With Halloween having just been a few days ago, we felt it necessary to dig into a something a little more sinister to showcase for our Indie Band of Week; however, don’t make Halloween the only reason to listen to this band. These guys have one heckuva refreshing sound in the face of an industry that hinges on fads so heavily that distinguishing bands becomes an art, and only appreciable by musical forensic scientists.
Their webpage reads:
“Drawing inspiration from historic JUG bands of the 1920’s and 30’s as well as the darker side of Blues and Rock n’ Roll, the BLOODY JUG Band carves out its own niche in a genre of music that has never seen such a bloody incarnation…”
And do they ever! Break away from the standard and feast your ears on this week’s indie band of the week, The Bloody Jug Band.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Cragmire Peace (Vocals/Washboard) and get down to the nitty gritty about what makes this band’s Swamp Rock RAWK!
First of all I love the video for “RoadKill Boys.” who came up with the concept and how hard was it to pull off?
Seth Funky and I happened to be working Tech/Sound for a place that did Puppet Plays for Elementary School children, so the idea of using puppets came out of that experience. But, also ‘Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas’ is a staple movie for any Jug Band fan –Â so it seemed like doing the video this way would be a nice homage to the old and darker 70/80’s Jim Henson films.
“Pulling it off” was a breeze for the Band, since none of us were actually in the video, but the production did have its hurdles to overcome. Making puppets work in a real-world environment while interacting with real people is tricky, as well as making their mouths line up when singing…etc., etc. I think Director (Steven Shea), Producer (Tim Anderson) and their team at Abyssmal Entertainment did a great job as always. This is the second time we’d worked with the team to make a music video. I end up going to Steven and Tim with a really rough concept or idea I’m toying with, and they are the ones who flesh out the actual story and many of the visual elements.
The Bloody Jug Band – Roadkill Boys (Music Video)
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For those who don’t know TBJB, how would you best describe your music? I’d go with with “Ass-Kickin Devilgrass,” but that’s just me.
At this point, we tend to lean towards “Swamp Rock” in the bigger genre of Americana Music, but we’ve always been a hard band to describe to people. We’re a bit off the mark in regards to what people think of as typical Bluegrass/Country/Rock/Blues/Folk, although we’re certainly influenced by all of those things. We just try to make our own bloody brew out of it. “Florida Swamp Noir” is a term what one of our first reviewers used, and we always liked that as well.
I can hear a lot of influence from Johnny Cash, am I wrong?
With so many members with different backgrounds, influences come from MANY places; but yes, Johnny Cash is near the top of the list for us. He brought a darker sensibility to what he was doing than most of his peers, and that is always big with us. Probably the same reason we are influenced by people like the Misfits, Tom Waits, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath and so on. We’re trying to apply the same darker sensibility to our genre of music as they did in theirs.
On the topic of influence, where is it coming from?
Books, Movies, Art, Music, Life, Comedy, Living in the South…and anything that is a little left of center.
You’re stuck in the desert with Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, and the cast of the Beverly Hill Billies. What do you do?
I’m sure we’d all pick our poison and have one hell of a Jamboree. Although, if we were in the desert, we might just need water and a taxi…or maybe eat the Hillbillies so the rest of us could jam on their bones.
How’d did the Jug Band get together?
The “idea” of the band is what brought us all together, and then we went from turning that idea into reality. Many of the members did not know each other originally, or only loosely, so it took awhile to bond and find our voice. Everyone came on board because it was a project they were really stoked about and wanted to be a part of. On the same token, the “idea” of the band is what keeps us going to this day. On a long enough timeline it is inevitable that talented members will come and go for a variety of reasons, but the Blood Train keeps on rolling because there is still work to be done, and we all still believe in what we’re doing.
What’s the plans for the next record? More ass kickin and mandolin 
shredding?
We’re in the middle of recording our second full length album, and will be releasing four tracks of the new material on our Murder of Crows EP. This album we’re trying to push more boundaries and take more chances with what we’re capable of in the studio. Things have been going much smoother the second time around, because we already have a great working rapport with Justin Beckler (our Producer) we’ve hit the ground running. Still has plenty of Mandolin Shredding…as well as some new elements like Banjo, Fiddle…etc. It is great to have so many talented members, because it gives us so many options when recording a track, and everything is coming together well on the new stuff we’ve been working on.
Ok, Top 5 films featuring the devil… Go!
Hmm…that’s tough. Devil’s Advocate, Angel Heart, Bedazzled, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny & South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
Nice! Who’s your favorite band to tour with and why?
Reverend Peyton’s BIG Damn Band for sure. They were a big influence on me musically before the band was ever created, and within the first year of performing we got the chance to open for them, so that was a big moment in our early years. We’ve been able to stay in contact through the years and play with them whenever they are in the area, so it’s great. I can humbly add that I probably wouldn’t be playing the washboard today if I didn’t see Rev Peyton open up for Flogging Molly in 2008. That was the catalyst.
How does it feel to be our Indie Band of the Week?
It’s an honor. We greatly appreciate the support and exposure!!!
Our pleasure man! What’s the greatest piece of musical advice you’ve ever heard?
“Stop singing so fucking loud!!!”
What would be worse: a zombie invasion or a space zombie invasion lead by the space devil?
Well, I think B is definitely worse. At least I’m prepared for Option A…
Aren’t we all! What was the recording process like? You guys sound really live and raw: the way it should be.
We record much of our album separately. A few of us come together with our producer to come up with a scratch track of the song. Then we start recording one instrument/member at a time; like building a puzzle. It is great you mentioned the tracks sounding live, because that is what we are going for, but every time we’ve actually tried to get in the same room and record a song live, it did not come out as we’d planned. So, recording is one process and playing live on stage is another.
Tell me about your ideas process. Who’s the driving force, or is it all mutual?
I typically bring a melody or song idea to the band and if they seem to dig it we start fleshing it out more. We always want to tell stories or cautionary tales, so a lot of the initial work is figuring out exactly what story we want to tell. But, we’ve all contributed to new songs or even the unique cover tunes we choose to perform in some way or another. Every idea is a valid one and anyone can bring something to the table. We’ve got a really creative group. And those who may be less creative still have many other elements they can take ownership of. I tend to be more on the vision side of things and drive the train from that end, but have little patience for the nuance of the recording process, or running live sound…etc., so we all play to our strong suites. In the end, I feel it makes us a tighter group because we all have something we can focus on and we compliment each other very well.
Any Australian tour plans? Our bluegrass and alt country scene is kickin off here. You’d do well.
We are working on getting a European tour together in early 2014, although I am unsure if Australia is in the cards right now. But, we’d love to go wherever we are welcomed and appreciated. Sometimes we find that foreign countries dig our stuff more than people in our own back yard, so we’d love to start touring the world more regularly. In the end, this is what we ALL want to be doing for a living…and we hope this is were our path is leading.
Any final words you leave us with?
Stay Tuned for our upcoming Murder of Crows EP, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and STAY JUG-ly!!!
Listen to The Bloody Jug Band here!
WEBSITEÂ | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
The Bloody Jug Band is:  Cragmire Peace (Vocals & Scratch), Stormy Jean (Vocals & Misc Percussion), Brian Shredder (Acoustic Guitar), Seth Funky (Washtub Bass), Big Daddy Jerm aka Dracula Mohammad (JUG & Kazoo),
Bloody Rick (Mouth Harp), Ste-evil (Electric Guitar, Slide & Banjo), Randall Scandal (Mandolin), Adam Blackwater
(Lap Steel & Resonator), Franklin Glory (Good Times…)
By: Â Rob Ryles, Contributing WriterÂ
