What is it about jugband music that makes you
want to smile, kick up your heels and send your shoes
flying? Jugband music is lively, cheerful and fun.
It's music that lifts the spirit, and makes you dance
as if no one was watching.The Burlington, Vermont-based Jugtown Pirates of Lake Champlain are masters of this old time music, bringing together—then and now—the young and the old to
dance a jig. The Pirates are a one-of-a-kind,
energetic quintet bringing audiences a TASTE OF
TWISTED TRADITIONAL TOE-TAPPING TUNES. They utilize an
array of instruments, including the washboard,
tambourine, kazoos, guitar, washtub bass, upright bass,
mandolin, banjo, jug, spoons, drums and occasionally a
train whistle and harmonica.  Additionally, the
Pirates have been known to bring along a crew of
friends & special guests who sing and play
accordians, horns, and psychodelia (the list goes on). No show
is ever the same.  Because of this, the Pirates draw
huge crowds wherever they go, and their faithful
fanbase of "Jug Addicts," as they're affectionately
called, grows larger and larger with each show.
The Jugtown Pirates will be hard to miss due to
their hard working and self-driven energy.
Their growing street teams, and the band's own
relentless self-promotion throughout the universe will make them unstoppable.


THE JUGTOWN PIRATES HAVE RECORDED THEIR FIRST FULL LENGTH ALBUM!
12 ORIGINAL TUNES!
CHECK OUT THE NEW MUSIC ABOVE!!!
Here is our 1st CD Review from Seven Days- Tell us what you think...

THE JUGTOWN PIRATES OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, THE JUGTOWN PIRATES OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN


E-Mail |
(Gang of Hair Records, CD)

Yarrrgh! Sorry. I’ve just always wanted to say that. And in the case of Burlington’s favorite swashbuckling, old-time bluegrass act The Jugtown Pirates of Lake Champlain, it seems more than appropriate. Yarrrgh! See, there I go again.

The band’s reputation for sometimes frantic but always engaging shows is well earned and has garnered the Pirates a nice little following of landlubbers beyond the shores of our picturesque lake. But the true test for any great live band, seafaring or otherwise, is its ability to translate the frenetic energy of its performances into a reasonable facsimile on record. It’s easier said than done. But with their self-titled debut, the Jugtown crew has done an admirable job and produced a worthy companion to those exciting concerts.

Often lost in the cacophony of the band’s live antics is the technical ability of its members as musicians. While not virtuosic by any means, all handle their instruments dexterously. The clarity of the recording serves as evidence that, in addition to their considerable performing skills, these rapscallions can really play.

Mandolinist Paul “Mendelsohn” Girouard has terrific chops and lays down nimble licks throughout. Benjamin Strosberg scratches a mean washboard and tastefully locks in with Harlan Rollins’ upright bass and Karel Jeremy “Peaches” William Hammond’s equally upright washtub bass and jug. Beneath it all, guitarist Tobias Sebastian Sanchez-Mahan provides a superb rhythmic framework for the band to bounce, jig and reel through 12 catchy, well-arranged tunes.

The group’s songwriting unabashedly borrows from The Grateful Dead; the influence of Jerry Garcia and David Grisman is apparent throughout. While it would be easy to dismiss such leanings as hero worship, or outright thievery — which, I suppose, would be appropriate for Pirates — they seem to come by their sound honestly. They also balance an obvious affinity for the Dead with irreverent lyric writing that probably owes more to Ween. The result is an energetic romp through deliciously quirky, psychedelic roots terrain they can call their own.

The Jugtown Pirates of Lake Champlain are now a force on the record, though the best way to experience the band is still to go out and see them live — preferably on a boat. Fortunately, the group will commandeer a Lake Champlain cruise ship and set sail this Friday to celebrate the release of their new disc, with the Jugtown Masquerade 4. Yarrrgh!

DAN BOLLES

As you read this, the Jugtown Pirates are sailing across the North American "land sea" in a waste vegetable oil-power school bus, Rusty the Rodeo Whale.
For booking inqueries, cd orders and veggie oil info,
please contact jugtown@hotmail.com.