June 25, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band became the fourth annual recipient of the Fiddlers’ Jamboree’s “Blue Blaze Award” during the 46th annual Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival in July 2017.
After receiving the award, the TMJ Band delighted a Fiddlers’ Jamboree audience with a session of rib-tickling old time tunes, jokes, and slapstick gags. The video shown below is the latest in a series of Fiddlers’ Jamboree “special moments” from past festivals to be presented by WJLE through the 4th of July weekend.
M2U02481 from dwayne page on Vimeo.
The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band includes guitar picker Mike Armistead, banjo player Leroy Troy, fiddler Dan Kelly, Ernie Sykes, Kent Blanton on the bass fiddle, and Dobro player Mike Webb. The overalls-clad band has appeared on the Opry, at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, at The Station Inn and at numerous other venues, playing boisterous songs like “Too Old to Cut the Mustard,” “What a Waste of Good Corn Liquor” and “Slide Them Jugs Down the Mountain.”
Leroy Troy is a regular on the weekly Marty Stuart television show on RFD TV and the entire band is often featured on the show.
The Blue Blaze Award is designed to honor a group or individual that keeps the embers of bluegrass music glowing for future generations.