A jug band is a

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

employing a

jug A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, and ceramic, or glass, and ...

player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the

washtub bass The washtub bass, or gutbucket, is a stringed instrument used in American folk music that uses a metal washtub as a resonator. Although it is possible for a washtub bass to have four or more strings and tuning pegs, traditional washtub basses hav ...

, washboard,

spoons Spoons may refer to: * Spoon, a utensil commonly used with soup * Spoons (card game), the card game of Donkey, but using spoons Film and TV * ''Spoons'' (TV series), a 2005 UK comedy sketch show *Spoons, a minor character from ''The Sopranos'' ...

bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

, stovepipe, jew's harp, and comb and tissue paper. The term ''jug band'' is loosely used in referring to ensembles that also incorporate homemade instruments but that are more accurately called

skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United State ...

bands, spasm bands, or juke (or jook) bands (see

juke joint Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United States. A juke joint ...

) because they do not include a jug player.

History

Early jug bands were typically made up of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and

medicine show Medicine shows were touring acts (traveling by truck, horse, or wagon teams) that peddled "miracle cure" patent medicines and other products between various entertainments. They developed from European mountebank shows and were common in the Unit ...

musicians. Beginning in the urban South (namely, Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee), they played a mixture of blues,

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

. The history of jug bands is related to the development of the blues. The informal and energetic music of the jug bands also contributed to the development of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

. The jug sound is made by taking a

(usually made of glass or stoneware) and buzzing the lips into its mouth from about an inch away. As with brass instruments, changes in pitch are controlled by altering lip tension, and an accomplished jug player could have a two-octave range. The stovepipe (usually a section of tin pipe, three or four inches in diameter) is played in much the same manner, with the pipe rather than the jug serving as the resonating chamber. There is some similarity to the didgeridoo, but there is no contact between the stovepipe and the player's lips. Some jug and stovepipe players utilize throat vocalization along with lip buzzing, as with the didgeridoo. The swooping sounds of the jug fill a musical role halfway between the

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

and

sousaphone The sousaphone ( ) is a brass instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was designed to be easier to play than ...

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...

bands, playing mid- and lower-range harmonies in rhythm. In the early days of jug band music, homemade guitars and mandolins were sometimes made from the necks of discarded manufactured guitars fastened to large gourds that were flattened on one side, with a sound-hole cut into the flat side, before drying. Banjos were sometimes made from a discarded guitar neck and a metal pie plate.

Original bands

Jug bands from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, were the first to record. The violinist Clifford Hayes's Old Southern Jug Band recorded as early as 1923. Whistler & His Jug Band, often making use of a

nose whistle A nose whistle (also called a "nose flute" or a "humanatone") is a wind instrument played with the nose and mouth cavity. Often made of wood, they are also constructed with plastic, clay, or sheet metal. History Nose whistles, possibly with di ...

, first recorded in September 1924 for Gennett Records.

Earl McDonald Earl McDonald (October 2, 1885 – April 28, 1949) was an American singer and jug blower, noted as a pioneer in creating and recording jug band music. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He formed his first jug band in 1902 and toured widel ...

's Original Louisville Jug Band and

Dixieland Jug Blowers The Dixieland Jug Blowers were a popular American musical group of the 1920s. The group was a jug band, incorporating the usual jug, banjo, guitar and fiddle, but it was also considered as a jazz band due to its use of alto saxophone, trombone, pian ...

were also among the first to record. The vaudeville-blues singer

Sara Martin Sara Martin (June 18, 1884 – May 24, 1955) was an American blues singer, in her time one of the most popular of the classic blues singers. She was billed as "The Famous Moanin' Mama" and "The Colored Sophie Tucker". She made many recordings, ...

and "The Blue Yodeler",

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

, both employed these bands for their recordings. Louisville bands often used whiskey jugs and were more jazz-oriented, a melding of

string band A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass. While being active countr ...

and ragtime influences. Jug bands made street performances, played at parties, and began entertaining on

riverboats A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...

on the Ohio River around 1900 and first appeared at the Kentucky Derby in 1903. Jug bands from the

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

area were more firmly rooted in

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

hokum Hokum is a particular song type of American blues music—a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos. This trope goes back to early blues recordings and is used from time to time in modern Ameri ...

, and earlier

African-American music African-American music is an umbrella term covering a diverse range of music and musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their culture. Their origins are in musical forms that first came to be due to the condition of slaver ...

traditions.

