Last Sunday, I was fortunate enough to attend the Will Shade benefit at the Old Town School of Folk Music. It was a benefit to honor the very late Will Shade. Will Shade was one of best underground blues artists from Memphis. He was a founding member of The Memphis Jug Band. The Blues were rooted in Jug Band music. Basically, back in the day they didn’t have the money for a base, so they used jugs to blow across to get that deep sound. Hence, the term Jug Band. Will Shade died a poor man. Therefore, he has no gravestone to remember him by. This event was put together to generate enough money to buy a gravestone to provide Will Shade with a proper epitaph.
Charlie Musslewhite and a slew of other great musicians played the event in honor of this infamous facilitator of Jug Band Music.
Here are a few clips that I took with my Camera: