What common thread can keep a professor of psychiatry in Ohio, a professor of business administration in Pennsylvania , a museum director in New Jersey, and a systems programmer in North Carolina together for almost 40 years? It's jug band music, pure and simple.

The Philadelphia Jug Band traces its roots to the early 1960's when its four core members (Dave Gauck, Jim Klingler, Steve Miller, and Frank Zemlan) were students at Council Rock High School in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, not far from Philadelphia. The “folk music revival” was rapidly spreading across America, and Philadelphia was one of America’s great folk meccas.

In 1962, Dave, Jim, Steve, Frank, and other classmates formed a group known as the Ridgerunners and began playing mainstream, popular folk music. They performed well-known folk tunes such as Tom Dooley, If I Had A Hammer, House of the Rising Sun, and Charlie on the MTA. Their music soon evolved into more ethnic, authentic, and personal forms. The early band included up to thirteen members and provided entertainment for themselves and others. First, they performed informally at parties throughout the area and then by request at local civic events, grange halls, and church basements. Eventually the band performed, with some regularity, at The Cellar, a coffee house under a delicatessen in Levittown. They also played on the streets and in various eateries along the Delaware River, and in bohemian tourist communities such as New Hope, Pennsylvania.

In 1963, Dave and Steve went to the second annual Philadelphia Folk Festival. It was organized by the Philadelphia Folk Song Society and held in Paoli, a suburb of Philadelphia. The Jim Kweskin Jug Band was featured in the Saturday night concert. As soon as Dave and Steve heard the Kweskin band, they knew immediately that this was music the Ridgerunners should play. The next week they got a washboard, jug, washtub, and Kweskin’s first album. When their band got together again, the new sound was introduced. From then on, whenever there was a folk music event in Bucks County, jug band music was heard. Yet, they were not the only jug band ragtimers in town. The Yardley Mountain Frog Stompers, made up of older guys (in their twenties!) including a math teacher from Council Rock, preceded them. This band provided local inspiration for the Ridgerunners, as well as some 'R' rated lyrics.

The Ridgerunners played just about every tune Kweskin recorded. The band quickly found more music on contemporary records as well as those featuring the original jug bands from the 1920's. New jug bands temporarily appeared on the scene. These included Dave Van Ronk and His Ragtime Jug Stompers, the True Endeavor Jug Band, and the Even Dozen Jug Band. The records made by these groups were a source of new songs as well as original interpretations of old numbers.

By 1964, the Ridgerunners included Dave Gauck on jug, washtub bass, and occasional vocals; Frank Zemlan and Jim Klingler on guitar and vocals; Steve Miller on washboard, kazoo, and vocals; and Sandy Shaw on vocals. In 1965, the band was briefly called the Keystone County Ragtime Euphoria Jug Band. By the late 1960's, it was known as the Philadelphia Jug Band. Sandy eventually left the band for more esoteric pursuits.

When Dave, Jim, Steve, and Frank graduated from high school and went to college, many thought the Philadelphia Jug Band would cease to exist. But the members could not let the music go. Even though they attended different colleges, the guys visited each other regularly and played for themselves, at coffee houses, school events, and wherever there was an open mike or a quiet street. During the summers when they were back home in Newtown, they carried on as before. They never missed the annual Philadelphia Folk Festival. They played in the campground until the wee hours of the night, formally at various workshops, and elsewhere with anyone who wanted to join in.

The band members pursued graduate studies, had families, relocated, and settled into careers, but the music continued. Dave found his way to North Carolina after living in upstate New York. Jim returned to the Philadelphia area after a tour in the Navy. After a long stay in New York City, Steve moved to Maine, Ohio, Vermont, and finally New Jersey. Frank eventually settled in Cincinnati.

Despite all the changes and moves, the band fell into a pattern. Everyone was able to get together three times a year -- Memorial Day weekend, New Year’s Eve, and, of course, at the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Through the 1970's , special gigs also brought them together. These included opening for Arlo Guthrie (and moving his grand piano) at a performance in Philadelphia; performing at Old City Sunday near Independence Mall in Philadelphia; kicking off the July 4th Bicentennial festivities at New York City’s Battery Park; and recording at a local radio station. The Jug Band had its 15 minutes of fame, 3 seconds at a time, when a Philadelphia TV station included a clip of the band in its opening news video collage for several years.