Will Shade William Shade Jr. (February 5, 1898 – September 18, 1966), known as Will Shade, was a Memphis blues musician, best known for his leadership of the Memphis Jug Band. He was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Brim ...

Memphis Jug Band The Memphis Jug Band was an American band (music), musical group active from the mid-1920s to the late-1950s. The band featured harmonica, kazoo, fiddle and mandolin or banjolin, backed by guitar, piano, washboard (musical instrument), washboard, w ...

and

Gus Cannon Gustavus "Gus" Cannon (September 12, 1883 or 1884 – October 15, 1979) was an American blues musician who helped to popularize jug bands (such as his own Cannon's Jug Stompers) in the 1920s and 1930s. There is uncertainty about his birth year; ...

's Jug Stompers recorded for

Ralph Peer Ralph Sylvester Peer (May 22, 1892 – January 19, 1960) was an American talent scout, recording engineer, record producer and music publisher in the 1920s and 1930s. Peer pioneered field recording of music when in June 1923 he took remote rec ...

, starting in 1927, many great songs that became the basis for the later jug band revival, including " Stealin'," "Jug Band Music," "On the Road Again," "Whoa, Mule," "Minglewood Blues," and "

Walk Right In "Walk Right In" is a country blues song written by musician Gus Cannon and originally recorded by Cannon's Jug Stompers in 1929. Victor Records released on a 78 rpm record and in 1959, it was included on the influential compilation album '' The C ...

". Many songs had "blues" in the title, including "Coal Oil Blues" and "Lumpy Man Blues," but were not traditional 12-bar blues. "The Memphis Jug Band and Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers featured harmonica played by Will Slade and

Noah Lewis Noah Lewis (September 3, 1891 – February 7, 1961)Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p. 238. . Previously, his birth year was also reported as 1890 or 1895. 1891 is general ...

, respectively. Other bands from the Memphis area were Jack Kelly and His South Memphis Jug Band, Jed Davenport and Dewey Corley's Beale Street Jug Band, and Noah Lewis's Jug Band.

Ma Rainey Gertrude "Ma" Rainey ( Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an American blues singer and influential early blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of s ...

's tub-jug band featured the first recordings of the slide guitarist

Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was a Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues gu ...

, who later formed his own Hokum Jug Band.

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...

and

Memphis Minnie Lizzie Douglas (June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973), better known as Memphis Minnie, was a blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter whose recording career lasted for over three decades. She recorded around 200 songs, some of the best known being "Wh ...

cut a few sides each backed up by their own jug bands; Memphis Minnie also sang and played with the Memphis Jug Band. Memphis jug band music is closely associated with

Memphis blues The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine shows a ...

. The Cincinnati Jug Band recorded for Paramount Records in 1929, with Stovepipe No. 1 on the stovepipe. The Seven Gallon Jug Band, including Clarence Williams on jug and

Willie "The Lion" Smith William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholf Smith (November 23, 1893 – April 18, 1973), nicknamed "The Lion", was an American jazz and stride pianist. Early life William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholf, known as Willie, was born in 1893 in Goshen ...

on piano, recorded for Columbia Records in 1929. The

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

Jug Band, including

Jaybird Coleman Burl C. "Jaybird" Coleman (May 20, 1896 – January 28, 1950) was an American country blues harmonica player, vocalist, and guitarist. He was a popular musical attraction throughout Alabama and recorded several sides in the late 1920s and early 1 ...

and Big Joe Williams, and King David's Jug Band recorded for Okeh Records in 1930 in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Daddy Stovepipe Johnny Watson (April 12, 1867 – November 1, 1963) was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his recordings under the name Daddy Stovepipe. Watson also recorded as Jimmy Watson, Sunny Jim and Rev. Alfred Pitt ...

and Mississippi Sarah recorded for

Vocalion Records Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

in 1931. The 1930s depression and the devastating effect of radio on record sales reduced the output of jug band music to a trickle. The last sides by Cannon and the Memphis Jug Band were made in 1930 and 1934, respectively. Cannon and Will Shade were recorded again in 1956 by Sam Charters on a field trip for Folkways Records. The sound of the washboard and tub bass, however, lasted well into the 1940s as an integral part of the " Bluebird beat" in Chicago.

Bukka White Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White (November 12, 1906 February 26, 1977) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. Biography White was born south of Houston, Mississippi. He was a first cousin of B.B. King's mother (White's mother and ...

