Hear the Music
Unplugged Revelry

The Iron Ridge Jug Band

We bring the unpolished, foot-stomping energy of 1920s Appalachian ragtime to life with hand-cranked acoustic power and zero modern filters.

The Mission

Raucous Back-Porch Ragtime

We gather around a single microphone to channel the raw, unplugged revelry of the Appalachian foothills. Our music is built for wooden floors that can take a beating.

Close-up of hands playing a custom-tuned clay jug and a vintage washboard with rich brass hardware, warm golden-hour light, sepia-tinted tintype style, high-grain 35mm film texture.
Close-up of hands playing a custom-tuned clay jug and a vintage washboard with rich brass hardware, warm golden-hour light, sepia-tinted tintype style, high-grain 35mm film texture.
Our Gear

Built and Tuned by Hand

From custom-tuned clay jugs to heavily scraped washboards, our tools are salvaged from antique barns and back-alley shops. We don't use synthesizers—just worn wood, brass, and pure steam.

Environmental portrait of Silas holding a large clay jug, warm amber lighting, dusty vintage barn background, tintype style.
Environmental portrait of Silas holding a large clay jug, warm amber lighting, dusty vintage barn background, tintype style.
Environmental portrait of Maeve scraping a steel washboard, laughing candidly, warm golden-hour light, 35mm film grain.
Environmental portrait of Maeve scraping a steel washboard, laughing candidly, warm golden-hour light, 35mm film grain.
Environmental portrait of Rufus plucking a single-string tub bass, warm sepia tones, dusty barn interior.
Environmental portrait of Rufus plucking a single-string tub bass, warm sepia tones, dusty barn interior.
Environmental portrait of Clara playing a vintage banjo, smiling, warm golden sunlight, soft depth of field.
Environmental portrait of Clara playing a vintage banjo, smiling, warm golden sunlight, soft depth of field.
Environmental portrait of Virgil sliding a brass slide on a resonator guitar, warm amber stage lighting.
Environmental portrait of Virgil sliding a brass slide on a resonator guitar, warm amber stage lighting.
Environmental portrait of Hattie playing a 1910 fiddle, warm sepia tintype style, high-contrast lighting.
Environmental portrait of Hattie playing a 1910 fiddle, warm sepia tintype style, high-contrast lighting.
The Musicians

The Six-Piece Engine

Silas

Maeve

Rufus

Breathes heavy bass into our custom clay jugs, keeping the band's heartbeat grounded in the dirt.

Scrapes and shakes the steel washboard with a relentless, hand-cranked energy that drives the rhythm.

Plucks a single-string tub bass salvaged from an old Appalachian dairy barn, delivering deep, resonant thumps.

Clara

Virgil

Hattie

Fires off rapid-fire ragtime banjo rolls that cut through the noise like a steam whistle.

Slides across a worn brass resonator, blending sweet delta blues with sharp, unpolished country ragtime.

Wields a 1910 fiddle with a wild, back-porch swing that keeps every wooden floorboard shaking.