The three full-time members ofthe string band known as the CarolinaChocolate Drops (Dom Flemons on guitar, jug, and harmonica,Rhiannon Giddens on banjo and fiddle, and Justin Robinson on banjoand fiddle --Sule Greg Wilson sometimes sits in on percussion) met in2005 at the Black Banjo Gathering at Appalachian State UniversityinNorth Carolina, drawn together by their mutual love of bluegrass"jass," jug music, and prehistoric country and rock.The acousticmusicians play alivelycombination of standards and originals in thesestyles, sporting tongue-in-cheek, old-timey outfits and a spiritedirreverence that barelydisguises their technical facility.Their 2006debut, Dona Got a Ramblin Mind, was released on the Music Makerlabel to wide acclaim, and they recorded three additional independentalbums before their first widely distributed album, Genuine Negro Jigappeared on Nonesuch in 2010.The group's next release on the label,which appeared earlyin 2011, was a four-song EP recorded with theNew York City-based Romanian Gypsy punk band the LuminescentOrchestrii. Robinson left the group that same year and multi-instrumentalist HubbyJenkins was added.The group augmentedthings further with New Orleans-based cellist Leyla McCalla and beatbox specialist Adam Matta for 2012's full-length Leaving Eden, whichwas produced by Buddy Miller. Later that year, they contributed thesong "Daughter's Lament" to the Hunger Games soundtrack.In 2013the Drops announced that original member Dom Flemons would beleaving to pursue a solo career. Cellist Malcolm Parson and multi-instrumentalist Rowan Corbett were introduced into the lineup andthe band continued to tour, though frontwoman Giddens woulddeliver her own solo debut in early 2015.