Originating in southern Illinois as a band of hometown friends in 2000 playing “hard-edged blues rock,” The Mud Bugs were a thing. When Kit Jones relocated to the capital city a few years later, he retooled the band with area players and added regular blues, country, soul, folk and some beach songs to the mix as the group worked and played to become a fixture in the local bar scene. In 2013 the Bugs went dormant as Kit and fellow singing guitar slinger Jim Chase formed the duo of Jones & Chase to take advantage of the acoustic music market flourishing in central Illinois. Now The Mud Bugs are back with Kit and Jim again manning the guitars and vocals, ably backed by Patty Kniss (drums), Steve Dykema (bass) and Steve Becker (keyboards). Expect a good mix of familiar and deep-cut songs with a turn back toward the original, blues-based Bugs. As Kit is wont to say, “blues doesn’t have to be blue,” and that’s the truth.
Originating in southern Illinois as a band of hometown friends in 2000 playing “hard-edged blues rock,” The Mud Bugs were a thing. When Kit Jones relocated to the capital city a few years later, he retooled the band with area players and added regular blues, country, soul, folk and some beach songs to the mix as the group worked and played to become a fixture in the local bar scene. In 2013 the Bugs went dormant as Kit and fellow singing guitar slinger Jim Chase formed the duo of Jones & Chase to take advantage of the acoustic music market flourishing in central Illinois. Now The Mud Bugs are back with Kit and Jim again manning the guitars and vocals, ably backed by Patty Kniss (drums), Steve Dykema (bass) and Steve Becker (keyboards). Expect a good mix of familiar and deep-cut songs with a turn back toward the original, blues-based Bugs. As Kit is wont to say, “blues doesn’t have to be blue,” and that’s the truth.