Episode 509: The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band

Air Date: 09/7/2013

From the pastoral hills, hollers, shopping malls, and interstate highways of Goodlettsville, Tenn., comes the most entertaining “blast from the past” since Lester Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys. Five guys and a scrub board, they call themselves The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band.

The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band features the talents of “Lonesome” Lester Armistead, jug; Leroy Troy, banjo; David “Ferg” Ferguson, bass fiddle; Dan Kelly, fiddle; and Mike Armistead, guitar.

The band has shamelessly stolen a feature from the late Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff, a bit known as “Pap & the Jug Band.” This frolicking “fivesome” brightens up the stage with old-time tunes. The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band not only knows the music, they wear the costumes, tell corny jokes, and even do slapstick gags that throw audiences into hysterics. They perform concerts all over the South, bluegrass festivals including Bean Blossom, and at the famous Carter Family Fold in Hiltons Virginia.

The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band released the albumBarnyard Frolic. They’ve appeared on the Grand Ole Opry stage more than a dozen times.

The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band prides itself on hot picking, powerful harmony singing and riotous hijinks.

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