Dom Flemons
GRAMMY Award Winner, Two-Time EMMY Nominee, 2020 U.S. Artists Fellow
Dom Flemons is originally from Phoenix, Arizona and currently lives in the Chicago area with his family. He has branded the moniker The American Songster® since his repertoire of music covers over 100 years of early American popular music. Flemons is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, actor, slam poet, music scholar, historian, and record collector. He is considered an expert player on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife and rhythm bones. Flemons was selected for the prestigious 2020 United States Artists Fellowship Award for the Traditional Arts category which was generously supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
In 2020, Dom Flemons re-issued his album titled Prospect Hill: “The American Songster Omnibus on Omnivore Recordings. The two CD album features three parts: the original Prospect Hill album, the 2015 EP What Got Over, and The Drum Major Instinct which includes twelve previously unissued instrumental tracks. His original song “I Can’t Do It Anymore” was released on a limited edition wax cylinder recording. Recently, he released a cover of the Elmore James classic “Shake Your Money Maker”, recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis, alongside Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band and featured guest, legendary guitarist Steve Cropper. He played his six-string banjo (Big Head Joe), Quills, and Bones on Tyler Childers groundbreaking album Long Violent History and played jug alongside Brandford Marsalis on the soundtrack to Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom on Netflix.
In 2019, Flemons was chosen to be a "Spotlight Artist" at the Soundtrack of America event curated by the World Renowned Quincy Jones and EMMY Award Winning Director Steve McQueen. He was featured in the Bank of America and Ken Burns ‘Country Music’ commercial that airs regularly on PBS. Also, Flemons had a successful international solo tour in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, and served as an U.S representative at the YodelFest in Munich, Germany.
In 2018, Flemons released a solo album titled Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys on Smithsonian Folkways and received a GRAMMY Nomination for “Best Folk Album” at the 61st GRAMMY Awards. This recording 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 Black Cowboys album peaked at #4 and has 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. He won a Wammie Awards for “Best Folk Album”, won a Living Blues Award for “New Recordings/ Traditional & Acoustic album”, and received the ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Loved the Liner Notes” Award.
Flemons had his major solo debut on the Grand Ole Opry, on a night with Carrie Underwood and Old Crow Medicine Show and was included in the American Currents Class of 2018 exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame Exhibit alongside Reba McEntire, Jeannie Seely, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kane Brown, Dan Auerbach, Dan + Shay, John Prine and more.