Smokehouse Guitars News

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Permalink Reply by Wray on October 30, 2009 at 4:58am

Josh, Great publicity, That's the way to get the word out. Wray

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on October 30, 2009 at 12:00pm

Bwaaahahaha. Back when my bench wasn't covered with a permanent layer of saw dust.

Ted Crocker said:

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Permalink Reply by WillieDeeJay on October 30, 2009 at 1:42pm

I really enjoyed this.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on November 1, 2009 at 1:27am

Thanks, Ted. Forgot about this one...

Ted Crocker said:

Another interview with Josh in Boutique Guitar Resource

AUGUST 25, 2009 · POST
Interview by Ron of Boutique Guitar Resource

Boutique Guitar Resource: Tell us a little about your history and how you got into building cigar box guitars?

Josh Gayou: Music has always been a big part of my life from a young age. My parents are lovers of music from every genre (excluding rap and hip hop, etc) and they raised me on all of the greats. I got some heavy exposure to all sorts of styles through them including blues, country, rock, classical, zydeco, and a lot of folk Italian music (my mother is Italian). I’ve always had musical talent myself (as far as my ear is concerned and my ability to pick things up quickly), however I’ve never had any formal training in any instrument outside of the piano when I was very young and now, at 30, the only thing I can remember there is Chariots of Fire and Chopsticks.

A few years ago I happened upon a quick demo video on Youtube of a guy named Brother Yusef playing a one string cigar box guitar (what we call a Diddley Bow). This is a cool little instrument based on the traditional bow instruments that a lot of the children play in African tribes. It’s an extremely simple design and yet, in the hands of someone who knows their stuff, can produce some incredible sounds. I was very impressed with Yusef’s ability to produce music that I actually wanted to listen to (not something that I would only view once as a curiosity but something I would come back to listen to over and over again) using an instrument made from a cigar box and a broom handle. It challenged everything I thought I understood about how music is made.
Read the rest & see build pics

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on November 1, 2009 at 2:10pm

You got it.

Ted Crocker said:

My pleasure Josh! Got any more that you forgot about? Like I said, let's make this the spot where we can archive all the press we get, or the press we put out. A lot of folks here would love to learn more about us and love to see whatever recognition we get.

And maybe get some tips about how they can get the word out to their local press.

I'm trying to set this group up as the place to store all news about us and these strange instruments we make and play...

Please let me know if you run across anything CBG related we can archive here.

Ted

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Permalink Reply by Wes Yates on November 2, 2009 at 9:38am

Very inspirational. "Anyone can do it". Great words for all -- and quite true.

However it does take skill to make guitars like yours. Keep up the good work.

Oh, and you need more tools ;-)

-Wes

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Permalink Reply by Jim Mitchell on November 10, 2009 at 9:59pm

Hey Josh - very good story and I loved the sound track as well... Take care - Jim

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