The Busted Jug Band pushes the “Jug idiom” beyond it's historical confines. These include early Blues and Rhythm & Blues, novelty tunes, standards, New Orleans Jazz and Hillbilly music. The group plays music of the classic Jug Bands of Memphis, String Bands of Mississippi, and Swing Bands of the Urban North.
The Busted Jug Band's music is a festive romp through time featuring strong group vocals, swinging rhythms, Vaudeville-inspired humor and sharp instrumental work. These acts were very popular in the 1930s, influenced early Blues and Swing groups, and inspired mainstream novelty acts of the 1940s and 50s such as the Hoosier Hotshots and, most notably, Spike Jones and his City Slickers.
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These resourceful musical organizations featured homemade and dime store instruments such as the kazoo, washboard and “gut-bucket” (or washtub) bass alongside harmonica, mandolin, banjo-ukulele, squeeze box and a trunk full of musical oddities and noise makers. The all acoustic Busted Jug Band harkens back to the African-American street bands of the early 20th Century in Southern cities such as Memphis, St.
His meticulously executed working models are informed by his knowledge of mechanical lore. He is also recognized as an expert in the history of the evolution of steam power - something of great relevance to the process industrialization in Massachusetts. In fact, amongst New England model engineers and craftsmen, Todd Cahill has a unique reputation as an unexcelled builder of historically accurate working models, an artist, and as a repository and practitioner of traditional mechanical arts. Cahill is a member of the New England Model Engineering Society. "Following the practice of the early American industrialists to go where the energy was, I re-located a year ago to the Francis Cabot Lowell Mill in Waltham." A fitting move it was, as this is the site of the very first industrialized textile mill in the country to combine under one roof all the operations necessary to convert raw fiber into cloth. For twelve years, Cahill 's studio was located in a small mill building along the Blackstone River in Grafton. Cahill is also a fine mechanical draftsman. The equipment he uses to produce his models covers the history of machine tool technology from an 1850s hand cranked metal planer to the more contemporary lathes and milling machines. Examples of Cahill's working models include an 1838 Galloway Engine, an 1850s Beam Engine, and a Scottish Table Engine. He makes exquisite working models of 19th century engines commonly in use during the Industrial Revolution (in which Massachusetts figured prominently). Todd Cahill is an artist, mechanical engineer, model builder, and interpreter of the history of technology.