www.SmokehouseGuitars.com

While his first instruments were a humble learning experience, he has since quickly established himself as one of the foremost luthiers in the Cigar Box Guitar world.  Examples of his work are owned by such notable performers as Dennis Casey (Flogging Molly), Lukas Nelson (The Promise of the Real), and Shane Speal (the King of the Cigar Box Guitar).  Shane was so pleased with his guitar that he got a tattoo of it on his 40th birthday.

Although he is an engineer by day, Josh has come to think of himself much more as a guitar maker.  Because he doesn't depend on sales to pay the bills, he enjoys a unique situation in which he can focus all of his attention to doing what he loves most: making instruments.  Not a lot of time is spent dealing with sales and marketing.  The way he figures things is that even if no one is paying him he's still making them.  Luckily, people keep showing up to give him money to make something new!

When not in the garage cutting on a hunk of wood, Josh spends as much of his time as he can with his wife and son.  He is a home body by nature and quite content to remain is his "cave".  The one exception to this rule is when he gets to go out to enjoy live music with his wife, many times at concerts where his work is featured.

When it comes to guitar making, Josh keeps no secrets.  He is well known in the cigar box guitar community for his willingness to answer any and all questions and does his level best to provide help and assistance when asked for.  In addition, he is very active in various charities, regularly donating custom guitars to be auctioned off to benefit all sorts of worthy causes.  He is quite partial to any organizations directly benefiting children and/or parents.

Josh has written a book on the subject of high-end custom guitar making for the Cigar Box Guitar world, which can be found in the Free Plans section at www.cigarboxnation.com.