SOLO MUSIC RELEASES
Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus
In 2020, Dom Flemons released his two CD solo reissue album titled Prospect Hill: “The American Songster Omnibus on Omnivore Recordings.
Description: Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus is a 2-CD and Digital collection containing a three-part journey: the original Prospect Hill album; the 2015 Record Store Day 9-track EP What Got Over (originally vinyl only, making its first appearance on CD/Digital); and a third section, The Drum Major Instinct, a set of 12 previously unissued instrumental tracks that “presents the vision of the Phoenix rising from the ashes, morphing into a butterfly, and seeing the world with a new set of eyes.”
With extensive liner notes from Flemons and his wife, Vania Kinard, matched by extraordinary photography from Timothy Duffy (whose works are in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art, National Museum of African American History and Culture, the New Orleans Museum of Art, among others), this new collection truly showcases Flemons’ artistry, talents, and dedication to deserving the moniker “The American Songster.”
Buy the album here: Dom Flemons Merch
Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys
In 2018, Flemons released a solo album on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings titled Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys which is part of the African American Legacy Recordings series, co-produced with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The album sparked a worldwide phenomenon and his interview with AJ+ went viral on twitter and Facebook reaching over 2.5 million views, bringing the black contributions to country music and western history to the forefront of popular culture. His album “Black Cowboys” received a GRAMMY Nominated and went on to win a Wammie Awards for “Best Folk Album”, a Living Blues Award for “New Recordings/ Traditional & Acoustic album”, the ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Loved the Liner Notes” Award, and he was selected for a 2020 Maryland State Arts Council’s Independent Artist Award. The Black Cowboys album peaked at #4 and spent over 55 weeks on the BILLBOARD Bluegrass Charts and Flemons was nominated for “Artist of The Year” at the International Folk Music Awards, “Best Acoustic Album” at the Blues Music Awards, and “Best Folk Album” at the Liberia Awards.
Description: Dom Flemons presents Black Cowboys pays tribute to the music, culture, and the complex history of the golden era of the Wild West. In this single volume of music, the first of its kind, Flemons explores and re-analyzes this important part of our American identity. The songs and poems featured on the album take the listener on an illuminating journey from the trails to the rails of the Old West. This century-old story follows the footsteps of the thousands of African American pioneers who helped build the United States of America.
Buy the album here: Dom Flemons Merch
American Songster
In 2009, Dom Flemons released his solo album titled American Songster on the Music Maker Label.
Description: American Songster is Dom Flemons first album to feature his famous moniker. Released on the Music Maker label in 2009, one year before he won the GRAMMY for Best Traditional Folk Album with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the American Songster album presents an early phase of his career as a purely solo artist, no studio musicians and no extra studio production. The 15 tracks on the album include three original songs and a variety of early American Roots music styles including blues, folk, old-time banjo and fife and drum with songs drawn from sources such Lead Belly, Jim Jackson, Phil Ochs, Joe Thompson, Sydney Stripling, Henry “Ragtime Texas” Thomas, Mississippi Sheiks, and Ma Rainey. The tintype cover by photographer Bill Steber was Dom’s first foray into the world of vintage photography which would spark a revival in the art form in the modern Roots and Americana scene.
For fans who have seen Dom in concert over the years, the album features early versions of many of the staples of his repertoire including the rhythm bones and harmonica driven arrangement of Joe Thompson’s “Old Cindy Gal”, the country blues guitar rendering of Ma Rainey’s “Yonder Comes The Blues”, his reworking of Jim Jackson’s classic 1928 satire on police violence “Bye Bye Policeman”, and the harmonica showstopper “There’s A Brownskin Girl Down The Road Somewhere”. It is also the first album where he features the Quills, the traditional African American panpipes, showcasing a style of old-time music rarely explored by modern practitioners on songs “Quills”, “Po’ Black Sheep/Gwine Dig A Hole” and “John Henry”. It is a classic portrait of Dom Flemons’ artistry as a musician beginning his journey as “The American Songster”.