[1] The band featured harmonica, kazoo, fiddle and mandolin or banjolin, backed by guitar, piano, washboard, washtub bass and jug.
The large membership pool gave the Memphis Jug Band the flexibility to play a mixture of ballads, dance tunes, knock-about novelty numbers, and blues.
[6] Another variation from the Louisville sound was a focus on country blues songs, like those favored by Jim Jackson and other Memphis-area solo artists.
Songs led by Charlie "Bozo" Nickerson, such as "Everybody's Talking About Sadie Green" and "Cave Man Blues", were boisterous and funny; songs led by Charlie Burse, such as "Little Green Slippers" and "Insane Crazy Blues", were more musically complex and jazz-oriented; songs led by Charlie Pierce sounded like Appalachian fiddle tunes, backed by impressive jug playing and shouted challenges from his bandmates.
[4] However, many of the Memphis Jug Band's influences are more readily apparent in popular musical styles of their time.
The Memphis Jug Band played wherever they could find engagements and busked in local parks and markets.
[6] Two of their 1920s recordings were included on the influential Anthology of American Folk Music, released in 1952 (a third is on the unreleased fourth volume).
The other jug band song on The Country Blues was Gus Cannon's "Walk Right In", which was a hit for the Rooftop Singers in 1962.
His ongoing activity as a performer and his accessible location in Memphis made him a popular starting point for scholars looking for other musicians in the area.
The Memphis Jug Band was awarded a Brass Note on the Beale Street "Walk of Fame" in 2009.