A jug band is a band employing a jug player and other traditional and homemade instruments, such as rhythm guitar, washtub bass, washboard, jug, mandolin, and kazoo. A jug player is required for a jug band. Other types of band employing a mix of traditional and home-made instruments are spasm bands and Skiffle bands. See also skiffle.

Instruments were often improvised, with guitar & mandolins being made from the necks of discarded guitars fastened to large gourds. The gourds 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. The eponymic jug was just that, a jug played by buzzing across the neck, used as a bass instrument, with some degree of pitch change controlled by the lips, but often played as a drone.

Early jug bands were typically made up of African American vaudeville musicians who found themselves unable to find work as entertainers after vaudeville died. They resorted to playing a mixture of Memphis blues (even before it was formally called the blues), ragtime, and Appalachian music on street corners for tips.

It has been said that "The history of jug bands is the story of the birth of the blues". W.C. Handy said that he learned blues style from street musicians, playing improvised instruments. The informal and energetic music of the jug bands also contributed to the development of rock and roll.

Jug bands were a popular and widespread form of musical entertainment until largely supplanted by big bands and swing in the 1930s.

Perhaps the best known traditional jug band was Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, whose song "Walk Right In" was a hit in the 1920s and 1930s and was reprised by folk musicians in the 1960s. Among mid-20th century jug bands, Jim Kweskin's Jug Band was the most successful. The Even Dozen Jug Band was also well known and featured Maria Muldaur and Joshua Rifkin.

Modern tributes to the jug band include "Willie and the Poor Boys" by Creedence Clearwater Revival and "Jug Band Music" by the Lovin' Spoonful. John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful also led the J-Band, that included not only musicians from the modern folk revival, but Yank Rachell , mandolin player and jug band leader from the original era.

Jug bands have continued to exists and evolve to the present day. Some bands remain faithful to the original roots, while others continually expand the jug band repertoire to include other folk music, popular music and classical musical forms.

An annual JugFest gathering of jug bands is held each October in Sutter Creek, California.

External link

• www.jugband.org http://www.jugband.org
• ...and the Leasebreakers Non-Stop Jug Band http://www.leasebreakers.com
• JugFest http://www.jugfest.org

American roots music

Appalachian | Blues (Ragtime) | Cajun and Creole (Zydeco) | Country (Honky tonk and Bluegrass) | Jazz | Native American | Spirituals and Gospel | Tejano

Country music | Country genres
Bakersfield sound - Bluegrass - Close harmony - Country blues - Honky tonk - Jug band - Lubbock sound - Nashville sound - Outlaw country
Alternative country - Country rock - Psychobilly - Rockabilly
Styles of American folk music
Appalachian | Blues (Ragtime) | Cajun and Creole (Zydeco) | Country (Honky tonk and Bluegrass) | Jazz | Native American | Spirituals and Gospel | Tejano