What we’re about
Interested in jug band music, early blues and jazz, home-made instruments? This meetup is for fans and musicians alike - a place to find out about what's happening in the vibrant world of jug band music here in the Northeast: performances by local jug bands, jug band jams, and festivals.
What's Jug Band music, you ask?
It’s rootsy, bluesy, jazzy, and fun! With roots from Appalachia, New Orleans, and Africa, jug band music started in the south (notably Louisville Kentucky and Memphis Tennessee) in the 1920’s and 30’s. Highly popular "back in the day", jug bands such as Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers and the Memphis Jug Band incorporated a variety of conventional and home-made instruments (such as spoons, washtub bass, and washboard), and, of course, featured jug-blowing as a rhythmic backbone. Jug band music could have quietly slid into obscurity if not for a revival in the 1960’s by notable musicians such as John Sebastian, Jerry Garcia, Jim Kweskin, and Maria Muldaur. Today, the genre is alive and well, with several terrific bands playing right here in greater Boston and beyond.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- FRIDAY NIGHT JUG BAND JAM - Festival Kickoff! Sept. 27Donut Villa, Arlington, MA
Pack up your kazoo, uke, guitar, or washboard. Bring your voice too!
Or grab a pint and some grub, and just listen.
Join in with the Jug Nuts -- Michael Buonaiuto and Tom Stewart -- at the KICKOFF event of the Great Northeast Jug Band Festival - a FRIDAY NIGHT open jug band jam! In the back room of Arlington's Donut Villa.We’ll display lyrics and chords on a big screen, and lead the songs (and, if you show up empty-handed, provide some home-made instruments for you to try out) as we explore this good time music rooted in the jazz and blues of the 1920’s and 30’s.
For more information about the Great Northeast Jug Band Festival, featuring JIM KWESKIN, on September 28, visit: Great Northeast Jug Band Festival 2024
Click here for a Spotify playlist of our jam tunes: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2SJoqanXcZXjtOmlXLP7Pg?si=5398190cdfff4f95
Click here for a downloadable and printable copy of our jam setlist with chords and lyrics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LSm1yqPM_O4tFIeHMzBvjAd5T2cgwV-BOoDNikly_Z8
- The Great Northeast Jug Band Festival - with JIM KWESKIN!Jason Russell House, Arlington, MA
The fourth Great Northeast Jug Band Festival! Outdoors at the Arlington Saturday Beer Garden, at the historic Jason Russell House in Arlington*. Our featured performer: the legendary Jim Kweskin and Friends!
Schedule:
2pm: Jug Band Jam! (open to all)
3pm: Outrageous Fortune
4pm JIM KWESKIN and Friends
5pm: The Busted Jug BandPresented by the Arlington Center for the Arts.
Bring a lawn chair and your dancing shoes - see you there!
Details:
Great Northeast Jug Band Festival 2024* Rain location: Arlington Community Center, 27 Maple Street