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
Sonically, the genre is indebted to blues and gospel music, but echoes of other kinds of Black music—like work songs, string and jug band music, Black vaudeville, boogie-woogie, and even minstrelsy—can be heard in it.
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Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
But playing songs associated with his close friend — the one who had invited the teenage Weir into the jug band that became the Dead — remained daunting.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 17 Feb. 2026
Part of the Dead’s greatness resided in their integration of nearly the full breadth of American music: jug bands, modal jazz, Charles Ives, Motown.
—David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 12 Jan. 2026
There will be just about every kind of music, from the smooth tunes of the Cape’s beloved singer Suede to a jug band, Celtic music, a tribute to Tony Bennett and more.
—Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 28 Dec. 2025
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
Not bad for a former Bay Area jug band.
—Joe Lynch, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
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Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
But playing songs associated with his close friend — the one who had invited the teenage Weir into the jug band that became the Dead — remained daunting.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 17 Feb. 2026
Part of the Dead’s greatness resided in their integration of nearly the full breadth of American music: jug bands, modal jazz, Charles Ives, Motown.
—David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 12 Jan. 2026
There will be just about every kind of music, from the smooth tunes of the Cape’s beloved singer Suede to a jug band, Celtic music, a tribute to Tony Bennett and more.
—Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 28 Dec. 2025
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
Not bad for a former Bay Area jug band.
—Joe Lynch, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Jug band.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jug%20band. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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