The concert will be at 5 p.m. in the Blair School of Music’s Steve and Judy Turner Recital Hall. A public reception will precede the performance beginning at 4:15 p.m. in the Blair School lobby.

The event is open to the public, but tickets are required to attend. Tickets may be purchased through the Blair box office on a “pay as you wish” scale. Those who contribute $20 or more will receive a limited-edition Hatch Show Print poster commemorating the concert. Posters will be available for pickup only at the event.

Known as “The American Songster,” Flemons is considered an expert player on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife, and rhythm bones. He has released multiple solo albums, including the Grammy-nominated Traveling Wildfire in 2023. He was a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops string band, with whom he won a Grammy in 2010.

Flemons received this year’s Overall Grand Prize in the 20th annual International Acoustic Music Awards, becoming the first African American ever to be awarded the top honor. He is also a two-time Emmy Award nominee, a 2020 U.S. Artists Fellow, and the creator, host and producer of the American Songster Radio Show on WSM in Nashville.

The Heard Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives acquired Flemons’ personal collection in late 2023. Compiled and curated by Flemons and his wife, Vania Kinard, the Dom Flemons American Songster Collection includes musical instruments, historical sheet music, research materials on Black cowboys, an Edison phonograph with several playable wax cylinders, field recordings, art pieces, memorabilia, personal gifts, autographed records, and materials documenting Flemons’ professional music career over the past 20 years.

As part of the Sept. 14 event, a pop-up exhibit featuring items from the Dom Flemons American Songster Collection will be on display at the Blair School of Music. Flemons also will demonstrate and discuss instruments from the collection during his performance.

“The Heard Libraries are delighted to host Dom Flemons for this unique concert experience and to bring his incomparable musicianship and expertise to audiences at Vanderbilt,” University Librarian Jon Shaw said. “Those who attend will have the opportunity to engage with one of the

libraries’ most distinctive collections, which celebrates our cherished folk and country music traditions and vitally preserves our shared cultural history.”

The concert is this year’s Wild Bunch Lecture Fund event hosted by the Heard Libraries. 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. (check website for tickets!)