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 (4+)
See all- FRIDAY NIGHT JUG BAND JAM - Festival Kickoff! Sept. 26Donut 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, Tom Stewart, Dan Holabaugh, and Jasmine Moran -- 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 on Saturday September 27, visit: The Great Northesat Jug Band Festival 2025
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!Jason Russell House, Arlington, MA
The FIFTH Great Northeast Jug Band Festival! New England’s ONLY Jug Band Festival will highlight traditions from the 1920’s and 30’s, and the modern evolution of this good-time music. This event is free and open to the public at the Beer Garden at the Jason Russell House (7 Jason St, Arlington, MA 02476). Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy performances by three of the region's best Jug Bands! New this year -- the festival will feature a Makers Tent, highlighting home-made and cigar box instrument builders!
Jason Russell House Beer Garden is presented by the Arlington Historical Society and Jason Russell House. Craft Beer by Arlington Brewing Company!
Schedule:
1pm: Jug Band Jam featuring The Jug Nuts (open to all!)
2pm: Amy Kucharik and Friends with Benefits (From Somerville!)
3:15 pm The All New Genetically Altered Jug Band (From DC!)
4:30pm: Miss Maybell and Her Ragtime Romeos (From NYC!)Details:
Great Northeast Jug Band Festival 2024* RAIN LOCATION : Arlington Community Center in the Main Hall, 27 Maple St Arlington, MA
- A handful of jug nuts - at the Burren !The Burren back room, Somerville, MA
Regulars of our jug band jams will recognize me and a couple of hot jazz nuts playing as The Summer Street Stompers, joining the fabulous Annie and the Fur Trappers in their Swing Out Sunday series in the Burren’s baxk room. Doors open at 7. While not quite jug band, both bands feature tunes from the same early twentieth century. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Details here!
- Jug Band Show & Jam Session with Peter Thomas & John Hicks (aka Tin Pan Haole!)Milk Street Studios, dover, NH
## Jug band friends! I'm sharing this listing at the request of jug-band-jammer Kiyoshi. Peter Thomas is a member of the Trolley Drops, a west coast jug band that pretty much does what the Jug Nuts do here in the east: Jams, festivals etc. Details on this meetup site:
Peter Thomas of the Santa Cruz Ukulele Club is coming to the area this October—and we couldn’t miss the chance to make some music while he’s here! He and I (Kiyoshi), together with John Hicks (a.k.a. Tin Pan Haole), are teaming up for a lively show mixing jug band grooves, early jazz, and a splash of Hawaiian flair.
We’ll wrap up the afternoon with a strum-along in the warm, welcoming space of Milk Street Studios. A suggested $10 donation helps cover costs and keeps the music flowing.
BYO beverage and food to share if you wish.
Videos;
Peter Thomas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygN-VMCSr0A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W82JmsTl7w
https://share.icloud.com/photos/03eqw-B3Ow8oPbXoBaZrG_Ibg
John Hicks (Tin Pan Haole): https://www.youtube.com/watchv=RD2ozHkDQJk
