Ebony Hillbillies
Ebony Hillbillies
"We are the last Black string band in America," says Rique Prince of the Ebony Hillbillies. In the 18th and 19th centuries, African-American fiddlers created a style that helped shape today’s sounds in bluegrass and country music. Prince still plays the old-style string band music on fiddle, accompanied by Norris Bennett on the banjo and mountain dulcimer, a form of the African instrument the diddly-bo. The Ebony Hillbillies play rollicking, rocking dance music that weaves together "old- and new-world tales of love, magic, and revenge." Beginning as street and subway performers, The Ebony Hillbillies have performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the BBC, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.