Saturday, August 1, at 2:00 pm jug band fans from Chicago will be in Memphis to dedicate a note in Beale Street’s Brass Note Walk of Fame to Will Shade & The Memphis Jug Band. First recording in 1927, Shade brought national attention to a style of free spirited, free wheeling music that included such instruments as the jug, washboard, bullfiddle (as washtub with a line and pole), and kazoo as well as more traditional instruments. Until his death in 1966 Shade remained a consumate showman and promoter as his ardent fans of today will attest. Arlo Leach and colleagues from the Old Town Folk Music Center in Chicago raised money to pay for the brass note and are traveling to Memphis to perform authentic jug band music at the dedication ceremony, once again proving the variety and attraction of Memphis music.
The walk of fame was instituted by Performa Entertainment Real Estate in 1986; the Will Shade note will be the 78th dedicated.
