Ever Loving’ Jug Band,
Julia Narveson, a.k.a. Minnie Heart, of Ever Lovin’ Jug Band giggles when asked what the word ‘snish’ means.
Snish sounds like underworld creature Gollum from Tolkien classic “Lord of the Rings” or ever-crying creature Squonk from Genesis’s album “Trick of the Tail.”
“It’s a secret, but you are not far off,” she adds with another giggle, referring to this little banjo/fiddle ditty with its spooky-cartoon-like bass-line intro featuring Ever Lovin’s Bill Howard on vocals.
Howard and Heart love to sing and play music inspired by the jug bands of the 1920s and ’30s.
The pair plays many instruments including banjolin, (mandolin/banjo mix) fiddle, kazoo, guitar, washboard, banjitar (banjo/guitar mix), cello, and the jug!
“I play the foot bass a lot these days. That gives us a fuller sound,” adds Heart.
She also plays fiddle, bass, baritone saxophone, and violin which leads to the story of the Little Dampit.
Heart, who hails from a noted musical background, began playing violin at the age of five. She is a hero to young violinists worldwide because of a musical device called the Little Dampit.
A Dampit is a little pipe sponge insert or humidifier for string instruments that protects the wood.
“My teacher always recommended Dampits for keeping violins healthy,” recalls Heart. “But being a little kid I was playing a tiny violin so I found a distinct lack,” she adds. “Then my mum suggested I should write to the guy who invented the Dampit and tell him my problem,” she says.
Dampit inventor (the late) Ralph Hollander loved Heart’s letter, which suggested he make “little Dampits for little violins.” So wrote back and asked for her help. Heart (also an illustrator) sent him a drawing of the Little Dampit, and Hollander made her one. Then he started manufacturing the mini sponge pipe humidifiers. Heart helped him to design the packaging, for the Little Dampit which is now distributed worldwide.
“He came for a visit,” says Heart, referring to the New York based violinist/ virtuoso coming to see her violin recital at Toronto’s Suzuki Music School. “It was so cool. I even got to draw the little logo,” she adds giggling again.
Through the years Heart continued her passion for music, switching from UW to the arts programs at Concordia University in Montreal where her friend was studying. She landed in the folk scene. “I met Bill (Howard) at a jam. There was a group of people who just got together and recorded songs. He needed a bass player for his next gig and I play bass too. Then we became best friends and so forth,” says Heart. “I was really into the Harry Smith’s folk anthology,” she adds.
Harry Smith’s “Anthology of American Folk Music” is a 1952 playlist of songs compiled from American producer/archivist Harry’s Smith’s personal collection of folk, blues, and country music on 78 RPM records that were issued between 1927 and 1932. It was also a touchstone for folk artists in the late ’50s and early ’60s.
Heart made a copy of the famed music collection for Howard who loved old country music.
“Pretty much if you are into old country music and work backwards in time, you will hit jug band music at some point. I friggin’ love it so much,” exclaims Heart, adding they found the music of jug band great Jim Kweskin at Orange Monkey Records, when they visiting before moving to Waterloo. “And that got us in whole new direction,” she adds.
Kweskin and his jug band (including singer Maria Maldaur, wife of member of Geoff Maldaur) are known for reviving pre-war music and fun ragtime style fingerpicking country/blues tunes. He also performed on Garrison Keillor’s popular live weekly radio variety show “A Prairie Home Companion.”
In addition to Kweskin, Heart and Howard are also inspired by the auld-time repertoire of the Memphis Jug Band, The Mississippi Sheiks, Hackberry Ramblers, and Gus Cannon.
The band now has two albums. The 2012 debut “Tri City Stomp” featured many auld style songs including fun-toon “Garbage Day Rag” with a costume parade video!
“The Snish” features kazoo-and-meow refrain “How Long,” “Succatash Rag,” “Yolanda,” and the modern jugbandism of Bill Howard’s yodeling/fiddle tune “Crusty Punks on the Moon.”
It’s more “booglie-ooglie-oo” flowing through this vintage cornucopia of ragtime, blues, country, Cajun and string band songs.
Heart’s old-time voice is a charming throwback to Billie Holiday and her personal music hero, Memphis Minnie. The band’s originals are so authentic, they sound like they are being played fresh off a wind-up 78 RPM record player complete with antique stylus.
The duo has also worked with like-minded musicmen/members Willie Ames and D.H. Thompson of Waterloo band Love Banshee, in addition to Dave Neigh from Frog and Henry.
“Tri-City Stomp” was a larger band configuration but “The Snish” is simply Heart and Howard.
The album was done off-the-floor/live to tape at their home studio with the couple using an old ’50s-style Ampex tape machine and vintage mikes.
For the TWB show Heart and Howard will perform material from both albums.
“We have an ever-expanding repertoire of old music, so lots of jug and string band stuff and a few Cajun numbers,” says Heart. “We are working on new material; I feel like we are morphing all the time. We are trying to do more guitar duets. One guitar does a lot of cool bass lines and the other one does more solo-y stuff on top. I have been playing a foot-bass a lot so that fills out the sound. And then we sing together. I love that.”