Railway Pie at album launch 2024 for new album Caution 15 Photo: supplied
It’s been said that in the late 1960s every university in Aotearoa New Zealand had one or two jug bands - prominent at protests, fundraisers for lefty causes, student parties and festivals.
Jugs, kazoos, washboards, harmonicas, and basses made of everything from wash tubs to tea chests have become synonymous with jug band music, played alongside other stringed instruments.
Adapting items that were on hand into instruments, jug bands first came to prominence in poor Black communities in the US Deep South, but saw a revival with the new folk generation of the 1960s.
They kept the spirit alive through ensembles with eccentric names, like the Kelburn Viaduct Municipal Ensemble Jug Band in Pōneke and Shingle Bob, from Kohukohu in the Hokianga.
Formed in Palmerston North in 1969, Railway Pie are billed as the last original jug band group still standing in NZ. Members Jack Craw, Alan Young, Terry Toohill and Gary Trotman have all played a part in the New Zealand blues and jazz scene.
Railway Pie CD Photo: supplied
They have released a new album, Caution 15. It was recorded as the soundtrack for a documentary on the centenary of Maungaturoto Railway Station, about 45 minutes south of Whāngarei. Celebrating rail’s rich heritage, the album was recorded in Maungaturoto, but due to Covid, the documentary and centenary celebrations never happened.
Joining Culture 101 to discuss jug bands is musician and Northland Regional Councillor Jack Craw.
Trains are an interest of Craw’s - he chairs the Whāngarei District Council/Northland Regional Council public transport working party, and has been an active supporter of climate action, better freshwater quality and public transport for Te Tai Tokerau. Previously, he worked for 40 years in biosecurity, including 11 years as Auckland Council’s biosecurity manager.
So what is a jug band?
The genre originated in the US Deep South in early 20th century, among Black musicians from the "bottom of the socio-economic heap", says Craw. They played blues and jigs - "anything they could lay their hands on, but played with cheap instruments".
So instead of a double bass, they would have a man blowing into the top of jug - hence the moniker - or create percussion on a washboard, as well as kazoos, fiddles and harmonicas.
There's a degree of skill involved though, Craw says.
"Normally, you'd get a big stone jug... you've got to have the right embouchure, you've got to be like a trombone player - you can't just blow across the top of it, you [need] the brass musician's technique".
The gigs were usually acoustic, he adds.
"It had to be that way, because those guys would play on street corners, they'd be busking, they'd be playing at rent parties - anywhere they didn't get arrested. And of course, frequently they would get asked to move along by the nice, white policemen."
The movement was centred around Memphis, Tennessee, as well as Louisville, Kentucky, and New Orleans, and played blues tunes and other popular songs of the time. Many recordings are still available, Craw says.
The instruments used in Railway Pie range from kazoo and double bass, to traditional folk ones such as fiddle, guitar, mandolin and harmonica.
The band started in Palmerston North in mid-1969, and their first gig was at a coffee bar. There soon followed open air concerts at university and teachers college', and opening act slots for touring bands.
Initially a skiffle band, they honed in on the Memphis jug band genre and modelled themselves on the Windy City Strugglers.
"We're really quite traditional," Craw says, "even though all of us have lives in other bands... we keep this intense love of jug band music alive through Railway Pie".
Are they still political?
"That's all gone, but it was definitely true in the day. Some of us got arrested at anti-Vietnam protests or anti apartheid protests and paid fines and whatnot, and we've been terribly well-behaved since."
They haven't given up yet because of the social side of the band, and because it's "keeping the music alive", he says.
They all share an "intense love" for blues music, with extensive collections.
"Knowing that no one else seems to be playing that Memphis jug band stuff any more keeps us going because we feel like someone needs to wave the flag for it."
The band's name came from their love for railways - Craw calls himself a rail aficionado, and still holds out hope for a railway service up in Te Tai Tokerau.
"There's no doubt every time we play in a little country outpost, they love us because it's very honest music - you play it acoustically, you can do it in someone's kitchen or do it in a town hall."
Railway Pie's latest album, Caution 15, is now available on Bandcamp. The band plays on 11 July at Devonport's Harmony Hall.
