Juggernaut Jug Band
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Juggernaut Jug Band

Louisville, Kentucky, United States

Louisville, Kentucky, United States
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"Juggernaut Jug Band at Bamboo Room"

Until you've heard Led Zeppelin's hard-rocking, head-thrashing crunchy-blues Black Dog played on a washboard boy, you haven't lived yet.

And the thing is, until you've spent some time with Louisville, Ky.'s natty-cool Juggernaut Jugband as they do their thing, there's no way you could imagine what you've been missing, how utterly empty your life has been without the sweet, cheeky virtuosity the Juggernauts displayed Wednesday night at Lake Worth's Bamboo Room.

The four band members, who go by the goofy stage names Roscoe Goose, the Amazing Mr. Fish, Smiley Habanero and Skip Tracer, are a combination vaudeville act, musical American history lesson and very, very tight band. With the expected jug and washboard, and also snare drum, trumpet and electric guitars, they mined both traditional jug band fare as well as Nat King Cole's Route 66, the silent movie-era Sheik of Araby and a comic brass treatise on The Doors' People Are Strange.

Seriously. It was the coolest.

It's sort of weird to say that they're not what you'd think a jug band would be, because you've probably never given much thought to what a jug band is in the first place, other than some sort of unsophisticated Hee-Haw throwback played by guys in overalls.

But, as the fedora-wearing Roscoe Goose explained to the animated assembled listeners, jug band music was the result of urban ingenuity by musicians toiling in bustling river towns like Louisville and Memphis.

"No one knows exactly how playing the jug started," Goose explained, supposing that some resourceful musician used one from Louisville's then-thriving bottling industry. "I do know you had to empty the thing first."

That kind of well-timed zinger showed up all through the Juggernauts' act, and worked beautifully because of the palpable mood of inspired silliness, as well as an unspoken love and respect for the music and the history of a genre born of creativity, hope and good times.

The band's members have a gorgeous sense of vocal harmony, heard perhaps best on the weird, pretty novelty waltz Lydia, about a tattooed lady. It neatly sums up what the Juggernauts bring to the table a sense of fun, whimsy and an appreciation for the weirder things in our collective past. And it doesn't hurt that they can totally rock out on a washtub bass. - Leslie, Streeter, Palm Beach Post


"The Juggernaut Jug band-Jugstaposition"

The Juggernaut Boys are at it again! "Roscoe Goose," "World Wide Webb," "Gil Fish," and "Big Daddy" have produced a recording drawing heavily from the giants of the jugband and early jazz past and updated the repertoire with some fine new tunes and romps.
Band originals such as "Old Joe's Hittin' the Jug" and "Hamburger Pie" co-exist quite comfortably alongside The Memphis Jug Band's classic genre tune "Jug Band Music," Gus Cannon's "Bring it with You When You Come" and "Clef Club Stomp/Petter's Stomp" from Clifford Hayes' Louisville Jug Stompers. Perhaps the most unusual cover tune is a rendition of Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row." The arrangement is quite skillfully rendered but its inclusion was a mystery until halfway through, as it becomes a Spike Jones send-up with wacky percussion and kazoos. Just when you think you've figured it out the arrangement shifts to full-blown Spaghetti Western ala that "Ghost Riders" tune. Then it returns to vintage Bob. It takes a lot to make me laugh out loud. Good job, guys!
Perhaps the best way to describe the variety found on Jugstaposition is to compare the Juggernaut Jug Band to mid-period Red Clay Ramblers sans clawhammer banjo. Taste is tossed out the window in favor of tunes like "The Sheik of Araby" and "Jug Band Tango"......never let taste get in the way of great entertainment. One word of warning, don't play this CD at work lest your boss actually think you enjoy annual reports. He'll just pile the work on. Save Jugstaposition for the ride home at the end of a long day! - TD
- Bluestown (The City Of Blues)


"Juggernaut Jug Band has a handle on variety"

