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New programs and more great bands are coming to 14th National Jug Band Jubilee
New programs and more great bands are coming to 14th National Jug Band Jubilee
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LOUISVILLE, KY, (July 25, 2018) – It is hard to believe in the midst of the summer heat, but fall is fast approaching and with it the 2018 National Jug Band Jubilee. The free, all-day festival will take place on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater in Waterfront Park. The 14thyear of the Jubilee will feature a few additions, among them a panel discussion on Friday, September 14 dealing with racial issues within the history of jug band music.
What will never change at the Jubilee is the quality of the music. This year the festival will offer another top-notch lineup of early jazz, jug band, and string band performers. The duo of Chris Rodriguez and Abby the Spoon Lady is the act that has drawn the most attention thus far. The Asheville, N.C.-based musicians are Youtube sensations thanks to their videos showcasing Abby’s percussion skills and Rodriguez’s unique blues-Appalachian style guitar and vocals. Another highlight of this year’s festival is Hubby Jenkins, a talented multi-instrumentalist from Brooklyn who is also a member of the Grammy-award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops.
Academics and Seattle songsters Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons will take part in the Friday night panel discussion. The Jubilee will release more details on that at a later date, but we can tell you that Hunter and Seamons will dazzle the audience at the festival with their combination of banjo and fiddle breakdowns, a cappella field hollers, and gospel tunes.
New Orleans supergroup Frog & Henry is coming to the Jubilee to perform dance hits and early jazz music from the 1900s on brass and string instruments. Another Asheville group, Vanden Landers and the Do Rights, will complement Frog & Henry with a blend of blues, ragtime, jazz, western swing, country and old-time Appalachian music.
The rest of the Jubilee line-up consists of some old friends. Louisville’s own Juggernaut Jug Band and the Cincinnati Dancing Pigs have appeared at every Jubilee since the beginning of the festival. The groups return this year to perform their collective repertoireof novelty tunes and jug band classics. Louisville’s Derby City Dandies will also make a return engagement to the 2018 National Jug Band Jubilee. The Dandy’s perform Prohibition-era standards.
The music at the Jubilee begins at Noon on Saturday and ends at 11 p.m. In addition to the bands, the Jubilee features other fun activities for kids ages 2 to 82. Volunteers from Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana will make and decorate instruments with kids from Noon to 6 p.m. The South Louisville-based Little Loomhouse will have several of its namesake small looms on hand so festival-goers can weave their own mug rugs and other small items from Noon to 6 p.m. The Steam Exchange, a community arts organization based in Smoketown, will be doing jug band screen printing activities for kids from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. And as always, the National Jug Band Jubilee will take a break from the music at 4 p.m. for a number of workshops of its own.
The National Jug Band Jubilee was created to celebrate the legacy of jug band music in the River City. Louisville is the acknowledged home of jug band music, a pre-war jazz style that features traditional and homemade instruments. In the late 19th century, African American musicians walked the streets of the River City playing tunes on improvised instruments like empty liquor jugs (“the poor man’s tuba”), kazoos and washboards. By the time the sound reached its peak in the 1930s, it had infiltrated towns up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, especially Memphis and New Orleans.
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For Immediate Relief *
* Jug band music relieves tension
FROM:
National Jug Band Jubilee
www.jugbandjubilee.org
Contact:
Heather Leoncini
(502) 417-1107
juggernautpr@yahoo.com
Jubilee 2017, Sat Sept 16
Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton headlines 13th National Jug Band Jubilee
LOUISVILLE, KY, (June 16, 2017) “ The National Jug Band Jubilee is excited to announce that Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton will headline its 2017 festival. The Los Angeles-born vocalist and multi-instrumentalist was recently featured in the “American Epic Sessions,” the last episode of the four-part PBS documentary American Epic which chronicled the development of American roots music. Paxton™s music draws from country, blues, and early jazz music. According to Will Friedwald of the Wall Street Journal, Paxton is “virtually the only music-maker of his generation “ playing guitar, banjo, piano and violin, among other implements “ to fully assimilate the blues idiom of the 1920s and ’30s, the blues of Bessie Smith and Lonnie Johnson.
Paxton’s grandparents moved from Louisiana to California in 1956. These southern roots had a profound impact on him. Listening to his hometown blues radio station, as well as the old Cajun and country blues songs his grandmother used to sing, Paxton became interested in these early sounds. He began playing the fiddle when he was 12, and picked up the banjo two years later. He has since added piano, harmonica, Cajun accordion, ukulele, guitar, and the bones to his musical arsenal. Paxton, who is legally blind, is one of the few African American banjo players touring today.
