PHOTOS: Dom Flemons delights Vanderbilt audience with roots music performance

Dom Flemons, “The American Songster,” performs at the Blair School of Music's Turner Recital Hall on Sept. 14. (John Amis/Vanderbilt University) — Dom Flemons, “The American Songster,” performs at the Blair School of Music’s Turner Recital Hall on Sept. 14. (John Amis/Vanderbilt University)

Grammy Award-winning songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dom Flemons performed at the Blair School of Music’s Steve and Judy Turner Recital Hall Sept. 14 as part of a two-day visit to the Vanderbilt campus. Flemons is a gifted performer and distinguished cultural historian whose music and research have brought greater awareness to African Americans’ extensive contributions to roots music.

Flemons performs traditional music on guitar and quills. (John Amis/Vanderbilt)

Flemons plays the harmonica and rhythm bones. (John Amis/Vanderbilt)

MTSU’s Martin Fisher and Flemons demonstrate recording music on a phonographic “wax” cylinder. (John Amis/Vanderbilt)

The concert featured Flemons performing traditional and original songs with various instruments and discussing the provenance of each. Flemons was joined on stage by Martin Fisher, curator of recorded media collections at Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Popular Music, for a song-recording demonstration on a phonographic “wax” cylinder.

Kate Shepas, music librarian for instruction and outreach, speaks with patrons about items from the Dom Flemons American Songster Collection. (John Amis/Vanderbilt)

Wild Bunch member David Blum, BA’77, Dom Flemons, and Flemons’ wife, Vania Kinard (John Amis/Vanderbilt)

The Sept. 14 concert brought a near-capacity audience to Turner Recital Hall. (John Amis/Vanderbilt)

The event, sponsored by the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries and the Wild Bunch Lecture Fund, included a reception and informal signing session of Hatch Show Print posters created especially for the concert. The Wild Bunch Lecture Fund is the second endowed fund established by members of Vanderbilt’s Class of 1977 in honor of the university’s fifth chancellor, Alexander Heard, and his wife, Jean.

Flemons and Vanderbilt University Librarian Jon Shaw view items at the Special Collections library. (Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt)

Flemons and Kinard review items from the Dom Flemons American Songster Collection. (Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt)

Wilson Music Library Director Holling Smith-Borne, Vania Kinard, Dom Flemons, and Jon Shaw (Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt)

Flemons’ time on campus also included a presentation to Blair School of Music students, collaboration with Anne Potter Wilson Music Library staff, and a visit to the Heard Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives, which houses the Dom Flemons American Songster Collection. Items from the collection are featured in the exhibit “Country Music: Black Roots and Legacies,” currently on display at the Blair School’s Ingram Hall.