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Our Review

It's easy to get lost in the craft of this record--the musicianship and the clever tunes--but eventually one gets around to posing the musical question: why are these folks called The Christmas Jug Band, and why don't they ever play Austin? Maybe that's really two questions, and I don't have an answer for either, but if they need a little validation in order to work up the courage to quit their day jobs, I'm here to offer it.

Actually, I've been listening to a couple of these wily veterans since the '70s, Dan Hicks' in particular. What you have here is an assortment of their styles and licks, even better than their last offering, and almost off the scale, listenability-wise.

I liked every song on the record, so it is unfair point to any one as being substantially better than the others. But if I mention Angela Strehli and Maria Muldaur's rendition of Boogie Woogie Santa Claus, it would only be because it might positively affect the search engine rankings. Besides, I've always liked Ms. Strehli best of all the Austin-based blues singers. Her voice still has that throaty sexiness, and its pairing with the somewhat deeper textured voice of Maria Muldaur is inspired.

Also… Dan Hicks' These Christmas Blues makes a credible blues anthem. Tim Eschliman's adaptation of Don't They Know It's Christmas is an amusing encapsulation of the Jug Band's stylistic melange. Santa Lost a Ho is just odd. And even the obligatory Silent Night offers a change of pace.

Bottom line: this wide-ranging CD, includes blues, swing, and folk elements (in other words, all of the important musical genres), filled with clever new tunes and clever renditions of others, from Dan Hicks and his juggy band of merry misfits. What more could you ask for, for Christmas?

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2002)

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From the liner notes:

The Christmas Jug Band is a San Francisco Bay area, sometimes collaboration between Jim Rothermel, Lance Dickerson, Jim Eschliman, Adam Gabriel, Blake Richardson, Nick (Notjoe) Dewey, Paul Rogers, Dan Hicks, and Austin de Lone, along with special guest appearances on Uncorked by Norton Buffalo, Angela Strehli, Maria Muldaur, Mike Dure, and Greg "Duke" Dewey.

Their previous Christmas release is entitled Rhythm on the Roof.

Christmas Jug Band

Uncorked

Artist site

Track List