For Immediate Release, July 25, 2012

Contacts: Andy 209 567 5967 Jugman Wayne Hagen at 530 400-8882

10th Annual International Festival & American Folk Art and Crafts Fair

Saturday, August 18th from 11 am to 9 pm.

At the Sutter Creek Inn, 75 Main Street. Sutter Creek, CA

Admission: FREE

The California Jug Band Association presents the always (and in all ways) free 10th Annual International Jug Band Festival returns to Sutter Creek on August 18th, presented by. The “International” part was, of course, pure puffery, until, that is, an amazing jug band from Japan showed up. If you bill it, they will come.

Jug band music has, for over a hundred years, served as an incubator for , for and for and, more recently, for modern folk-rock music. Perhaps jug band music stretches back centuries into African music – the West African banjar and the gourd being played together may be the possible inspiration for the first jug bands we know of, who appeared on the Louisville docks in the 1890s.

Those old time jug bands were formed by folks who couldn’t afford a lot of expensive normal musical instruments; they picked up empty whisky jugs, washboards, washtubs rigged up with broomsticks and clothes line for improvised basses, spoons and bones, saws played with a discarded bow, comb and tissue paper which evolved into kazoos – in other words, they made music with abnormal instruments.

The results are a fresh, exciting, danceable and wildly diverse sound that has once again been reborn in a new generation. The proof is in the listening; so, come on down to historic Sutter Creek, Saturday August 18th, bring the whole family, kick off your shoes and really hear what it’s all about! The line up of talent this year includes returning bands and some wonderful new groups:

• Bird & Turtle Jug Band - Sutter Creek, CA – Bird & Turtle duet ( Banjo Andy and Oliah) are joined by Wayne on jug.

• Willie Norton – Ione, CA – The Foothills’ own blues master brings his unique style to the party.

• Brokin' Jug Band – Fiddletown – Broken and a little bent this jug duet (Forest on guitar and vocal and Wayne on jug and vocal) comes out blazing. There's sure to be a surprise guest or two.

• Bakersfield Dozen - San Francisco, CA – Street corner buskers by the Bay bring their infectious good times to the Foothills.

• The Neighbors – Oakland, CA – A little bit of Jazz, some Old-Time, and a whole lot of fun. Yes, they really are neighbors (most of them anyway).

• The Mighty Jugamites Band – Jackson, CA – And now for something a little different. Jamaican rhythms on home made instruments. Jug Band stylin' Jamaica style.

• Babar Jug Band - San Francisco, CA – Who has played every single one of the Sutter Creek festivals? The legendary Babar Jug Band! It wouldn't be a festival without them.

• The Jug Stompers - Gardnerville, NV – Coming back to the Sutter Creek Festival stage Mark and his sake jug along with his friends always pleases and amazes.

• South Sac Jooks – Sacramento, CA – The surprise hit of last years show this unique trio merges generations into high energy jug band frivolity.

• Yo' Pitzy Jug Band - Santa Barbera, CA – The Richardson Brothers combine traditional music with original tunes to create a true musical adventure.

• Quake City Jug Band - East Bay – They were here for the first few festivals, now they're back. Quake City is just pure musical fun!

• The Amazing Dr. Zarcon's Breathing Machine – This long time collaboration is coming to Sutter Creek with members from the Midwest and East Coast joining the Bay Area core. Get ready to be amazed!

• And finally, cap it all off with the infamous Jug Band Jam – 'til the cows come home.

This humble, intimate small town festival has, utterly unexpectedly, set off the fourth great national revival of jug band music, the prior three epochs being jug band music’s springing from its African roots in the early 1900s, with the Mississippi and Ohio Valley show boats and race tracks as venues; the late 1920s as the spring board for some earliest recording hits by a host of great black blues artists and proto-jazz bands; and then the 1960s as a launch pad for such folk/acid/rock bands as the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones and musicians like , Jim Kweskin and . The current revival has brought together old time jug bands from all over, including some of those 1960s stars, along with highly talented new blood from the current folk/punk/hipster scene.

Several new Jug Band Festivals have sprouted up, including one in the birth place of the genre, Louisville, Ky. Maria Muldaur has been on the road with a new jug band act. Festival Co-Founder and star juggist Wayne Hagen hosts the planet’s only weekly radio show devoted exclusively to jug band music. (Tune in to "Sounds So Sweet" Sundays on KDRT, with ‘International’ audiences via the WWW.) Springing from the brow of the Sutter Creek Festival, the non-profit California Jug Band Association now sponsors jug band entertainment and educational events, and provides contact and publicity support for the bands with a website at www.jugfest.org. As Jugfest Co-founder Banjo Andy says “Let a thousand jug band festivals bloom.”

Along with the Jugfest, fine traditional American Folk Art and Crafts will be displayed under the trees surrounding the historic 1859 Sutter Creek Inn, a fitting complement to what is probably the oldest continuing American musical genre. Built by John Keyes in 1859, the Inn is doubly historic: it was established as the West’s first bed and breakfast by Jane Way in the 1960s. This a juried, crafts fair and we are looking forward to its return.

There will be a children’s music workshop in the Junk Yard Play Space from 1:30 to 5:30. It’s a big, fun, entertaining (and even educational) musical celebration, so you’re invited to come early and stay late. For more information contact Banjo Andy 209 567 5967 or Jugman Wayne Hagen at 530 400-8882

Community Event Calendar Notice:

10th Annual International Jug Band Festival and American Folk Art and Crafts Fair – Saturday, August 18th, 11 am to 9 pm. FREE in Sutter Creek, at the Sutter Creek Inn, 75 Main Street. This year's long running festival brings together 11 amazing jug bands, new and old, with an American Folk Art and Crafts Fair. Instrument builder/music teachers will show kids how to make and play simple instruments and then have them up on stage with the bands. Information at www.jugfest.org or Banjo Andy 209 267-5967.