Jack Kelly

by Jason AnkenySinger/guitarist Jack Kelly was the frontman of the South Memphis Jug Band, a popular string band whose music owed a heavy debt to the blues as well as minstrel songs, vaudeville numbers, reels and rags. Little is known of the hoarse-voiced Kellys origins; he led the group in tandem with fiddler Will Batts, and they made their first recordings in 1933, followed in 1939 by a second and final session. Although the South Memphis Jug Bands lineup changed frequently, Kelly remained a constant, leading the group in various incarnations until as late as the mid-50s; he died in Memphis in 1960.