Medford's Black Record Collection performs during the Americana Jug Train VI concert.

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Angel Snow performs during the Americana Jug Train VI concert.

Roman Reese and the Cardinal Sins perform during the Americana Jug Train VI concert.

In the fall of 2006, Knoxville became home to a new tradition known as the Americana Jug Train - a concert to be held at an Old City venue a few times a year.

The Jug Train is the brainchild of Michael Davis and Matt Foster (of Medford's Black Record Collection), Jon Worley, Roman Reese and Brendan James Wright (possibly among others). As each of these Americana acts (which Davis is quick to admit is a large, open-ended term these days) played the local scene and most commonly on weeknights, a local bartender suggested they play a show together.

Davis and Foster have been familiar faces in the Knoxville music scene for years (even though the facial hair patterns have changed in that time). And the duo who performed as such for years has expanded into a full band with the addition of Clint Mullican on bass and Dave Whitaker on drums. Almost all of their shows now feature all four.

Davis started kicking around the idea and before long the Jug Train was born.

The show celebrates an historic event in the Old City. In the early 1900s Knoxville volunteered to prohibit alcohol sales, something which obviously hurt saloon businesses in the area that banked on the drive for the drink.

As rumor has it, and is shared on the Jug Train's MySpace page, people gathered the evening before prohibition went into effect to drink for the last time legally. As is stated on MySpace by local Americana artist Worley paraphrasing Davis, "the next day was one of the worst city-wide hangovers the South had ever seen."

Davis laughs in response to this quote, saying it may have been "embellished" by Worley, but that it is historically accurate. In fall of 1907, prohibition went into effect in Knoxville.

So in response to this rumored historic party comes the Americana Jug Train, celebrating local music, local traditions and local establishments. "It's as good of a reason as any," Davis says of celebrating an anniversary of prohibition.

But in doing so the Jug Train is something greater than the sum of its parts. In this time the show serves as a stimulation of the local economy. With the sixth Jug Train taking place at Barley's on a recent Saturday night, the show brought almost a full house. Patrick Sullivan's has also hosted the event on past occasions.

Jugs were suspended from the ceiling in a shoddy manner serving as the only decor for the evening. Band mates frequently took swigs from jugs on the floor, never disclosing what was in the jugs, but one can only guess, given the nature of the event. They always seemed pleased after sipping.

Medford's kicked off the evening playing a few calm, newer tracks (with a few older ones thrown in). Davis and Foster cycled through a plethora of instruments (mandolins, guitars, banjos, dobros) and shared their belting vocal harmonies.

Second on the list was Nashville singer/songwriter Angel Snow backed by slide guitarist Jason Goforth. Angel had a hint of a Stevie Nicks voice with an Alison Krauss sound, mesmerizing the crowd with ambient folk songs.

Roman Reese and the Cardinal Sins, a band which Reese himself admits has only played together "about six times, including the last show" closed out the evening. But even though they're new to playing together, Foster, Davis and Mullican from Medford's make up 3/5 of the band with drummer Hunter Deacon thrown in. With Reese being known around town as more of a Ryan Adams-esque singer-songwriter, the upbeat, harder-rocking full band provided a nice twist and got the audience on its feet for the rest of the night.

Although the Jug Train is something all the performers take seriously, they rarely acknowledged the theme behind the event, showing that the music was still the main focus. It's not like going to a benefit show or somewhere that an agenda is shoved down your throat - it's really just an excuse to have fun and showcase local and regional talent.

Davis says the next Jug Train is in the works already and he aims to put it on by late fall. The roster is still open, and he hopes to bring in more regional acts while keeping local acts.

Updates on the next show can be found on the Americana Jug Train MySpace page at myspace.com/americanajugtrain.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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