All Blog Posts (982)

Last fall, I announced I was going to make my first full-length album and put it up for download at Bandcamp.com for the sum of one United States Dollar.

I got about two-thirds done with this digital record when our family suffered a loss (I wrote about it here back in January). I basically took a couple months off from writing and recording to recover.

This left me with seven completed tracks, and the original rush of energy lost to the ether. So I've decided to put those…

Do bears uke in the woods?

Read more here >>> …

The Cigar City Brewery event in Tampa was fantastic success!!  Over 1,000 people in attendance.   Police advised that the show can't be at the Brewery next year as the crowds were jamming up the traffic.   We'll have to move it to a new location next year.

I sold 10 CBG's   .....Great day !!!!!  Gave out at least 200 business cards.   

The Cottin Pickin Blues Brothers  Steve Arvey, Ed Wright, Aaron Fowler put on a great performance  using our builds.…

A friend showed me his Cigar Box Guitar, it was very interesting to me.  When I went to th web page, it showed several pictures of ones not on the "shop" page.  I am interested in all that are available.  I also noticed the plans for a fiddle, are any of those for sale or just the plans. 

So, I was thinking about playing guitar, and how difficult it is to practice without giving up. It is hard, mainly because most folks learn a few chords then struggle to put together a few simple tunes to make them feel like they are making progress.

There is also a lot of confusuion for people who have no knowledge at all about music theory, it goes right over my head!

I,III,V,VII, doesn`t mean a lot, especially when you look for simple tunes you know that are written down in…

Started learning Guitar in about 1956 when based in Malta. Played in various types of bands. Jazz with the " Crescent City Jazzmen "..., a backup group to Aker Bilk and his Paramount Jazzmen, A session with Lonnie Donegan. Various Bands you will never have heard of.   Toured the Far East with "The Ravens" and  "The Dogstars" etc etc. Last few years  just with local groups as ones finger dexterity declines.

Last year I bought a couple of  Mountain Dulcimers but cannot seem to get much…

Yum yum indeed.…

I need help on 2 points, please.

1. I am having trouble with getting the right size slot for the frets. i have tried a number of different saws which type  is best?

2. Not sure on the tuning.

david

The annual Cigar City Brewery event in Tampa, Florida is just around the corner...Saturday March 9th.  Beer tasting, brewery tours, food, souvenirs, continuous bandstand entertainment, and more.   Cottin Pickinin Blues will be on hand displaying and selling our newest builds.

The Cottin Pickin Blues Brothers will be on stage at 11am Steve Arvey and Ed Wright....

Doors open at 7:30am due to the large crowds that form at the gate.

I have posted some of my assembling of a…

A tedious,

yet somehow annoying,

collection of overlong or overly repetitive audio/video projects,

all piled up over the past several months...…

WEDU show "ARTS PLUS has aired  and (so they say) will soon be distributed nationally.  These are excerpts of the last show on The Gulf Coast Journal.   Hopefully the national distribution will help the credibility of all of us in the industry. 

www.wedu.org/artsplus

I ordered the parts for my first CBG parts from C.B. Gitty Crafter Supply, and while I wish I could have have gone whole hog with all kinds of guitar bling - toned myself down. If my first build goes well - THEN - I can try to build one more customized to my liking.

After watching YouTube how to's, and reading other peoples experiences here and elsewhere - I decided to go with a basic maple prefretted neck and will finish it with Tru Oil.

The sad part - while I…

After my mammoth posting last time, I thought I'd keep this post a little shorter. Our next destination was Asten, in Noord Brabant, Netherlands...to stay with with Ozzy Van Der Loo. We'd never met, but he'd done all the arranging of our gigs and the workshop in Belgium and Southern Holland, so we reckoned he was an on-the-ball sort of guy. We were warmly received by his partner Jolanda, and very shortly afterward Ozzy turned up, and we were introduced to Thomas, their 8 year old son, who…

 Beer tasting, brewery tours, food consessions, CBG's by Cottin Pickin Blues on sale, continuous bandstand entertainment.  Doors open at 9am  

This is the once a year event that the Gulf Coast waits for......Entertainment all day long..11am The Cottin Pickin Blues Brothers  will be performing on stage with Cottin Pickin Blues cigar box guitars.  Bear tasting all day long ...food consessions, tours of the brewery.  Limited parking so come early......and finally I will be…