Jim Kweskin – now that’s a legendary name, leader of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band through the Sixties and beyond, playing with people like Geoff Muldaur and appearing at the original Newport Folk Festival five years in a row (1964-68). Jug Band music was one of the vibrant forms of folk and jazz influenced music that would go on to influence the early Grateful Dead, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and, perhaps more than anyone, the Lovin’ Spoonful. It was a particularly light hearted blending of pre-war Jazz, folk, blues, western swing and hokum and embraced a home made feel most notably with washtub bass and the ubiquitous blown jug accompaniment. In Britain it would be called skiffle. And whilst those might be regarded as the “glory days”, Jim Kweskin continued through the decades in various line-ups and under various band names, appearing live and recording a pile of albums and has surly continued to be an influence on younger embracers of this strange branch of folk-Americana.
Which brings us to today and wouldn’t you know it a new song from a new album – Jim Kweskin & The Berlin Hall Saturday Night Revue, featuring five-time GRAMMY Award-winner Cindy Cashdollar, producer/bassist/frequent-Kweskin-collaborator Matthew Berlin, and a number of other musicians with whom Kweskin has played for decades, will be releasing ‘Doing Things Right‘ on April 25th via Jalopy Records. The first single is the tongue-in-cheek, western-swing number ‘Four or Five Times,‘ drawn from a 1927 recording by Byron Sturges and is sung by Kweskin and Matt Leavenworth.
The New England folk revival was not just about music but the real soul of America. The American folk revival of the late ‘50s and ‘60s had a massive influence on the mid-sixties music explosion, and its influence extended into politics through its close association with the civil rights movement.…
From New York hippie chick to grande dame of American roots music. She started out as a New York hippie jug band chick playing with David Grisman and John Sebastian in the Even Dozen Jug Band before joining the Jim Kweskin Jug Band nearly sixty years ago. From a UK…
The first article in our revamped Forgotten Artists series, which now becomes "Whatever Happened To...", comes from Tim Martin as he turns the spotlight on a fine performer whose mix of blues, country, folk and R&B has been enchanting audiences since she first stepped on a stage. Maria Muldaur? But…
Sure, I could climb high in a tree, or go to Skye on my holiday. I could be happy. All I really want is the excitement of first hearing The Byrds, the amazement of decades of Dylan's music, or the thrill of seeing a band like The Long Ryders live. That's not much to ask, is it?
