Earlier this year, I was asked to record a cigar box guitar song for a death metal record. 

I'll let that statement sink in for a minute:

Shane Speal.  Cigar box guitar.  Death... Metal...  Record.  (Yes...vinyl.)

They said I would be on a release with two Scandanavian black metal cigar box guitarists (there's two of 'em?) and a few other baby-killin'-screamer types.  So of course I said, "yes." 

I went down in my basement studio and cut a killin' song called "She'll Make a Beautiful Widow Someday."  I had been playing it in a more blues setting at my open mics, but for the record, I dressed it up in black with strange vocals and weird, lo-fi cigar box guitar noises straight out of The Munsters.

The limited edition vinyl record has been released just in time for the holidays.  My song is the final track!  Do yourself a favor and blow $15 bucks on the weirdest piece of music released this year.  You can choose from clear vinyl, red or blue (how cool is that)?  Here's the link: CLASSIFIED RESISTANCE THEE COMPILATION RECORD - $15

 
AND EVEN MORE BIZARRE NEWS...

I've always been a fan of the Musicvox Guitar Company.  They first hit the scene in the late '90s with some of the most bizarre guitar designs since the days of Teisco, Supro and Silvertone.  Well, after a hiatus, Musicvox is back and weirder than ever.  They've added me as one of their endorsees (yeah, they have a twisted sense of humor) and I've become online friends with their founder, Matt Eichen.

Here's where it gets weirder...  I needed to do something artsy fartsy yesterday and decided to scan a bunch of old pulp fiction sci-fi novels in my collection.  I then took the images and Photoshopped them into Musicvox ads for their Facebook page.  (See the "Space Bass" pic to the right.)  Well, I've just been told they're considering these goofy little ads for publications such as Vintage Guitar Magazine.  LOL...  They're just nuts.

Matt Eichen wanted me to pass on some info to you guys:  He's starting to run some Facebook-only sales during the holidays with savings over $400 off the list.  Today, he's selling his basses for $399.  Instead of putting all the info here, just go over to the Musicvox Facebook Page and see for yourself.  Become a fan and then post a note in there saying:  Shane sent me.  I like weird stuff, too.   (Dare ya to do this!  They're not paying me for any of this...I'm just such a guitar nerd and I like others to appreciate the lunacy as well.)

Ok...that's all I have.  I'd better get back out to the workshop and finish setting it up.  (I'm writing this note because I came inside to warm up...it's cold out there!)   I'm hoping to have some reasonably priced cigar box guitars (around $75) for sale very soon for shipment before Christmas.  I'll let you know as soon as they're done.

Stay weird!
Shane

Extra weirdness for those who scrolled down this far:

• I'm working hard on enhancing my live shows.  Getting very visual with backdrops, props, light shows and eventually old black and white movies playing behind me during the concert.
• Still dying to get started on the instrumental album.  Still getting hardware together to make a digital audio workstation in my studio.
• I just found out Musicvox is bestowing upon me a vintage 1997 Spaceranger guitar in retro turquoise.  This will make THREE Spacerangers in my collection.  Look for them in my shows soon...