Events
Current
2nd Thursday of each month, 7-9 pm
Jug Band Jam
Anna Bannanas
2403 NE Alberta, Portland
If you're interested in good-time blues and ragtime music or are looking for a low-key group to practice your skills, join our jug band jam. Free to listen, and jammers even get a free drink.
former
March 15, 2013
Jugapalooza
Secret Society
116 NE Russell, Portland
jugapalooza.com
Portland's premiere jug band event returns for its second year. The lineup includes six bands plus a double-entendre contest, jug-off and fashion show. Don't miss this!
January 29, 2013
National Kazoo Day Open Mic
Mississippi Pizza, Portland
facebook.com
Celebrate National Kazoo Day with a kazoo-themed open mic. Bring your store-bought, homemade or vintage kazoos and perform a song or just hum along. Groups or soloists welcome. Arrive by 5:45 or contact me in advance to sign up.
January 27, 2008
Will Shade Gravestone Benefit
Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago
willshadetribute.com
My first trip to Memphis took a somber turn when I found that my jug band hero, Will Shade, was buried in a pauper's cemetery. Inspired by an earlier effort for Gus Cannon, I located the exact grave location, then organized this benefit concert to buy a gravestone. Check out the videos of performances by Charlie Musselwhite and the Carolina Chocolate Drops, or of the inspiring dedication ceremony in Memphis the following spring.
October 3, 2010
McCoy Brothers Gravestone Benefit
Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago
mccoybrotherstribute.com
Restvale Cemetery in Chicago is the famous burial location of Muddy Waters and Big Walter Horton, but two earlier blues pioneers were buried near each other in unmarked graves in a rear section. My second gravestone benefit concert was ambitious for the wider range of genres it spanned (the McCoys played blues, jazz and jug band music) and for the goal of buying two gravestones.
November of each year
Chicago Battle of the Jug Bands
Various venues, Chicago
youtube.com
The Minneapolis Battle of the Jug Bands is such a thrilling event that it inspired me to try a similar event in Chicago. The first edition in 2008 was a blowout, and it's been going strong since then, with Skip Landt taking over in 2010.