New headstone to honor early blues guitarist
Pioneering Louisville blues guitarist Sylvester Weaver — promoted as “The Man with the Talking Guitar” when he recorded in the 1920s in New York — will receive an encore tribute Saturday.
Member of the Kentuckiana Blues Society and organizers of the annual Jug Band Jubilee waterfront festival held each September in Louisville will hold a public dedication ceremony for a new illustrated headstone for Weaver (1896-1960) on his birthday, July 25, at Louisville Cemetery.
Weaver, who grew up on Finzer Street in the Smoketown neighborhood, also “discovered” Louisville jazz singer Helen Humes and recorded with her, says Keith Clements, a Blues Society leader. Humes went on to become a famed jazz vocalist who was a featured soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra.
While Weaver’s achievements were not widely known after his initial splash, local […]
Jug bands play music from down home
The smell of grilled meat and beer and the gently amplified acoustic music of a jug band filled the air during the National Jug Band Jubilee in Louisville on Saturday. People gathered on the banks of the Ohio River at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater for the 10th annual celebration of a unique form of folk music.
Bones Jugs N Harmony band member Charlie Harris belted out songs for the crowd while playing the upright bass. Other bands included Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy Jug Band, the Juggernaut Jug Band and The Hokum High Rollers.
Jim Watkins of Urbana, Ill., was learning to play the washboard.
“It’s a fabulous event,” he said, “This is the first year I’ve learned of it. I will be back.”
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/09/20/jug-bands-play-music-home/15995083/
NATIONAL JUG BAND JUBILEE IN LOUISVILLE
Never listened to a jug band? Bet you didn’t know that Louisville is the world center for jug band music. While bluegrass and country music are more commonly associated with Kentucky, another genre with deep roots in the state is jug band music. Many music historians cite Louisville, where jugs abounded due to the city’s bourbon distilling industry, as the birthplace of this light-hearted musical form that spread up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers around the turn of the 20th century.
The music has come full circle, with the seventh annual National Jug Band Jubilee in Louisville set to celebrate the genre’s origins on Sept. 15, 2012. Nine of the country’s best bands will play from 1-11 p.m. at the free festival at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater in Waterfront Park, on the banks of the Ohio River near downtown Louisville. The acts will include Louisville’s Juggernaut Jug Band and groups from Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Washington and […]
Rollin’ on the River
June 29, 2005 12:01 AM
Once upon a time, Rod Wenz was one of the most respected public relations professionals in the city. He and Randy Neely started Wenz-Neely in 1971, built it into a successful firm without borrowing money, and eventually sold to a British outfit named Shandwick. Things came full circle when former Wenz-Neely employees bought the company back and named it New!West LLC a few years ago.
Old PR guys never die, they just find new projects, and for Wenz, who’s retired, the road has led him to a delightful slice of Louisville history that deserves more attention in its hometown. Hence Friday’s inaugural National Jug Band Jubilee, a Belle of Louisville cruise featuring good food and great music from Louisville Juggernaut Jug Band and The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs.
While there’s no definitive proof that jug bands started in Louisville, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest it did. As early as the 1890s, […]
Good Time Music
FRIDAY, 27 AUGUST 2010 18:45
MICHAEL L. JONES THE HIGHLANDER – FEATURES
One hundred years ago, musicians in downtown Louisville traveled from corner to corner playing songs on nontraditional instruments like whisky jugs (“the poor man’s tuba”) and washboards, accompanied by banjos, fiddles and guitars. The sound became known as jug music. On Saturday, September 18, the 6th Annual National Jug Band Jubilee is bringing the music back to its birthplace.
“Jug band music is called River Music and now we’re on the river,” says Heather Leoncini, president of the National Jug Band Jubilee. “We love it. This will be our third year in Waterfront Park at the Brown-Foreman Amphitheater. Every year we are attracting more people. There is a huge contingent that comes from out of town for this – as far as California, New Jersey and New York.”
Heather Leoncini, president of the National Jug Band Jubilee, leads the festival […]