's " Fixin' to Die", recorded in Chicago in 1940, is driven by a syncopated washboard backup.

Revival

One of the first recordings of the folk era jug band revival was by the Orange Blossom Jug Five, ''Skiffle in Stereo'', made in 1958 for the poorly-distributed Lyrichord label. It was also the first recording by the New York folk singer

Dave Van Ronk David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Ma ...

and featured Sam Charters, author of ''The Country Blues'', his wife Ann, as well as Len Kunstadt, co-owner of the

Spivey Records Spivey Records was a specialist blues record label founded by blues singer Victoria Spivey and jazz historian Len Kunstadt in 1961. Spivey Records released a series of blues and jazz albums between 1961 and 1985. History of Spivey Records The la ...

label. Van Ronk would revisit the genre in 1964 with the album ''Dave Van Ronk and the Ragtime Jug Stompers'', though his ragtime guitar picking and repertoire influenced many subsequent jug bands. Another early recording group was Jolly Joe's Jug Band, led by the record collector Joe Bussard, and released on his own Fonotone label as 78 rpm records. Eventually these were collected on LP by Piedmont Records.

's "Walk Right In" was a number 1 hit for the Rooftop Singers in 1963, the only time a jug band song topped the charts. These one-hit wonders even made an appearance at that year's

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

before fading into obscurity. The song's success brought Cannon himself back into the

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

studios in Memphis for his last recordings that same year at age 79. The album, ''Walk Right In'', features Cannon on banjo and his old friends Will Shade on jug and Milton Roby on washboard. The album consists of 13 of his old hits, with Cannon interjecting comments and telling stories about the songs. Also in 1963,

Starday Records Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. History The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record di ...

released ''The Original Talking Blues Man'', by Robert Lunn with Jug & Washboard Band. This brief flurry of interest in the genre sparked the formation of a few jug bands that reached national prominence. The

Jim Kweskin Jim Kweskin (born July 18, 1940, Stamford, Connecticut) is an American folk, jazz, and blues musician, most notable as the founder of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, also known as Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band, with Fritz Richmond, Geoff Muldaur, Bob S ...

Jug Band of Cambridge, Massachusetts, which recorded for

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

, featured the washtub bass and jug player Fritz Richmond, who later played jug on

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...

's "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead." The New York-based Even Dozen Jug Band was Elektra Records' answer to the Kweskin band and featured, among others, Maria D'Amato,

Joshua Rifkin Joshua Rifkin (born April 22, 1944 in New York) is an American conductor, pianist, and musicologist; he is currently a professor of music at Boston University. As a performer he has recorded music by composers from Antoine Busnois to Silvestr ...

, David Grisman, Stefan Grossman,

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Steve Katz. Maria D'Amato then joined the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, later marrying the guitarist

Geoff Muldaur Geoff Muldaur (born August 12, 1943) is an American active singer, guitarist and composer, who was a founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and a member of Paul Butterfield's Better Days. Career Having established a reputation with the Kwe ...

Artie Traum Arthur Roy Traum (April 3, 1943 – July 20, 2008) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. Traum's work appeared on more than 35 albums. He produced and recorded with The Band, Arlen Roth, Warren Bernhardt, Pat Alger, Tony Levin, ...

also formed a jug band at this time, called ''The True Endeavor Jug Band''. The

13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969, ...

, a band from Austin, Texas, formed as an electric jug band, featuring Tommy Hall as electric jug player. A similar revival began in the UK in the 1960s, possibly as an offshoot of the revival in the United States. A number of jug bands appeared there in the late 1960s in addition to the

bands, including the Anglo-American Filharmonious Jug Band. The musicians playing in jug music revival groups went on to form other bands.

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Lovin' Spoonful Loving may refer to: * Love, a range of human emotions * Loving (surname) * '' Loving v. Virginia'', a 1967 landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case Film and television * ''Loving'' (1970 film), an American film * ''Loving'' ( ...

and later continued as a successful solo artist. Country Joe and the Fish came from the Instant Action Jug Band.

Mungo Jerry Mungo Jerry are a British rock band, formed by Ray Dorset in Ashford, Middlesex in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing lineup always fronted by Ray Dorset, the group's biggest hit was " In the Summer ...

, which evolved from an earlier blues group, Good Earth, was in effect a jug band on their first live performances and recordings, thanks to their use of jug (played by the group's banjo player, Paul King, who left in 1972), and washboard, contributed by regular "extra member" Joe Rush.