The 2017 National Jug Band Jubilee takes place at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater on River Road in Waterfront Park on Saturday, September 16. Festivities start at Noon. In addition to hosting some of the greatest jug bands from around the world, the 2017 Jubilee will include an expanded vending area featuring food trucks, local artists, and children’s workshops between bands. This is a FREE and family-friendly event. We are also excited that several jug bands that are in town for the Jubilee will be doing shows in local elementary schools on Friday, Sept 15th. This furthers our mission of education and preserving this unique form of Americana music that got its start here in Louisville.
The National Jug Band Jubilee was created to celebrate the legacy of jug band music in the River City. Louisville is the acknowledged home of jug band music, a pre-war jazz style that features traditional and homemade instruments. In the late 19th century, African American musicians walked the streets of the River City playing tunes on improvised instruments like empty liquor jugs (“the poor man’s tuba”), kazoos and washboards. By the time the sound reached its peak in the 1930s, it had infiltrated towns up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, especially Memphis and New Orleans.
Grammy-winner Dom Flemons headlines 12th National Jug Band Jubilee
National Jug Band Jubilee 2016
www.jugbandjubilee.org
Grammy-winner Dom Flemons headlines 12th National Jug Band Jubilee
LOUISVILLE, KY, (July 30, 2016) – The National Jug Band Jubilee is excited to announce that Grammy Award-winning artist Dom Flemons will headline its 2016 festival. Flemons is the “American Songster,” pulling from various traditions of old-time folk music to create new sounds. Having performed music professionally since 2005, he has played live for over one million people just within the past three years. As part of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, which he co-founded with Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson, he has played at a variety of festivals spanning from the Newport Folk Festival to Bonnaroo, in addition to renowned venues such as the Grand Ole Opry.
The 2016 National Jug Band Jubilee takes place at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater on Saturday, September 17. Festivities start at Noon. This is the festival’s 12th anniversary and the organizers have a few special treats for fans this year. In addition to hosting some of the greatest jug bands from around the world, the 2016 Jubilee will include an expanded vendor’s area featuring more local artists, there will be several children’s workshops between bands, and much more family-friendly fun.
Headlining the 2016 National Jug Band Jubilee will be a return engagement for Flemons since the Carolina Chocolate Drops performed at one of the first incarnations of the festival. The National Jug Band Jubilee was created to celebrate the legacy of jug band music in the River City. Louisville is the acknowledged home of jug band music, a pre-war jazz style that features traditional and homemade instruments. In the late 19th century, African American musicians walked the streets of the River City playing tunes on improvised instruments like empty liquor jugs (“the poor man’s tuba”), kazoos and washboards. By the time the sound reached its peak in the 1930s, it had infiltrated towns up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, especially Memphis and New Orleans.
G Burns Jug Band leader returns home for 2016 National Jug Band Jubilee
National Jug Band Jubilee 2016
www.jugbandjubilee.org
For Immediate Relief *
* Jug band music relieves tension
Contact: Heather Leoncini
(502) 417-1107
juggernautpr@yahoo.com
G Burns Jug Band leader returns home for 2016 National Jug Band Jubilee
LOUISVILLE, KY, (August 26, 2016) – Clinton Davis of San Diego’s “G Burns Jug Band” is coming home! The Louisville native was first inspired to play jug band music after hearing the Juggernaut Jug Band as a child. Now the multi-instrumentalist and his jug band will be sharing a stage with that group as part of the 2016 National Jug Band Jubilee.
This year’s festival will be headlined by Grammy-Award winning folk artist Dom Flemons, formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Headlining the 2016 National Jug Band Jubilee will be a return engagement for Flemons since the Carolina Chocolate Drops performed at one of the first incarnations of the festival.
The 2016 National Jug Band Jubilee takes place at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater on Saturday, September 17 from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. This is the festival’s 12th anniversary and the organizers have a few special treats for fans this year. The Little Loomhouse will have a booth in the festival’s expanded vendors’ area. There will be several children’s workshops between bands, and much more family-friendly fun.
Here is the current lineup:
The Bourbonville Buskers (Louisville, KY)
Ever-Lovin’ Jug Band (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
Side Street Steppers (Memphis, TN)
Cincinnati Dancing Pigs (Cincinnati, OH)
Juggernaut Jug Band (Louisville, KY)
The Gallus Brothers (Bellingham, WA)
Burns Jug Band (San Diego, CA)
Dom Flemons (Raleigh, NC)
The National Jug Band Jubilee was created to celebrate the legacy of jug band music in the River City. Louisville is the acknowledged home of jug band music, a pre-war jazz style that features traditional and homemade instruments. In the late 19th century, African American musicians walked the streets of the River City playing tunes on improvised instruments like empty liquor jugs (“the poor man’s tuba”), kazoos and washboards. By the time the sound reached its peak in the 1930s, it had infiltrated towns up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, especially Memphis and New Orleans.
