June 29, 2005 12:01 AM
Once upon a time, Rod Wenz was one of the most respected public relations professionals in the city. He and Randy Neely started Wenz-Neely in 1971, built it into a successful firm without borrowing money, and eventually sold to a British outfit named Shandwick. Things came full circle when former Wenz-Neely employees bought the company back and named it New!West LLC a few years ago.
Old PR guys never die, they just find new projects, and for Wenz, who’s retired, the road has led him to a delightful slice of Louisville history that deserves more attention in its hometown. Hence Friday’s inaugural National Jug Band Jubilee, a Belle of Louisville cruise featuring good food and great music from Louisville Juggernaut Jug Band and The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs.
While there’s no definitive proof that jug bands started in Louisville, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest it did. As early as the 1890s, Louisville musicians were blowing on old whiskey jugs and making use of other “found” items — along with more conventional musical instruments such as banjo and fiddle — to produce a lively music designed to make folks dance. Then, as now, fiddles horns and even kazoos tended to carry the melody, and the jugs — the “poor man’s tuba” — provided some serious bottom end. In much the same way New Orleans is home to Dixieland, Louisville — well, OK, and maybe Memphis — is the home of jug band music. The styles are certainly related.
It’s an obscure part of history — both the city and the nation’s — but there are people committed to getting the story out. Such as Rod Wenz.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun, and it’s going to be the opportunity to keep having a lot of fun because we’re going to learn more and more about this stuff,” he says. “Information is beginning to creep back in. I now know when (Louisville fiddler and jug band pioneer) Henry Miles died — we didn’t know that before. The fact that we’re making a little noise about this is beating the bushes for history, and people who know something are coming forward.”
When word started to get out about the festival, Wenz quickly heard from interested parties from all over. He had to caution everyone about the dangers of overdoing things in the first year.
“Funds and the crowd will determine the next step,” Wenz says. “If it’s successful, in 2006 we expect a full-blown weekend.”
The Jug Band Jubilee’s role model is the international Washboard Festival in Logan, Ohio, where the Columbus Washboard Co. is the only American company still making washboards.
The Jubilee will be held on the Belle of Louisville. Dinner consists of fancy hors d’oeuvres from chefs who belong to the Louisville Originals — an independent restaurant organization. Expect a gallon jug full of fun. Maybe two gallons. —Cary Stemle
National Jug Band Jubilee
Blue Jeans River Ramble w/ Juggernaut Jug Band, Cincinnati Dancing Pigs
Friday, July 1
Belle of Louisville
Boarding: 6 p.m.
Cruise: 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $50; 451-7981 or www.jugbandjubilee.org