Last Chance Jug Band

Headed by musicologist David Evans, The Last Chance Jug Band is a modern-day incarnation of the jug bands that existed in the Memphis area during the '20s and '30s, namely The Memphis Jug Band led by Will Shade and Cannon's Jug Stompers headed up by Gus Cannon. The band consists of Evans (vocals, guitar, kazoo), Jobie Kilzer (harmonica and jug), Dick Raichelson (piano), Tom Janzen (drums) and Richard Graham (one-string bass, washboard, jug, percussion).

Formed in 1989 in Memphis, the band released its debut album Shake That Thing (the title cut originally recorded by Papa Charlie Jackson) in 1997. In an attempt to modernize the sound for contemporary audiences, the group chose to use electric instruments (keyboards and amplified guitar) and add drums. The album is made up of mostly traditional material along with three originals (two by Evans and one by Raichelson). There is a very entertaining version of the historic W.C. Handy tune "Mister Crump," also known as the "Memphis Blues" and a positively inspiring version of the spiritual "Time is Winding Up," a traditional song that Evans learned from New Orleans street singer Babe Stovall.