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Artist
The Scranton Sirens Orchestra
3+ albums
about
The era of the "Big Band" coincided with jazz and swing music and talented musicians. For Billy Lustig, a decade of this music started at the close of World War I and concluded in 1928. During that period, he was leader and violinist of the little-publicized Scranton Sirens that introduced many talented instrumental artists and a type of music that would become famous in the entertainment spotlight. Lustig, the twelfth of thirteen children, grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was designated by his family to be its professional; it was during the First World War that he entered Dickinson College with intentions of becoming a lawyer. Lustig also brought his violin to college and organized a small student band to play weekend dates to earn spending money. It was at one of these weekend stands in nearby Harrisburg that he met his wife-to-be. The war was taking its toll of eligible doughboys, and Lustig was obliged to leave college in 1916 to serve his country. He never returned to become a lawyer, trading the sheepskin for a career in music. His first band was named the Scranton Sirens for its place of origin and was organized in 1918. It featured dance music in the form of jazz and played the "Tiger Rag" as its theme song. Appearances were in one-night stands through the anthracite coal mining towns in eastern Pennsylvania. Featured were Patsy Raymond on the banjo and a one-armed Irish tenor by the name of Jack Gallagher, who filled the hills and valleys with his beautiful