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Jackson and the Southern Delta 1 August 2011 Memphis is the North end of the Mississippi Delta, and on my first trip there several years ago I took a nice drive through the Northern half of the Delta, including Clarksdale and Greenwood. Last weekend I took the occasion of a family reunion in Starkville, Mississippi to visit the Southern half of the Delta — starting in Jackson and looping over to Vicksburg, up to Greenville, through Leland to Greenwood, and back to Jackson again. In the process I was able to visit the gravesites of Charley Patton and Sam Chatmon. More relevant to my recent work with the McCoy Brothers, I visited their home town of Raymond, and recorded videos of myself playing Charlie's two great mandolin solos in the cities they were named for: the Jackson Stomp at the King Edward Hotel where it was recorded, and the Vicksburg Stomp on the banks of the Mississippi River.
Keeping Busy in Portland 2 January 2011 It took a while after moving here, but at this point I'm doing at least as much music as I was doing back in Chicago! At least lately ... just before Christmas, both of my bands recorded video demos. You can check out videos from the How Long Jug Band or the Spodee-o's on YouTube. Jug Band Hall of Fame 30 September 2010 I'll admit, I've spent a huge amount of time on various jug band related projects over the last few years. But that earned me some nice recognition when I became one of the first round of inductees into the new Jug Band Hall of Fame. I was inducted into the Patron category, which is reserved for people who promote and organize jug band events or otherwise support the genre. I even got to travel to Louisville, KY this month to accept my award in person!
McCoy Brothers Tickets, On Sale This Week 26 July 2010 The gravestone benefit project I've been organizing for blues pioneers Joe and Charlie McCoy is moving into high gear, with tickets for the benefit concert going on sale July 30. If you'll be in Chicago on October 3 and like blues/roots/jug band/swing music, please come support the project! You can buy tickets from the Old Town School of Folk Music, and find out more about the project at mccoybrotherstribute.com. The How Long Jug Band 28 June 2010 After a few false starts, I have a nice little jug band trio here in Portland. We've busked together a few times, and our first real gig is coming up in a couple weeks. You can see some sample videos at our website: http://www.howlongjugband.com My Great Grandfather 26 April 2010 A relative just sent me this web page, dedicated to my great grandfather, the marching band conductor Alonzo Leach. It includes some fantastic old photos. Check it out: http://www.karlking.us/alonzo_leach_1.htm The Next Logical Step 31 March 2010 I didn't expect to make gravestone benefit projects a habit, but when I went to Louisville for the Earl McDonald dedication ceremony last fall, so many people asked, "Who are you going to work on next" that I couldn't help but think about another project. Eventually I started thinking about the experience I had at Restvale Cemetery in Chicago, where I found that brothers Joe and Charlie McCoy were buried about 20 yards away from each other, both in unmarked graves. And now, perhaps inevitably, I have another fundraising project to promote -- for a pair of gravestones, this time. The McCoy Brothers Tribute Concert is scheduled for Sunday, October 3, in Chicago. We'll have some workshops and a cemetery walking tour on the same day. You can read some background info and sign up to receive more details at www.mccoybrotherstribute.com.
Put a Jug Band In Your Pocket 11 February 2009 I've been curious about building iPhone apps and was looking for an excuse to try building one, when a group of friends at dinner a couple months ago suggested I build a jug band app. After checking out existing apps for kazoo and washtub bass, I decided to try making my app play just like the real instruments -- by responding to voice, touch and movement rather than arbitrary inputs like button presses. The result was approved by Apple and published on the App Store this week: Jug Band App! This app includes a washboard, spooons, kazoo and jug. You can practice on your own with headphones, plug into speakers to play with a band, or play along with the music on your iPod. I've posted a demo video to show how it all works.
