Conjugal Visitors

Author, Merry Prankster - Ken Babbs

We had the Conjugal Visitors from Eugene play at our ceremony and reception. They were incredible! We couldn't have asked for a better band for our wedding. They kept everyone dancing the whole time. And, they even made up songs on the spot about our dog, and one about my best friend's baby! It was awesome! It was our favorite part of the wedding...aside from getting married. - Jamie Crockett - Bride

We had the Conjugal Visitors from Eugene play at our ceremony and reception. They were incredible! We couldn't have asked for a better band for our wedding. They kept everyone dancing the whole time. And, they even made up songs on the spot about our dog, and one about my best friend's baby! It was awesome! It was our favorite part of the wedding...aside from getting married. - Jamie Crockett - Bride

Besides having one of the greatest names in local music, the Conjugal Visitors have one of the most infectious sounds, consistently moving their audiences with rootsy beats and a mischievous sense of humor.
This fast-picking, harmonizing acoustic powerhouse takes the prize as Eugene’s favorite unplugged performers.
Fans of mandolins and washboards should check out their newly released album, Satchel’s Rag, as well as upcoming performances at the Axe and Fiddle, John Henry’s and Holiday Market. - Eugene Weekly- October 30, 2008

Unlike the naughty nudge of the name, the music is (mostly) good clean fun, with some laugh-out-loud moments about singing in the bathtub and drinking a bottle of liquor down to the dregs.

Each of these nine tracks shows just how vocally and musically polished this trio is, and, no doubt, why Weekly readers vaulted them to the top of the musical heap.

The band’s name brings a smile to the face of everyone who hears it.
That wink-inducing moniker may be one reason that Eugene voted The Conjugal Visitors the Best Acoustic Act in EW’s 2008-09 readers’ poll, but it’s certainly not the only reason.
Eugeneans love the band’s music. - Eugene Weekly- Sept. 23, 2010

Unlike the naughty nudge of the name, the music is (mostly) good clean fun, with some laugh-out-loud moments about singing in the bathtub and drinking a bottle of liquor down to the dregs.

Each of these nine tracks shows just how vocally and musically polished this trio is, and, no doubt, why Weekly readers vaulted them to the top of the musical heap.

The band’s name brings a smile to the face of everyone who hears it.
That wink-inducing moniker may be one reason that Eugene voted The Conjugal Visitors the Best Acoustic Act in EW’s 2008-09 readers’ poll, but it’s certainly not the only reason.
Eugeneans love the band’s music. - Eugene Weekly- Sept. 23, 2010

"This band is as good as advertised. The band maintains an eclectic arsenal of fiddle tunes, old-timey traditionals, and lively originals.
I recommend you catch one of their captivating live shows." - Dylan MacNab- April 8, 2010

The Conjugal Visitors gathered a solid fan base more quickly than the average independent local band. That’s because in their first couple of years, they performed free shows almost every week at New Day Bakery in the Whiteaker neighborhood.

People quickly realized that although they were holding a mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo and upright bass, this was not Bill Monroe’s bluegrass.
If you want historical re-enactment, a Conjugal Visitors show is not the place to be.

The Conjugal Visitors not only fuse styles, they can vary their set depending on the crowd, playing straighter if the crowd seems to want that and toning down adult themes in mixed-age gatherings.

“The Gang’s All Here” includes nine originals, mostly written by [Jesse] Lawton and [M.D.] Elsworth. Lawton and Elsworth have very different styles, which adds depth to the live shows.
A three-minute fiddle tune from Chip Cohen called “Friday the 13th” shows off the seasoned player’s traditional chops while maintaining the Visitors’ trademark playfulness.

Elsworth ...has been playing square dances since the ’90s.
Elsworth grew up in Kentucky and moved to Oregon for a carpentry job.
“It was just part of the culture back where I am from,” said Elsworth, who probably has the most distinctive look of the group with his big bushy beard and dreadlocks the length of a second-grader.

[Jesse] Lawton wrote the stand-out track of the CD, “With My Baby,” a charming meditation on getting drunk with the one you love.

[Brien] McMullen performs barefoot, dancing along with his instrument, slapping percussion on the bass’s hollow body and finding off beats to insert his sound.

So they started playing... under a borrowed canopy. Several dozen people soon surrounded them as Lawton picked ferociously at his mandolin and growled a sort of Tom Waitsian tango, “You Ain’t Got Jack.” - The Register Guard- Friday, Sep 24, 2010

The [Conjugal Visitors] featured a guitarist with waist-long dreadlocks and sang while a crowd of kids and parents stood enthralled.
"If they're at Folklife, they're cool parents," mandolinist Jesse Lawton later explained.
They also played old-time string music, heavy on the upright bass, dobro and shouted vocals.

These kids are picking at the frayed thread of acoustic roots music, breathing new life into 80-year-old standards. This is folk music — work songs, hobo songs — played with punk-rock chutzpah. That it skews so young means folk music is alive and well.

Perhaps the complexion of Folklife is shifting. In its 39th year, the venerable festival seems less a magnet for aging hippies tooting pan flutes and more a destination for itinerant-punk banjo-busking bands.

Many of these teens and 20-somethings — pierced in very visible places, dragging dogs, smelling of wet cigarettes, wearing oily clothes held together by safety pins and patches — were extremely talented. - Seattle Times- Friday, May 28, 2010

Conjugal Visitors
With a name like Conjugal Visitors, they should be punk, right? More at home at the Grand Ole Opry than CBGBs, they'll make you slap your Mason jar of moonshine in double time. - Eugene Weekly 5-18-06

The Community Center for the Performing Arts announced the official winners of the 14th Annual WOW Hall Awards for 2007 earlier this week. CCPA started handing out the WOW Awards in 1994 as a way to honor the public’s favorite performers of the past year. A ballot was published in the January issue of the WOW Hall Notes and a ballot box was available at the WOW Hall from Jan. 2 through Feb. 14, 2008.

Here are the winners:
Favorite Local Band
2) Conjugal Visitors

Best Band Name
1) Conjugal Visitors - Register Guard March 14

noted roots guitar player and teacher - Walker T Ryan

This is the best band I could have possibly hired to play at my birthday - Ken Lamb

This is the best band I could have possibly hired to play at my birthday - Ken Lamb