Gramma's Saggy Jug wins jug band contest

The temperature may have been well below zero Feb. 10, but inside the Cabooze Bar in Minneapolis the atmosphere was as warm as a family reunion on a hot summer day for the 26th annual Battle of the Jug Bands competition.

Twenty bands were present for the competition, some local and some hailing from as far as Chicago, including the reigning champions from last year, Hump Night Thumpers.

The show ran from 1 to 8 p.m., and each band was allotted 15 minutes to perform, though many didn't have enough material to cover their time slots.

There are very few rules for the Battle of the Jug Bands competition. The only requirement for each band is that they must use a jug in their set. The jug can be used to blow into to make a noise or tapped on for percussion or both.

There is also no rule as to how many members can be in a single band, which resulted with some bands exceeding 16 band members on the stage at any one time.

The trophy for the winning band, chosen by three judges at the end of the night, is the Holliwood Waffle Iron.

One theme of the bands is the instruments were all acoustic. Typically, the instruments for most groups contained an acoustic guitar, banjo, a washtub bass (a home made bass consisting of a wash tub at the base, a rope and a strong stick connecting the rope to the tub that also works as the bass' neck), vocals and of course a jug.

Other instruments used were kazoos, washboards, homemade woodwind instruments, people wearing helmets and banging sticks on their heads and even a frying pan with loose change for percussion.

The show had more of a family reunion vibe than that of a serious competition. Children danced around as band members wandered around catching up with their fellow brethren when it wasn't their time to perform.

Admission to the show was donation-based and people were urged to bring food for the potluck. Tables in the back of the bar were covered with plates and pots filled with homemade food.

Willy Freeman, a bearded jug player sporting a cowboy hat and hair in a pony tail falling below his shoulders, was performing with two bands that day: White Lightnin' Waffle Stompers and Don't Try This at Home Jug Band. He said he enjoys the annual competition because he gets to see old friends.

"It's a reunion of sorts," Freeman said.

Freeman also said he has been playing this kind of music, which is a mix of folk, blue grass and other acoustic forms of music, for nearly 28 years.

"I've missed the first year or two," Freeman said before smiling wide and letting out a little laugh.

The music selections for each group were diverse.

Originals, traditional and a few choice cover songs were performed by the 20 bands on the bill.

One band, called 3 Good Samaritans, which consisted of more than 14 members, performed an incredible rendition of the R&B classic, "Knock on Wood."

"Every jug band has a little soul," one of the vocalists shouted into the microphone before the band kicked into the song.

The bands were dedicated to the music and some bands had formed in very little time. Kari Larson, banjo and mandolin player for the band, Sliced Bread, said the band had formed only three weeks prior to the competition.

"I've been playing for about eight or nine years now," Larson said of her playing music outside Sliced Bread.

Larson said her favorite aspect of the competition and the music itself was that it was people's music.

Last year's reigning champs, Hump Night Thumpers, took the stage dressed like they had emerged from a time machine from the 1930s, sporting bowler caps, flapper dresses and suits and ties.

Many in the crowd laughed and sang along to one of their songs which was a provocative song about making waffles.

Perhaps the most theatric band was Gramma's Saggy Jug, a six-member group in which everyone dressed like old people and all but three dressed in drag.

One member used loose change in a frying pan and comically oversized batter whisks as instruments.

Gramma's Saggy Jug performed little skits in between songs, where they bickered and faked bad backs.

The band members remained in character throughout their entire performance, even walking hunched over while entering and exiting the stage.

At the end of the night, the Holliwood Waffle Iron trophy was awarded to Gramma's Saggy Jug.

For more information on the Battle of the Jug Bands competition, visit http://jugbandbattle.net/home.html.