jug band

noun

: a band that uses primitive or improvised instruments (such as jugs, washboards, and kazoos) to play blues, jazz, and folk music

Examples of jug band in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Rising out a number of different Bay Area groups — most notably, traditional jug band Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions — the Grateful Dead formed in 1965 in Palo Alto. Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 12 May 2025 In a 1972 issue of Rolling Stone, Garcia credited McKernan with his shift from acoustic jug band to electric guitar, which prompted the formation of the Warlocks, the band that became the Grateful Dead. Erin Osmon, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2023 Skiffle, which originated in Kentucky and Tennessee in the early 1900s, blended folk, blues, gospel, jazz, country and jug band music. George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Sep. 2023 Other autumn happenings: jug band music, a hoedown and ghost stories. Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Aug. 2023 At Southside Preservation Hall on Saturday, about a dozen Black musicians will perform songs from traditional genres such as old-time, string band, jug band, ragtime and early blues and jazz as part of the Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival. Dallas News, 14 Mar. 2022 Aside from the many multi-day annual music festivals featuring famous artists, there are smaller events like the National Jug Band Jubilee, which celebrates the jug band style of music pioneered in Louisville in the early 1900s. Kala Kachmar, The Courier-Journal, 23 Dec. 2022 Washboard Slim and the Blue Lights have doing their singular jug band/swing jazz/roots/blues/fun thing for four decades. Christopher Arnott, courant.com, 18 Mar. 2022 Instead of tracing seminal artist Ma Rainey's (Viola Davis) career, the Netflix film walks us through a day in her life, which mostly consists of a recording session with her jug band and exploitative white producer. Lydia Wang, refinery29.com, 18 Dec. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1933, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of jug band was circa 1933

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Jug band.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jug%20band. Accessed 23 May. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!