11th Annual National Jug Band Jubilee Bringing Fun Downtown
NEWS FROM:
National Jug Band Jubilee
www.jugbandjubilee.org
For Immediate Relief * Contact:
* Jug band music relieves tension Heather Leoncini
(502) 417-1107
juggernautpr@yahoo.com
11th Annual National Jug Band Jubilee Bringing Fun Downtown
LOUISVILLE, KY, (August 15, 2015) – The 2015 National Jug Band Jubilee takes place at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater on Saturday, September 19. This is the festival’s 11th anniversary and the organizers have a few special treats for fans this year. The highlight of the 2015 National Jug Band Jubilee will be recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Juggernaut Jug Band. Formed at Waggener High School in 1965, the Juggernaut members have spread the gospel of jug band music throughout the nation through their concerts, workshops, and volunteer work. The Juggernaut Jug Band is also one of two bands, the Cincinnati Dancing Pigs being the other, who have performed at every National Jug Band Jubilee!
The 2015 National Jug Band Jubilee also has a lot of other fun scheduled. In addition to hosting some of the best jug bands from around the country – and for the first time this year – CANADA, this year’s festival will include a special children’s jug band performance, several workshops between bands, and much more. Author Michael L. Jones will be on hand to autograph copies of his book, “Louisville Jug Music: From Earl McDonald to the National Jubilee”, winner of the 2014 Sam Thomas Book Award from the Louisville Historical League.
The complete line-up for this year’s Jubilee is below:
- Juggernaut Jug Band – Louisville, KY
- Steel City Jug Slammers – Birmingham, AL
- Side Street Steppers – Memphis, TN
- The Gallus Brothers – Bellingham, WA
- Ever-Lovin’ Jug Band – Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- Bones, Jugs N Harmony – Urbana, IL
- Cincinnati Dancing Pigs – Cincinnati, OH
- Bourbonville Buskers – Louisville, KY
- How Long Jug Band – Portland, OR
The National Jug Band Jubilee was created to celebrate the legacy of jug band music in the River City. Louisville is the acknowledged home of jug band music, a pre-war jazz style that features traditional and homemade instruments. In the late 19th century, African American musicians walked the streets of the River City playing tunes on improvised instruments like empty liquor jugs (“the poor man’s tuba”), kazoos and washboards. By the time the sound reached its peak in the 1930s, it had infiltrated towns up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, especially Memphis and New Orleans.
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National Jug Band Jubilee named one of “15 Music Events to Attend in 2013!”
For Immediate Relief *
* Jug band music relieves tension
National Jug Band Jubilee named one of “15 Music Events to Attend in 2013!”
LOUISVILLE, KY, (August 15, 2013) – The 9th Annual National Jug Band Jubilee returns to the Brown- Foreman Amphitheater in Waterfront Park on Saturday, September 21, Noon-11 p.m. Louisville.com named the jubilee, which attracts bands and attendees from all over the country, one of “15 Music Events to Attend in 2013,” because it is free, family-friendly, and keeps getting better. In addition to the music, the festival also includes food vendors, a beer and wine booth, and a number of workshops for adults and children.
Louisville is the acknowledged home of jug music, a pre-jazz style that features traditional and homemade instruments. In the late 19th century, African American musicians walked the streets of the River City playing tunes on improvised instruments like empty liquor jugs (“the poor man’s tuba”), kazoos and washboards. By the time the sound reached its peak in the 1930s, it had infiltrated towns up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, especially Memphis and New Orleans.
The National Jug Band Jubilee draws musicians from all over the country. The 2013 line-up includes:
- The Crow Quill Night Owls – Port Townsend, WA
- The Hokum High Rollers – New Orleans, LA
- Sanctified Grumblers – Chicago, IL
- The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs – Cincinnati, OH
- The Juggernaut Jug Band – Louisville, KY
- How Long Jug Band – Portland, OR
- The Jake Leg Stompers – Murfreesboro, TN
- Boo Bradley – Madison, WI
- Brotherhood of the Jug Band Blues – New York, NYThe National Jug Band Jubilee is dedicated to preserving the history of Louisville jug music. For the last several years, the organization has partnered with Jefferson County Public Schools to offer jug band concerts to school children on the day before the jubilee. That tradition will continue this year. The schools hosting the performance should be released in the next few weeks.Contact:
Heather Leoncini
(502) 417-1107
juggernautpr@yahoo.com
President, National Jug Band Jubilee
www.jugbandjubilee.org
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