2008 Woodie Awards
Gramma's Saggy Jug wins jug band contest
Joseph Froemming
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Intermission
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.
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.