Jesse Colin Young Perry Miller (born November 22, 1941), known professionally as Jesse Colin Young, is an American singer and songwriter. He was a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s group the Youngbloods. After their dissolution in 1972, Young embarked ...

moved to the West Coast and formed the Youngbloods, whose first hit was "Grizzly Bear," a jug band standard. Another group with jug band roots was the Grateful Dead. Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan were in Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions before forming the Warlocks, which evolved into the Grateful Dead. A self-titled CD of Mother McCree's jug band music recorded in 1964 was released in 1999. Maria Muldaur, Geoff Muldaur, David Grisman, and Stefan Grossman all continued with successful solo careers. The

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band. Constant ...

also started as a jug band. Pop-rock tributes to jug band music include ''

Willy and the Poor Boys ''Willy and the Poor Boys'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records in November 1969. It was the last of three studio albums the band released that year, arriving just three mon ...

'', by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and "Jug Band Music" by the

Lovin' Spoonful Loving may refer to: * Love, a range of human emotions * Loving (surname) * '' Loving v. Virginia'', a 1967 landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case Film and television * ''Loving'' (1970 film), an American film * ''Loving'' ( ...

. The Spoonful also mined the old songs. In addition to doing versions of songs from the classic jug band repertoire on their first album, ''Do You Believe in Magic'' (1965), such as "Blues in the Bottle," "Sportin' Life," "My Gal," "Fishin' Blues," and "Wild About My Lovin'," Sebastian's "Younger Girl" used the melody of Gus Cannon's "Prison Wall Blues." Indeed, the song "Do You Believe in Magic," a Top Ten hit, mentioned the genre in its lyrics: "If you believe in magic, don't bother to choose / If it's jug band music or rhythm and blues / Just go and listen, it'll start with a smile / That won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try." That instantaneous joy many have felt upon first listening to jug band music contributes to its fans' long-lasting affection and the genre's longevity. The 1971 children's book ''

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas ''Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas'' is a 1977 television special directed by Jim Henson, based on the 1971 children's book of the same name by Russell Hoban. The special features an ensemble cast of Henson's Muppet characters as well as chara ...

'' by

Lillian Hoban Lillian Hoban (May 18, 1925 – July 17, 1998) was an American illustrator and children's writer best known for picture books created with her husband Russell Hoban. According to OCLC, she has published 326 works in 1,401 publications in 11 lan ...

and

Russell Hoban Russell Conwell Hoban (February 4, 1925 – December 13, 2011) was an American expatriate writer. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in ...

and its 1977 television film adaptation feature a jug band composed of woodland creatures. The film version features Muppets characters and a soundtrack composed by Paul Williams. Jug bands have continued to exist and evolve to the present day. John Sebastian still leads the J-Band, which included not only musicians from the modern

folk revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...

such as the late Fritz Richmond from the Kweskin band, but also the late

Yank Rachell Yank Rachell (born James A. Rachel; March 16, 1903 or 1910 – April 9, 1997) was an American country blues musician who has been called an "elder statesman of the blues". His career as a performer spanned nearly seventy years, from the late 19 ...

, mandolin player and jug band leader from the original era. Some bands remain faithful to the original roots, while others continually expand the jug band repertoire to include other folk music, popular music, jazz and classical music forms, such as The Juggernaut Jug Band of Louisville, Kentucky (formed in the late 1960s and possibly the only full-time jug band in existence at this time), The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs (who also have been together for 40 years),

Carolina Chocolate Drops The Carolina Chocolate Drops were an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, '' Genuine Negro Jig,'' won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in ''fRoots' ...

