A History of Jug Band Music by the Trolley Drops

Learn about it as Trolley Drop band members give a short slide lecture/musical presentation to kick off the Second Annual Santa Cruz Jug Band Festival.

The wild and wacky sound we call Jug Band Music blends musical styles from Europe, Africa, and the United States. Jug band music originated in the 1910-1920s, south of the Mason Dixon line, and was played both informally and by professional bands in a wide range of settings, from street corners to the Kentucky Derby. The recordings made of popular jug and washboard bands before World War II now have become the cannon of the genre.

In the late 1950s there was a revival of interest in those songs that spawned a jug band revival providing number one hits for rock and roll supergroups. Today the term refers both to bands that play those songs and also to bands that play modern popular songs using jugs and other homemade instruments. Come and learn the colorful and fascinating history of Jug Band Music from Trolley Drop band members Greg Meyer and Peter Thomas.