘Oh cool, I met Bob Dylan.’ Whereas the guys were like, “Oh my God, I’m never going to wash my hand again!” They were freaked out. His crew told us that he doesn’t come out that often, so he must’ve liked us.