Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost

Cleveland businessman Todd Kwait has long harbored passions for film and music. He manages to meld the two with his first independently produced documentary, CHASIN' GUS' GHOST, which traces the roots of jug band music. Gus Cannon and his Jug Stompers, plus other 1920's bands like the Dixieland Jug Blowers, have influenced countless folk and rock musicians, from the Lovin' Spoonful and the Grateful Dead to modern masters like the Sankofa Strings. Kwait and his crew interview musicians who were inspired by the jug band greats, including John Sebastian from the Lovin' Spoonful; Jim Kweskin, Geoff Muldaur, Bill Keith, Maria Muldaur, and Fritz Richmond from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band; Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead. Archival and contemporary concert footage are interwoven as the movie follows the thread of musicians influenced by Gus and those who came after him, from Memphis to Louisville to Sweden, and finally to the great Yokohama Jug Band Festival in Japan. That concert was dedicated to the memory of washtub bass/jug great Fritz Richmond, a man so revered that his instruments are included in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. –BB