The Half Moon Jug Band is a four-headed monster of folk music whose live show resembles a runaway freight train plowing straight through a rubber chicken factory. They play banjos, guitars and mandolins, but don't confuse them with a bluegrass band because they've also got a drummer and electric bass. They round out their sound with strong vocals, trumpet, kazoo and the occasional raspberry.

Not content to merely play music at their gigs, the band thrives on interaction with their audiences. They do whatever it takes to put on a show, studding every performance with jokes, stories and mandatory sing-alongs. No one gets out without singing. No one. They have deep roots in Maine and have accents, songs and squeaky rubber lobsters to prove it.

The Half Moon Jug Band's early years are shrouded in mystery but clues can be found lingering in the salty air around Portland's Old Port. Some say they came here in spaceships looking for butter and potato-flavored beer to bring back to their home planet. Others tell a story of a merry band of sidewalk subversives entertaining passersby and annoying shopkeepers on Exchange Street some 15 years ago. The truth will probably never be fully known.

In any case, now the HMJB is on the road playing venues like the Fryeburg Fair, New Year's Portland, the Prescott Park Folk Festival and the Maine Lobster Festival. They have made live appearances on FM 90.9 WMPG in Portland and on the television programs Alive! from Johnson Hall and WGME TV's Daybreak .

Back in the spring of 2001 the HMJB released its first recording "Space Man in a Jug Band" spawning a local radio hit "Moving Back to Westbrook." It tells the story of a love gone wrong amid the unmistakable odor of a paper mill town. Gigafone Records featured the band on a compilation CD of live music in 2000.

In late 2003 the HMJB recorded and released a holiday album "Christmas on Exchange Street," recorded live on the brick sidewalks of Portland. The CD documents the band's now famous open-air Christmas show, which has become something of an institution in Portland. Look for The Half Moon Jug Band at a fair, festival, watering hole, ship christening or concert stage near you. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.