Jugs Around the World 27 September 2009 After completing the Will Shade tribute project, I was contacted by Rod Wenz, founder and president of the National Jug Band Jubilee, about organizing a similar project for Louisville jug legend Earl McDonald. McDonald led several jug bands in the mid-1920's, and his recordings inspired Will Shade to start the Memphis Jug Band. I offered to help, and traveled to last year's Jubilee to help kick off the fundraiser. Over the next few months, Rod raised enough money not only for a gravestone for Earl McDonald, but also for a historical marker from the Kentucky Historical Society. Unfortunately, he passed away unexpectedly and wasn't able to see these markers dedicated last weekend … or to see the Old Southern Jug Blowers, who traveled from Kansai, Japan to perform tributes to their favorite American musician. I ended up playing the role of m.c. for both events.
Go South, Young Man 5 August 2009 Being interested in the blues means I have an unreasonable degree of nostalgia for the American South, and I was able to indulge myself in that last weekend. The impetus for my latest trip was an opportunity to dedicate a brass note for Will Shade and the Memphis Jug Band on the Beale Street "walk of fame" in Memphis. This was the final chapter of the memorial project I started two and a half years ago:
But I spent the next day exploring Western Tennessee with a fellow jug band musician and his wife. We started by playing a couple tunes on the front porch of Sleepy John Estes's shack in Brownsville, then visited the Casey Jones museum in Jackson. After lunch we did a little trespassing (and messing with poison ivy) and found the last remains of the Menglewood box factory, immortalized in Noah Lewis's "Minglewood Blues" series of songs. Then we drove back to Memphis via Ripley and Henning, Lewis's stomping grounds. It was an inspirational trip that leaves me feeling even more closely attached to this haunting music.
Another Trip to Memphis 30 June 2009 After I purchased a gravestone for jug band pioneer Will Shade in Memphis last year, a secondary goal was to see him honored on Beale Street, where he lived and played for most of his life. This goal will finally be achieved next month, when a "brass note" for Shade and his Memphis Jug Band will be installed in a highly appropriate spot right in front of Handy Park. Although money is tight after my big move to Portland this spring, I'm taking the opportunity to visit the Home of the Blues and help celebrate Will Shade once again. I'll lead a brief ceremony and then a long busking party on the afternoon of August 1. If you are reading this and you like jug band music, you should come join me! Here's a photo of W.C. Handy's brass note, which I snapped during a previous visit:
Gravehunting in Chicago 28 Feb 2009 I've made a few trips to Louisville, Memphis, and the Mississippi Delta to find gravesites of pre-war blues musicians, but most of the later musicians were buried right here in the Chicago area. Today I finally took some time to visit two cemeteries in the South suburbs: Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, and Washington Memorial Gardens in Homewood. Along with Muddy Waters and other famous post-war musicians, Restvale is the final resting place of "Papa Charlie" and "Kansas Joe" McCoy, and Johnny Watson, a.k.a. Daddy Stovepipe. Washington Memorial Gardens is the final resting place of Robert Brown, a.k.a. Washboard Sam. The offices at each cemetery were able to confirm the presence of these musicians, but unfortunately, none of them have gravestones, and the numbering system at the two cemeteries were perplexing and vague, respectively. But we did our best. The photo below shows the approximate burial location of the McCoy brothers, who died a few months apart from each other and were buried a few rows apart:
The Mother of All Battles 11 Feb 2009 The Hump Night Thumpers didn't have quorum to travel to the Minneapolis Battle of the Jug Bands this year, so I asked two former members who now live in Minneapolis to play with me. After an intensive rehearsal the night before, Holstein Slim (myself), Uncle Harry Assface (Mark Wagner) and Rag Mama (Jerri Wagner) performed as Slim Harry Mama. We ended up with an energetic but daring set and wondered how it would be received by the audience. As one person told us afterwards, "When you started playing 'Love Shack,' I was prepared to hate it. But it was great!" One of the organizers described our performance as "another tour de force." And the judges responded by awarding us an Honorable Mention for "Best Single Entendre" -- although we're not sure which of our sexy songs that referred to. In any case, you can click the following links to hear recordings from our rehearsal:
You can see more photos at Jerri's blog. And by the way, that's Mark and Jerri's baby, Zoe, singing in the background!
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