The eponymous jug is made by taking a jug (usually made of glass or stoneware) and buzzing the lips into its mouth from about an inch away. As with brass instruments, changes in pitch are controlled by altering lip tension, and an accomplished jug player could have a two octave range. The stovepipe (usually a section of tin pipe, 3" or 4" in diameter) is played in much the same manner, with the pipe rather than the jug being the resonating chamber. There is some similarity to the didgeridoo, but there is no contact between the stovepipe and the player's lips. Some jug and stovepipe players utilize throat vocalization along with lip buzzing, as with the didgeridoo.
The swooping sounds of the jug fill a musical role halfway between the trombone and sousaphone or tuba in Dixieland bands, playing mid- and lower-range harmonies in rhythm.
Early jug bands were typically made up of African American vaudeville and medicine show musicians. Beginning in the urban south, they played a mixture of Memphis blues (even before it was formally called the blues), ragtime, and Appalachian music. The history of jug bands is related to the development of the blues. The informal and energetic music of the jug bands also contributed to the development of rock and roll.
The well known Memphis jug bands were small street groups, generally on Beale Street, and had their own blues style, using guitar, harmonica, banjo and a jug to accompany their blues and country dance songs
The first jug bands to record were the Louisville and Birmingham jug bands. These bands played popular dance band jazz, using the jug as a novelty element. Vaudeville-blues singer Sara Martin and America's blue yodeler Jimmie Rodgers both employed these groups on their recordings.
The Memphis area jug bands were more firmly rooted in country blues and earlier African-American traditions. Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers and Will Shade's Memphis Jug Band,recorded the great songs that became the basis for the later jug band revival: "Stealin'", "Jug Band Music", "Whoa, Mule", "Minglewood Blues", "Walk Right In" and many others.
Witches
Blackbird Raum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Run along the ground Into the basket
Whither the sky is fatted with ice, come as the earth grows
Richer of blood - The doe is in season
We pull our teeth out laying down in easy places we
Thicken the air with talk but cover our eyes up with our hands
They're shooting the wolves from helicopters can you believe that
Out in the wide world the wildest ones are vanishing quickly
Out in the wood a passing of hours, in the jailhouse of limb
A passing of years Into the casket
I will not crouch polluted with law,
No traitor to witch no traitor to wolf
Judas Iscariot
Now the white wool has twisted round the land,
The cowering altar and matricide borne.
The stones they are screaming
I could call them men but they are not
Men, faces like blood rags, yet
Dressed to the fines.
Chariots surround us
But it won't be the
Witches that are
Burning this time
The lyrics to Blackbird Raum's song "Witches" paint a haunting picture of a world in which wildness, magic, and defiance are being hunted and destroyed by the forces of law and order. The first stanza, for example, offers a surreal image of acrobats and hunters moving through a landscape that seems both dangerous and abundant with life. The second stanza then suggests that this abundance is under threat from a legal system that seeks to repress and punish those who refuse to conform. The singer, however, refuses to be cowed by this system or to betray the wild things that are under threat. Instead, he chooses to stand with the witches and the wolves, even if it means risking his own life in the process.
One of the most striking things about "Witches" is the way it uses language to create a sense of disorientation and dread. The images it conjures are dark, violent, and chaotic, and the sentences are often fragmented and disjointed. This creates a feeling of uncertainty and unease that makes the song all the more powerful. The lyrics also draw on a wide range of cultural and historical references, from Judas Iscariot to the practice of shooting wolves from helicopters. This helps to create a sense of depth and complexity that rewards repeated listening and interpretation.
Overall, "Witches" is a powerful and thought-provoking song that speaks to the timeless human desire for freedom, wildness, and magic in a world that often seeks to suppress these things. It offers a call to resistance and solidarity in the face of oppression, and a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope.
Line by Line Meaning
In others' mouths the scraping of rocks, who walk a rope
Others' condemning words sound like nails on a chalkboard. They judge us like tightrope walkers, where one misstep would lead to our demise.
Run along the ground Into the basket
We blindly follow like sheep and end up caught in the clutches of society's expectations.
Whither the sky is fatted with ice, come as the earth grows Richer of blood - The doe is in season
Winter's chill doesn't stop the flow of death. Like the winter season, violence persists and the innocent suffer.
We pull our teeth out laying down in easy places we Thicken the air with talk but cover our eyes up with our hands
We sacrifice ourselves and our own truths to fit into the comfort of societal norms. Though we may speak, we are blinded by our own conformity.
They're shooting the wolves from helicopters can you believe that Out in the wide world the wildest ones are vanishing quickly
The most free-spirited are being hunted, and their lives are fleeting. They are being eliminated to satisfy society's need for control and conformity.
Out in the wood a passing of hours, in the jailhouse of limb A passing of years Into the casket
Time is meaningless when constrained and oppressed. Every year feels like a lifetime, and every step feels like a prison.
I will not crouch polluted with law, No traitor to witch no traitor to wolf Judas Iscariot
I refuse to submit to the corrupt and oppressive rules of society. I will stay true to the spirit of the witch and wolf, even if it means betraying society like Judas.
Now the white wool has twisted round the land, The cowering altar and matricide borne.
The white wool represents purity, but it has been corrupted by society's twisted ways. Our reverence has been turned to fear, and mothers are being killed at the hands of their own children.
The stones they are screaming I could call them men but they are not Men, faces like blood rags, yet Dressed to the fines.
The stones that lay lifeless before are now screaming, begging for our attention. The men that haunt us are no longer human. Their faces are like bloody rags, covered in society's finery.
Chariots surround us But it won't be the Witches that are Burning this time
Oppression looms, but history will not repeat itself. Society may try to destroy us again, but the witches have won. We will not burn.
Contributed by Scarlett F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.