We went to Rochester, MN on Saturday to hear the Chocolate Drops, and they were astoundingly good. (The last time we saw them, Rhiannon was about 8 mos preggers, and her daughter is now 9 months old). they have not been wasting their time -- lots of new material, much of it very good. Especially impressive is Dom's four-string banjo playing (I think it might have been a plectrum banjo rather than a tenor, although he played it with finger picks, and I couldn't make out from his left-hand work what the tuning was). And his Uncle Dave antics help a lot.
Too many of us, when we appear in public, spend the entire time on stage studying our shoes, so it was a marvelous experience to witness both respect for tradition and showmanship.
The sound was not very good, but that wasn't CCD's fault. I bought their new CD, "Authentic Negro Jig," and it's very well recorded -- the sound is excellent.
Lyle