When I heard that this week's Wachovia Bandshell Concert in City Park was going to be a jug band, I didn't expect something as elegant and genteel as the music performed by the Juggernaut Jug Band of Louisville, KY on Sat. night.
What emerged as the band started off was a bouncy "Frisco Bay" , was an ensemble flexible enough to play an assortment of old time blues, swing, ragtime, early jazz and some more modern fare, with the sweetness of a roots music group and the slightly subversive air of a garage band.
Founder, Roscoe Goose (the band uses stage names) provided most of the musical variety with snare drum, the jug, whose sound is somewhere between a tuba and a kazoo. The Amazing Mister Fish played walking bass mist of the time with one foray into washtub bass, a mellow, lovely sound. They were joined by Big Daddy T on guitar, banjo and mandolin and Smiley Habanero on electric guitar; all of them sang four part harmonies and solos.
Interspersing their music with patter and tidbits of history on jug bands, they explored music by Fats Waller (I'm Crazy About My Baby" and "Take Me Back to Old Yazoo") silent movie music ("I'm the Sheik of Araby") Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys ("Who Walks In When i Walk Out?") and even Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Gay" and "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" and much ore.
They even played a chicken medley-imagine, three songs about chickens- and, perhaps even stranger for a jug band, The Who's, "Pinball Wizard."
It was perfect music for a soft summer night, balanced and light-hearted and loads of fun. - Reading Eagle


"Review-"You Mean We Get Paid For This?""

If you love jug band music, swing, or just hot music, this album means good times ahead. These old masters bridge the jug band/swing era with a set of exciting, energetic tracks. As usual, they freely adopt songs popularized by a wide range of others: here, Ikey Robinson, Merle Haggard, Bob Wills, the Mills brothers, and even Aram Khachaturian.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Juggernauts, any description is likely to sound strange.
Cole Porter’s “Let’s Misbehave” begins with a tasteful washboard pushing a swing vocal; this moves into a slightly wandering slide whistle solo of the melody; other voices gradually emerge beneath the vocal, and the song ends with a jazz guitar solo. The effect is usually not zany enough to evoke memories of the Hoosier Hotshots, and is far smoother than classic jug band music. Perhaps the best comparison, still not apt, is the Red Clay Ramblers gone jug band.
This said, several tracks (“Whoa Babe”, “Get With It”, “My Window Faces the South” etc.) are simply good swing covers. But it’s hard to imagine any other band doing Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance” in a version featuring slightly out of tune, nose-thumbing percussion, and a voice periodically interjecting “lookadat, lookadat, lookadat!”
The band swings furthest out on the Ikey Robinson “My Four Reasons”. Plectrum banjo, and percussion power this energetic version, with interjections by jug, kazoo, scat singing, bird whistles, train whistle, and god knows what else. Here and on other tracks, Roscoe Goose provides wonderful jug; here, a mile-a-minute.
That kind of energy and spirit has powered the Juggernauts since their founding in the 60’s; this album shows them hotter than ever. --SL - Sing Out Magazine


""You Mean We Get Paid For This?""

he JJB should be granted landmark status. Not only has the Louisville group put out seven incredibly entertaining albums, but they are keeping alive the innocent playfulness of jugband music. If there were a Mount Rushmore for jugband music, I would nominate these guys, although seeing their faces that large could cause serious psychological damage to children.

There's no damage done on their latest CD, You Mean We Get Paid for This?The band brings their "skewed point of view" to a new collection of oldies, goodies and the title track, an original from band member Mr. Fish.

That song stands out, not only because it upholds the JJB's standard of excellence, but it is also the only explicit laugh-getter on the CD. In the past, the JJB has usually included a few chucklers on each album, but on Paid for This?the band has taken a step in a more serious direction.

That's neither a criticism nor a complaint. While previous albums have drawn more attention to the lyrics of the songs, on this latest effort the words are only background scenery for the true star of the show, which is the stellar musicianship of the band. While the sound of a jug or a slide whistle might invite the word "novelty act," make no mistake: the JJB are accomplished musicians and makers of art.

Everything from the guitar to the washboard to the nose flute are used on Paid for This?and the band has never sounded better. They even tackle their first classical piece, "Sabre Dance," and improve upon the original as only a jug band can.

