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Cigar Box Nation News 4/25/14: Instruments, Contests & More

Hey folks, Ben/CBGitty here - this is the first edition of the Cigar Box Nation newsletter, which we'll be sending out periodically (probably once a month) to try to help keep our ever-growing membership in the loop about some of the biggest things happening in the CBG and handmade/homemade music world. These newsletters will be mostly news and features without too much advertising. If you like seeing product features, be sure to sign up for the C. B. Gitty Newsletter. We hope you enjoy!

The Cigar Box Nation newsletter for April 25, 2014:

Huntsville, AL cigar box guitar fest
Justin Johnson video lesson
Gitty's #1 secret tip for working with salvaged wood
Cigar Box Guitar Museum named "Top 50 Must See Places in America"

One of the top pics of the week is this amazing rust guitar by Bad Finger (Eric) of Ballston Spa, NY. Featuring a contorted headstock, insane pickup combinations and switches and the wild 1931 license plate, this axe looks like it could take the head off of any guitarist willing to wrestle with it. Kudos, Eric!

Reclaiming Aged Wood from an Antique Church Pew

The simple "Canjo" pictured to the left was built by C. B. Gitty founder, Ben Baker as a quick test to see the workability of antique yellow pine from a 100 year old church pew.

Last week C. B. Gitty checked out a local architectural salvage store, and came home with a few cool treasures. One of them was a 100+ year-old wooden church pew that had been salvaged from a Catholic church that was being torn down in Quincy, Massachusetts a few years back.

While in the store, Gitty was able to determine that the back of the pew was made from 3/4" thick white oak, the sides were 1 1/2" thick oak, and the seat and bottom support were 3/4" thick yellow pine. A quick calculation on the pocket calculator indicated that there should be about 26 board feet of usable wood that could be salvaged, so Gitty laid his money down and into the van it went. Continue reading the blog and FIND OUT GITTY'S #1 SECRET TIP FOR RE...

10th Annual Cigar Box Guitar Festival on Friday, May 30th and Satur...

This event is the longest-running CBG festival in the world. This festival celebrates the Cigar Box Guitar folk culture. It is two days filled with an assortment of music, engaging demonstrations and workshops. Throughout the Lowe Mill grounds there will be an array of cigar box guitars, folk art, folk skills and food vendors. Performing at the festival will be: Microwave Dave, Justin Johnson, Patrick and John Nickel, Matt Crunk, Justin Johnson, April Mae and the June Bugs, Johnny Lowebow, Earl Williams, Hymn for Her, and Ben Prestage!

Ukulele Madness!

Look for news about a Cigar Box Ukulele build-off contest sponsored by C. B. Gitty in the next week or so. We'll be looking for the wildest, most innovative or just plain insane ukes from your woodshop. Even instruments built from ukulele kits will be eligible. We'll post info on the front page of CigarBoxNation.com as soon as we put this together.

Acoustic Guitar Magazine names The Cigar Box Guitar Museum as one of the "Top 50 Must-See Places in America."

In the April 2014 issue of Acoustic Guitar Magazine, they have compiled a list of 50 "Roadside Americana" stops that every guitarist must see... and they've included The Cigar Box Guitar Museum at Speal's Tavern on the list! They write, "perhaps fittingly, one of the world's biggest collections of cigar-box guitars can be found on the walls of a bar... The Tavern's impressive collection now numbers over 40 [actually, it's over 70] and includes cigar box amplifiers and a trove of photos and artifacts chronicling the use of the instrument used by musicians on a budget."

The Cigar Box Guitar Museum is a free display inside Speal's Tavern, a small dive bar and live blues venue in New Alexandria, PA. The majority of instruments in the collection were actually made by Cigar Box Nation members! To celebrate the inclusion in the Acoustic Guitar list, museum creator and curator, Shane Speal will perform a special cigar box guitar concert at Speal's Tavern this Saturday night at 9:00pm. There is no cover, but you must be 21 or over to enter. Click here for more info on the concert.

New Video Lesson from Justin Johnson

The Wizard of the Cigar Box Guitar continues his series of Youtube videos with "What Is A Diddley Bow." Check it out and get an education on the one-string boogie.

In the video, Johnson uses a unique ceramic slide on his diddley bow. Cigar Box Nation sponsor, C. B. Gitty has these slides in stock.

Slides for sale at C. B. Gitty.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Borczon on April 25, 2014 at 3:22am

This is a really good newslettr, but how about an update on the record label? How is Shanes cd comming? Will there be a release party? How do you plan to pick up other artist? Etc.. we all are pretty excited to see you enter into the promotional side of one of our own artists.....matt

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Permalink Reply by Cigar Box Nation on April 25, 2014 at 3:24am

Matt, the album is half done. We're taking 2 weeks off of recording so I can build cigar box guitars for a huge festival next week. Once we get past that, we will go back into the studio to finish solos and tweeks. Then it's mixdown and mastering. Our hopes are that the album will be ready by the end of May.

shane

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Borczon on April 25, 2014 at 5:40am

Thanks Shane, I appreciate the updates. I knew you were hard at work building, I see your posts on facebook. Can not wait to hear what you guys are doing? How was your show with the carolina chocolate drops, I always thought they would love the cigar box guitar thing.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on April 25, 2014 at 6:52am

Wow! I didn't expect to see my guitar as the featured instrument! Thanks! What a huge compliment. Thanks again. :)

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Permalink Reply by Cigar Box Nation on April 25, 2014 at 8:58am

I help Gitty with the email. We chose your guitar because it's friggin' amazing. As a 5-string player (probably 1/4 of my songs are on a 5), I am lusting after that axe so hard...