(an African-American jug band that also plays old-time

tunes), the Hobo Gobbelins, the Kitchen Syncopators and the Inkwell Rhythm Makers. The Connecticut-based Jugadelics is an authentic jug band (i.e., employing a jug player) which continues the traditions of the genre as they employ both homemade and traditional instruments while relying on their own original material written by member Shishka Bob. In San Francisco, there's Devine's Jug Band, which is one of the few jug bands today that actually uses a jug blower full-time. And also in the Bay Area, the "Mother of Jug Band Music", Maria Muldaur has formed a new jug band, the Garden of Joy Jug Band, which include members of the Crow Quill Night Owls and the Gallus Brothers. A Canadian group, the Genuine Jug Band, from Vancouver, British Columbia, has most of its original members, who have played together since 1968. In Connecticut, Washboard Slim and the Blue Lights incorporate the blues with the usual ragtime repertoire, as well as original material. The Tennessee-based Jake Leg Stompers continue the traditional Memphis style. The South Austin Jug Band is a young group from Austin, Texas, which plays newer variations on traditional music but does not include a jug player and is not related to the earlier Austin Jug Band which featured vocalists Danny Barton and Galen Barber. The Philadelphia Jug Band has been playing authentic classic jug band music virtually unchanged for over 45 years. The Crow Quill Night Owls from Washington play a mix of 1920s blues, jazz and hillbilly music, which they learned from the 78-rpm records they collect. A documentary by Todd Kwait about the history and influence of jug band music, ''Chasin' Gus' Ghost'', first screened at the 2007 San Francisco Jug Band Festival. The film features numerous well-known musicians in interviews and performances, including John Sebastian, Jim Kweskin, Geoff Muldaur, David Grisman, Fritz Richmond, Maria Muldaur, and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, as well as Sankofa Strings, precursor band to

The Carolina Chocolate Drops The Carolina Chocolate Drops were an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, ''Genuine Negro Jig,'' won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in ''fRoots' ...

, and

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

as the voice of

. Many of these musicians performed at a sold-out concert at the San Francisco Jug Band Festival. ''Chasin' Gus' Ghost'' had its film festival premiere in October 2007 at the Woodstock Film Festival. Kwait produced Sankofa Strings' second album, The Uptown Strut, which featured

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been held since 1980. Over 30 jugbands compete for the "Coveted Hollywood Waffle Iron" trophy, including the Jook Savages, a jugband that predates Kweskin's band and is still together. The competition is held the Sunday after the Super Bowl. The popularity of the event is such that even though it runs all day, there isn't time for all the bands to compete. In recent years a second competition, the Pancake League, has been added, taking place the day before. The National Jug Band Jubilee was launched in

, the probable birthplace of jug band music, in October 2004. In California, an annual San Francisco Jug Band Festival has been held in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

almost every August since 2006 and there is a JugFest gathering of jug bands each August in Sutter Creek, California since around 1998. Both of these free, outdoor, festivals feature a wide variety of jug bands in an all-day format that gives each band plenty of time to stretch out and play a full set. The 1st Annual West Coast Jug Band Jubilee took place in August 2010 in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. The Chicago Battle of the Jug Bands has taken place each fall since 2007. Contestants compete for "Stuffy," a gilded sausage-stuffer. The Chicago battle was initiated by Arlo Leach, then a teacher at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. Two years later, when he moved to Portland, Oregon, organizing the battle fell to Skip Landt, another Old Town School teacher. The Chicago competition, which takes place on a single evening, is judged by the audience, who "vote" for the winner on a replica of an official Chicago election ballot.

Contemporary bands

The 1990s and 2000s saw another generation of jug band revival, which might be termed postmodern jug band movement. These bands range from traditionalists (covering 1920s and 1930s jazz and blues) to modernists (creating new music from jug band instrumentation and aesthetics). Scenes of this nature have developed in New York City (centering on the Lower East Side and Red Hook, Brooklyn), Minneapolis, Chicago, Southern California (primarily the Los Angeles area), in the San Francisco Bay area, and in the Pacific Northwest. The National Jug Band Jubilee in mid-September brings contemporary jug bands from as far as New England and the Northwest to

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Footnotes

References

*Santelli, Robert (2002). ''American Roots Music''. .

External links

Organizations

Jugband.orgJug Band Hall of FameNational Jug Band JubileeCalifornia Jug Band AssociationMinneapolis Battle of the Jug Bands
* Chicago Battle of the Jug Bands

Media

Chasin' Gus' Ghost jug band documentary
'' Time magazine, Time'', December 27, 1963
"Jug Band Hootenanny: Local folkies gather to honor down-home, old-timey music"
''

Minnesota Daily The ''Minnesota Daily'' is the campus newspaper of the University of Minnesota, published Monday and Thursday while school is in session, and published weekly on Wednesdays during summer sessions. Published since 1900, the paper is currently the la ...

'', February 10, 2005
Images of Louisville jug band the Ballard Chefs
Caufield & Shook Collection, Photographic Archives, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky. Accessed 21 Jan 2016 {{blues African-American music Blues music genres