The Origin of Jug Bands
by: Kathleen Beebe
Jug Bands were created in the urban south (Louisville, Kentucky and Memphis,Tennessee for example), even though most people agree the birthplace of it to be Louisville. The first jugband to record music was in Louisville in 1924. That was Whistler & His Jug Band, though some records suggest that Clifford Hayes’s Old Southern Jug Band were recording in 1923. In the early days, Louisville Jug Bands were rooted in jazz, string band styles and ragtime influences while Memphis Jug Bands were rooted in country blues and hokum (another types of blues). These early Jug Bands were very like medicine show acts and had aspects of African American Vaudeville (a French theatre genre).
The gist of a Jug Band is a jug (glass or stone) and a mix of convenatial and homemade instruments. The Juggernaut Jug Band (the one that performed on Night 1) was created in the 1960’s and is possibly the only full time Jug Band in existence right now. In the early 1960’s there was a revival that sprouted many bands, such as Juggernaut. Other examples of bands that sprouted from this revival are The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs, Carolina Chocolate Drops, the Hobo Gobbelins, the Kitchen Syncopators and the Inkwell Rhythm Makers. As for contemporary Jug Bands(1990s and 2000’s), the majority of them are being created in either the traditionalist or modernist styles in locations such as Chicago, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles.
Starting in 2004, Louisville began hosting the National Jug Band Jubilee and will host it’s 16th this September. Bands come from all over the country to perform here. Some other conventions are the San Francisco Jug Band Festival, the annual Battle of the Jug Bands in Minneapolis, West Coast Jug Band Jubilee in Berkley(CA), JugFest in Sutter Creek(CA), and the Chicago Battle of the Jug Bands
It has influenced many songs/different styles of music over the years, such as Willy and the Poor Boys, by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and “Jug Band Music”,”Blues in the Bottle,” “Sportin’ Life,” “My Gal,” “Fishin’ Blues,” and “Wild About My Lovin’,” Sebastian’s “Younger Girl” by the Lovin’ Spoonful. Overall, this is a style of music that has popularity in many regions of the United States and originated in our very own state. But, it is also a very unknown music style in today’s youth, but deserves to be heard more.
