>> Dom Flemons: Hello folks. This is Dom Flemons, the American Songster. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress has invited me to perform in their 2020 Homegrown at Home Concert Series. So instead of being at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., I am coming to you today from my home in Maryland, just a few miles away. The American Folklife Center will release a concert each Wednesday from now through September 30th at noon east coast time. And each artist will be there with you in the chat section to answer questions, so be sure to say hi. After each concert is released, you can find the video on the library's website or YouTube channel. Thanks for listening today and thank you for advocating for cultural memory. Because, at the end of the day, that's all we got in these hard times is cultural memory. And check out the American Folklife Center's website, where you can find lots of amazing sound recordings online to explore: www.loc.gov/folklife. Thanks so much. Well, it's a pleasure to be a part of the archive challenge for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. I've had the opportunity to perform at a few of these events. And, for me, I'm just going to sing a couple of songs that I picked up from the archives in the many years that I've gotten to work with Stephen Winick and Jennifer Cutting. And they've allowed me to get deep into the stacks and the Dewey Decimal System that's over at the Library of Congress. And this first one here is one that I ended up using on my album, Black Cowboys. This was recorded by Vera Ward Hall and it was collected by John Lomax and Ruby Terrill. [Singing] Ah-hmmm. Well, come here, black woman Ah-hmmm. And sit on daddy's knee. Ah-hmmm. Well, I've got something to tell you, pretty momma. Ah-hmmm. Don't you holler, Lordy. Ah-hmmm. Well, I'm going back to Texas. Ah-hmmm. To hear that wild ox moan. Ah-hmmm. And if his moaning don't suit me, black woman. Ah-hmmm. I'm going to drive my bell cow home. Ah-hmmm. Don't your kitchen feel lonesome. Ah-hmmm. When your biscuit roll is gone. [End Singing] Cool. Well, the next song I'm going to do for you, folks, is one that I actually learned about back in 2005. I was invited to an event called The Black Banjo Gathering, which happened in Boone, North Carolina. And it was one of the first academic events to specifically focus on African-American, African, and Caribbean precedents to the banjo. And so that means that the banjo, of course, is an African-derived instrument, but over the several hundred years of its existence, it has traveled from the Western parts of Africa, molding together different types of instruments that were probably brought over through memory. Some might have been brought over physically, but mostly through memory through the Middle Passage. And through that Middle Passage, they went through the Caribbean and there, the banjo tradition grew within all of the different islands, and then it made its way to the American South. And now it's an international phenomenon, after having been a part of American culture in all of its different facets. But this is one that I picked up. When I was at the gathering, everybody told me about an album called Altamont. And it was one of the first albums to focus on African-American stringband music. And this is one that I got from the recordings of Nathan Frazier and Frank Patterson, collected by John Wesley Work the third, and this is a piece called Po Black Sheep. [ Music ] [Singing] Oh, lamby. Po blacks sheep ain't got no mammy. Sheeps and the goat, they went to the pass. Sheep said goat, get a little faster. Wake snake days breaking, the piece in the pie, whole cakes baking. Oh, miscreation, we took five vacations. Hill boss his fine, day time's his, night time's mine. Oh, lamby, the poor black sheep ain't got no mammy. Ah, lamby, the po black sheep ain't got no mammy. [ Music ] Yes, lamby, po black sheep ain't got no mammy. Ah, lamby, the po black sheep ain't got no mammy. [End Singing] [ Music ] Ladies and gentlemen, this very next number here is one of the most well-known western folksongs. This one is actually known as the Western National Anthem. This is a song called Home on the Range. And this is one that was originally recorded for the Library of Congress by John Lomax, the ex-Buffalo soldier in San Antonio, back in, I read, I believe around 1908. And [strum] this little special melody is a slight variation because this variation is the one that is said to have set the world on -- on it's head. [Strum] So here's a little bit of home on the Range for you, with all the words. [ Music ] [Singing] Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play, where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day. Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free, the breeze is so balmy and light that I would not exchange my home on the range for all of the cities so bright. Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play, where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day. [ Music ] The red man was pressed from this part of the west. He's likely no more to return to the bank of Red River, where seldom, if ever, their flickering campfires burn. [ Music ] How often at night when the heavens are bright, from the light of the glittering stars, have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed, if their glory exceeds that of ours. Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play, where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day. [ Music ] Oh, I love these wild flowers in this dear land of ours, the curlew I love to hear scream. And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks that graze on the mountaintop's green. Oh, give me a land where the bright diamond sand flows leisurely down the stream, where the graceful white swan goes gliding along, like a maid in a heavenly dream. Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play, where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day. [End Singing] [ Music ] I think about last year. I performed in Gillette, Wyoming, at a place called the Rockpile Museum, and they were celebrating the history of the black cowboys of Campbell County. And when I went out from my hotel in the morning, I happened to notice a bunch of deer that were running in the parking lot, and I thought that they were a bunch of the kids, a little bit of the baby deers that were following it, but I looked over and I saw a man standing there and he told me that those were antelope. And I realized for the very first time, i was seeing deer and antelope playing. So if you're sitting there at home, I hope you'll sing along on the next chorus. [Singing] Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play, where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day. Lo, lo [holding note] la-a-oh-lay. [End Singing] Well, folks, I guess the last number I'm going to do for you is one that, you know, now I have a 2-1/2 year old daughter and I named her Cheyanne. And when my wife and I were trying to think of names for our first child, I found that I had been singing this song so much that I mentioned Cheyanne right off of the bat. And my wife thought that that was a great idea. And so this one is dedicated to Cheyanne Love Kinard Flemons, my daughter. And this is a song that was also collected by John Lomax. He recorded a white fiddler by the name of Jess Morris, who told the story of how he learned this from this melody. He learned it from an African-American cowboy. A black cowboy by the name of Charlies Willis. And this is one that he kept with him all of his life. This is one called Goodbye Old Paint. And again, this is one that has two different songs associated with it. There is one that is called I Ride an Old Paint, which goes [Singing] I ride an old paint. i lead an old Dan. Good-bye old paint. I'm leaving Cheyenne. [End Singing] But that's a different song completely than I'm going to perform now. Now, this is one here, I tried to -- I tried to adapt what I heard Jess Morris singing, to try to find a little bit of Charlie Willis' version in there somewhere along the lines. I did what I could, you know. I was also inspired by a lot of great cowboy singers like Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Don Edwards, who also have performed wonderful versions of this song. So here's a little bit of Goodbye Old Paint for you. [ Music ] Ooh, let me get that again. [ Music ] [Singing] Farewell, fair ladies. I'm leaving Cheyenne. Farewell, fair ladies. I'm leaving Cheyenne. Goodbye my little darling. My pony won't stand. Old Paint, Old Paint, I'm leaving Cheyenne. Goodbye Old Paint, I am leaving Cheyenne. Because Old Paint's an old pony and she paces when she can. [ Music ] In the middle of the ocean, may grow a green tree, but I'll never prove false to the girl that loves me. Old Paint, Old Paint, I'm leaving Cheyenne. Goodbye, Old Paint. I am leaving Cheyenne. Because Old Paint's an old pony and she paces when she can. [ Music ] Now we spread down the blankets on the green grassy ground, and the horse and the cattle were all grazing all around. Old Paint, Old Paint, I'm leaving Cheyenne. Goodbye, Old Paint. I am leaving Cheyenne. Because Old Paint's an old pony and she paces when she can. [ Music ] Now the last time I saw her, it was late in the fall. She was riding Old Paint and leading Old Ball. Old Paint, Old Paint, I'm leaving Cheyenne. Goodbye, Old Paint. I am leaving Cheyenne. Because Old Paint's an old pony and she paces when she can. [ Music ] Old Paint had a colt on the Rio Grande, and the colt couldn't pace, so we named her Cheyenne. Old Paint, Old Paint, I'm leaving Cheyenne. Goodbye, Old Paint. I am leaving Cheyenne. Because Old Paint's an old pony and she paces when she can. [ Music ] And my foot's in the stirrup and the bridle's in my hand. Oh, fair ladies, I'm leaving Cheyenne. Bye, my little darling. My pony won't stand. [ Music ] Farewell, fair ladies. I'm leaving Cheyenne. Goodbye, my little darling. My pony won't stand. [ Music ] Goodbye, my little darling. My pony won't stand. [ Music ] Goodbye, my little darling. My pony won't stand. [End Singing]