Get the vibe at www.juggernautjugband.com. Bring your kazoo. - Louisville Music News


Discography

Juggernaut Jug Band- "You Mean We Get Paid For This?"
Juggernaut Jug Band-"Live Lunch"
Juggernaut Jug Band-"Jugstaposition"
Juggernaut Jug Band "As We Like It"
Juggernaut Jug Band-"Don't Try This At Home"
Juggernaut Jug Band-"Perhaps You Don't Recognize Us"

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Bio

Jug Band aficionados and neophytes alike are in for a treat as Louisville, Kentucky’s Juggernaut Jug Band delights their audience with mind-blowing musicianship, incredible harmonies and their zany sense of humor. A combination vaudeville act, musical American history lesson and one very tight band, their repertoire spans popular and obscure tunes from the 1920’s, through 40’s, traditional jug band fare, originals and even a few rock and roll classics. A sense of fun, nostalgia, and great entertainment, The Juggernaut Jug Band delivers a musical concert like no other.

With the release of 7 C.D’s, “Jugstaposition”, “Don’t Try This At Home”, “Perhaps You Don’t Recognize Us”, “Christmas Covers”, “As We Like It”, “Live Lunch”, and their newest, “You Mean We Get Paid For This”, more and more people will be “recognizing” them. Over the years, they have appeared with Leon Russell, Arlo Guthrie, John Hartford, Jonathan Edwards, Riders In the Sky, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tom Paxton and many others.

THE JUGGERNAUT JUG BAND is: Roscoe Goose on jug, vocals, washboard, trumpet, blues harp and snare drum. Skip Tracer on vocals, guitar, mandolin and banjo. Smiley Habanero on vocals, guitar, kazoo and mandolin and Nick O'Time on stand up bass and vocals.

While members of the band are accomplished musicians, “They don’t let virtuosity get in the way of having fun.” (Washington Post) Each performance is a challenge to the audience to have as much fun as the band. Don’t let their antics fool you though. Their exuberant music is the result of skillfully conceived arrangements and unique vocal harmonies.

Recently they have played The Kentucky State Fair (8th yr.) Delta Queen River Boat, Caesars, Grand Victoria and Argosy casinos, Master Musicians Festival, Kent State Folk Festival, Great American Music Fest (Branson, MO) Blissfest, MI, Henderson Pavilion, NV, Nat’l. Jug Band Jubilee (3rd Yr) Strawberry Folk Fest, Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, Las Vegas Jazz Festival, Dollywood, Millennium Center, B.C. Canada, Chautaugua Institution (NY), Tahoe Music Festival (NV), ArtsQuest (PA), numerous colleges and universities and appeared in “As You Like It”, Actors’ Theatre, Louisville, KY, awarded state, regional and national performing arts showcases (US and CANADA) They have been selected for inclusion in the KY Arts Council Performing Arts Directory (10th yr.)

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT THE JUGGERNAUTS

"...they don't let their virtuosity get in the way of having fun."-Washington Post

"The band's work bespeaks a literal fusion of two worlds - a folky, organic vibe tempered by the delicacy of academically trained musicianship." - The Mountain Express, Ashville, NC

"...a versatile quartet that takes their music and fun seriously...terrific musical amusement." Planet Jazz Magazine

"Straw hat Schtick...street band energy...swinging arrangements." The Courier Journal, Lousiville, KY

PRESENTER ENDORSEMENTS

"Juggernaut Jug Band was a big hit. They are so friendly (probably they were immediately engulfed by the crowd. I believe they also sold a large number of CDs which is a good indicator. Our people enjoy performers who will talk to them and these guys were tops. We would pick them again."
Joe Cansler, President, Community Concerts,
Statesville, North Carolina

"We had a great tour experience, once again, the the Juggernaut Jug Band. Everything went extremely well; the students and teacher's enjoyed the music and antics, ... For me, personally, the tour was delightful. The members of the band are seasoned professionals and a pleasure to work with."
Gerri Torres
Artsbridge, Marietta, OH

"The complete package of great musicianship, total entertainment and easy to work woth awaits any presenter. For audeinces-even after an encore, they'll be wanting more. That's a true sign of a hit."
Heather Lunstrom, Pres.
Kitimat Concert Society, Kitimat, B.C.