NEWS  FROM:

National Jug Band Jubilee
www.jugbandjubilee.org

For Immediate Relief *
*  Jug band music relieves tension

Contact:
Heather Leoncini
(502) 417-1107
juggernautpr@yahoo.com

The National Jug Band Jubilee to return in 2026
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LOUISVILLE, KY, (September 15, 2025) – The National Jug Band Jubilee will kick off its 2026 capital campaign by paying tribute to legendary Kentucky fiddler Bill Livers (1911–1988) on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2026, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Spring Street Bar & Grill, 300 S. Spring St., in Louisville.

Livers, a tenant farmer from Owenton, KY, was steeped in a vibrant Black music community. Influenced by his grandfather Virgil Livers and fellow musicians such as Hood Livers, Chester Morton, and jug blower Navy Pitts, Bill Livers performed with regional string bands and left a lasting mark on American
folk traditions in the state.

The tribute concert will feature the Catherine McBride Trio and the Bill Livers String Ensemble, led by fiddle historian John Harrod. Harrod, who recorded and performed with Livers, recently released “Recordings from the Collection of John Harrod” on the Field Recorders’ Collective label. Copies will be available for purchase at the event.

“The group that formed a band around Bill Livers started as the Progress Red Hot String Band, named after the drum stoves most of us heated with, and after a time we changed the name to the Bill Livers String Ensemble.  It was a continuing education for us as we got to know Bill, learn his music, and share
his experience,” Harrod remembered.

“The recordings we have of Bill were made under less-than-ideal conditions. We were young and wild and more […]