Jim Kweskin & Meredith Axelrod 
California

Legendary folk and jug band artist Jim Kweskin joined forces with kindred spirit, young heiress-apparent, captivating singer/guitarist Meredith Axelrod to record “Come On In”, a rich collection of authentic American songs by people like Mississippi John Hurt, Gene Autry, and Irving Berlin. We welcome them to the VFMF to share that compelling fusion of vintage Americana past and present with us now live.

Jim Kweskin is an American music pioneer. The irreverent, eclectic Jim Kweskin Jug Band became the original Americana band, playing everything from classic blues to hillbilly country, ragtime, jazz, and rock and roll. In the 1960s, the band was admired and imitate by everyone from folk and blues musicians to rockers, sharing bills with the likes of Dylan. Rock critic Ed Ward once listed the most important bands of the early 1960s as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Byrds, and the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. A master finger-picker and singer, Jim has gone on performing jug band favorites, old time jazz tunes, and classic country blues – perfecting a low key, homemade sound and continuing to break ground and keeping American music traditions vibrant.

Meredith Axelrod is a vintage Americana singer and guitarist who delivers heartfelt renditions of ragtime, music hall, minstrel, pop standards, boogie woogie jazz, country, old time blues, and even jugtime tunes from times gone by. Meredith sings and plays as if she had time-traveled back to pre-mic days, learning from the original recordings, bringing her own charm and humor with a large dose of devotion to these American cultural treasures.

Together on stage, their show radiates talent, no small dose of charisma, and a shared passion for these remarkable songs. They invite aficionados and newcomers alike to come on in and hear them sung with respect, honesty and love.