Heroes of Hokum
John T. recently relocated to the Piedmont from the
Boston area, where he plied his trade as a magazine
publisher while pursuing his real passion exploring
the roots of American String Band, Jug Band and
early acoustic blues. His interests started during the
"Folk Revival" of the '60s and followed the roots to
the Piedmont, where he is still digging.
A description of Hokum Music:
Hokum is a particular song type of American music a humorous song which uses extended analogies or
euphemistic terms to make innuendoes. This style
goes back to early blues recordings and is seen from
time to time in modern American blues and is
considered the roots of rock and roll music.
Sometime in the very early 1900s, "Jug" bands
originated in Louisville, Kentucky. These bands
achieved an almost instantaneous success, and
nowhere did they prosper more than in Memphis,
Tennessee . The bands were soon heard up and
down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Early Jug
bands played a mix of every type of music; old time
Country, Blues, even Jazz and some Pop music with
Ragtime roots. By 1910, several Jug bands were
playing in Louisville.
Today, the guitar is associated with the blues, but
that instrument's dominance is actually a rather
recent development beginning soon after the start
of the 20th century. During the 19th century, it was
the fiddle and the banjo that were the dominant
instruments for both White and Black American
musicians. The Melody instruments usually
consisted of a fiddle, banjo and sometimes a
mandolin or guitar.
(The Banjo is the only musical instrument invented
in America. See Michael Ellis article: The Five String
Banjo In The Ozarks.)
Show Time: Saturdays 4-5 pm
DJ / Host:
John T.
Very often a "kazoo" and/or harmonica
carried the melody. The "Rhythm Section"
used instruments made from common
household objects of the era including
earthenware jugs, spoons, and washboards.
A little later, even empty tin cans were used.
At least one band member would provide the
bass line by blowing rhythmically into or
across the top of a jug - "The Poor Man's
Tuba." The early Jug bands truly are a tribute
to the ingenuity shown by impoverished rural
Blacks in expressing themselves musically on
whatever they found at hand. Often cited is
the fact that Gus Cannon (leader of Cannon's
Jug Stompers) fashioned his first banjo from a
bread pan and a broom handle.