By Sean Claes
This story originally ran in the April 2008 issue of INsite Austin Magazine

There ain't no hole in the washtub and there ain't jug in the South Austin Jug Band. For those who have had the honor of seeing the amazing 1977 Jim Henson Christmas film Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas you may get this reference... and thus you may know where the name South Austin Jug Band, who formed in 2001, came from.

While they have never had a jug in the band, they have evolved over the last few years from a band known for their bluegrass-style with amazing chops to a band known for their genre-jumping chops who can cover Beck's "Jack-Ass" with amazing results.

On April Fools Day, the South Austin Jug Band released Strange Invitation solidifying this five piece band featuring James Hyland (vocals/acoustic guitar), Dennis Ludiker (mandoln/fiddle), Brian Beken (fiddle/ guitar/mandolin), Rob Kidd (drums), Matt Mefford (Upright bass) as a force to be reckoned with. I had a chance to talk with Hyland in late March.

Sean Claes: If my mind is working right... the title of your new CD, Strange Invitation comes from the Beck song "Jack-Ass" which you've covered on the disc. What made you want to cover this song?
James Hyland: The loop in Beck's version has this hypnotic thing about it that I loved, and I seemed to identify with the words. We got Dennis to recreate the loop on mandolin and we've got Rob playing sleigh bells and drums at the same time. It's a fun song to get loud on.

Claes: The album cover is intriguing. What's the story behind it?
Hyland: The cover photo was taken by Mathew Fuller. He took a string of pictures while in Havana, Cuba. I like the picture because there's so much going on in it, and behind the scenes. It's the kinda party where you get bombed Friday night and wake up Sunday morning naked and bruised. And I wanna see the party these guys are going to.

Claes: How different was the recording of Strange Invitation to your previous efforts?
Hyland: Completely different. We produced this one ourselves, and only put songs on it that fit, we also only recorded to 2inch tape, no computers. And the songs were written together, as opposed to just a few guys showing up with a few songs they had each written, that had nothing to do with one another. We left Austin and stayed in NYC for a week, turn a hotel room into a makeshift recording studio and did all of our final decision making there. Preproduced it, and come studio time, we were ready to knock it out.

Claes: Do you have a favorite track on the new CD?
Hyland: I like all of them. I really feel like we were able to make a solid album, beginning to end, every song belongs. I'm proud of the entire record.

Claes: I hear the name of the band is a nod to the Muppet classic "Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas." How did that come about?
Hyland: I remember when I was a kid, HBO would show Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas every year at Christmas time, obviously. It was my favorite movie. I am a huge Jim Henson fan. Huge. And the music in the movie was bad ass. And I dug the message of the movie, even though Emmet didn't win the big prize, he still got to play music. That's Tight!

Claes: I've been able to find a few of your live shows online for free downloading. Are you guys big on free sharing of your music?
Hyland: I'm all about it, take it home and listen to it, I only wish the sound quality of the shows were better. Guys think that having a board mix is a good idea. It sounds awful to me, the board is used to manipulate the sound of the room, you want a mic in a great sounding room, that's a live show I would listen to. I can't handle hearing a board mix, it's garbage really...

You can pick up a copy of Strange Invitation just about anywhere that sells CDs, and you can catch them live at Shady Grove on May 1 as part of KGSR's Unplugged at the Grove series. I have a feeling Jim Henson would approve of them.

Sean Claes (http://www.seanclaes.com) is a freelance entertainment writer in Central Texas.

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