Comment

Comment by chris ekelman on February 3, 2010 at 4:18am

hi everyone.

Comment by Nick on February 2, 2010 at 3:56pm

Busking in NYC Subway
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/nyc-subway-busking?context=user

Comment by Wichita Sam on February 2, 2010 at 11:19am

go Trevor go... rock the house....

Comment by Trevor (Babajack) steger on February 2, 2010 at 8:59am

Playing out tonight! Great Malvern Hotel, Poor Bob blues night! the wine box is a comming out!

Comment by Wichita Sam on February 2, 2010 at 4:43am

Corky,

AHHHHHH (stars in my eyes), sir you certainly have the chops/chevrons to justify your strut. Thanks for laying out an excellent game plan.... Have you ever considered being an agent... I don't know what 20% of gas money is, but.....

I would be a tough one to book.... have to have Saturday nights in driving distance of Wichita and no Sunday bookings... That's when I do my "day job".....

Anyway, keep sharing your experience with all us newbs.... Just what was in your post has got be all rev'd up for this summer....

the best,

Wichita Sam

Comment by HOGS GRUNT on February 1, 2010 at 10:51pm

Maverick playing his Twin, christmas present from me, at a recent gig. Hogs

Comment by Corky Hesler on February 1, 2010 at 7:01pm

Sam of Wichita,

Yes I AM full of something or other. But, I can usually back it up. Wichita has one of the best classic rock stations on the radio, KEYN I believe. I just know whenever our band was headed down to play in Oklahoma, I always bogarded the radio from about Emporia to Blackwell to listen to it. We had an agent in Columbia, Missouri getting I-35 Tour bookings for us.... his motto was apparently "Gas money, no biggie!" Our next agent was in Knoxville, Iowa and he used to send us to Minnesota and Illinois. Driven way too many miles and hit way too many deer (16)..... need to stay closer to home because of wife's health. There ya go! I found out that the local players are planning a surprise benefit show for her (must be doing it by invitation, posters would blow the surprise) at the Chillicothe Missouri Eagles Lodge on February 28th. My sax player in the jazz band called to ask if he was supposed to bring a covered dish to the SURPRISE benefit show. Come on up and play some. I'll get ya some free roast hog and tater salad.

I figured you have all those great places around you to keep you busy. Independence, Ft. Scott, Miami, Hutchinson in Kansas, Perry, Stillwater, Bartlesville, Blackwell, Billings in Oklahoma. Every one of them has an annual celebration of some sort. Shoot, how about Hesston.... bet the hay machine-people would like some cigar box music at the company picnic. Or how about the Great Plains grain drill company. Surely, at the prices they charge for the Cadillac of grain drills, they have a company picnic. College towns usually have Heritage Festivals that pay better than small towns. Primitve and hippie shops around town can easily be talked into letting you take over their sidwalk for an hour each week for tips. Columbia Missouri has had the Twilight Festival on all thursday nights in june for years, but lost their funding last year. After you draw them a few good crowds the store owners will be a pushover for a steady paying gig. Put together a package to distribute to the bookers at all of the venues you can discover. Don't just hand them a card with a link to a website. A good trick is to have your business cards printed on cardstock that is 1/16" taller than standard so when the booker runs his finger across the top of his card box or rolodex it always catches on your card. NEVER EVER give a promo pack to someone who says they will show it to the "right people". Ask who those people are and take it yourself. Pay attention to who comes to see you more than once and recruit them to be your street crew in whatever area they live to talk you up to others and put up your posters. Pamper them. They can make you or break you as a draw. It's surprising how many Buckskinners and Re-enactors make wedding plans that include buckboard or wagon departures for the newlyweds. Those kind of weddings would be ripe for CBG work.

I hope I haven't destroyed some valuable Tee-Esc-O-Del-Rey guitars. Been buying them at yard sales for a little bit of nothin' and salvaging tuning machines, pickups, bridges, and electronics to build CBGs. I've been trying to attach a photo of my stage setup: three CBGs, old Marshall, old Kustom, Mackie/Cerwin Vega PA, boom-mount harp and mic, and homemade maple shell kick; but when I click on ADD it just sticks a gob of script at the top of the comment. I'll figure it out.

To answer your question, I'm way up in Missouri by the Iowa Line. To paraphrase Mrs. Palin, "I can see Centerville from my front Porch".

ZZ Top's "Automobile" is a good song, but Billie Gibbons intimidates the heck outta me. Met him at a funeral for 15 seconds one time when we lived in Houston. I don't want to disappoint him. I watched the Ry Cooder version on YouTube and I might possibly be able to pull it off without embarrassing myself. I sing well in a very narrow range. Outside that range I stink. One strategy is that high volume can sometimes substitute for talent, hence all the gear.

Where can I get one of them amish hats like the one in your photo? :-)

I hope I've been helpful, if not long-winded.

Corky

Comment by Nathan King on February 1, 2010 at 5:47am

Finally got some vids up of the gig this past weekend. Only was able to get two songs, but both of 'em feature yours truly jamming the CBG.


The other you can also check out, just hit up my profile vids.

Comment by Gerry Thompson /Color of Skies on January 31, 2010 at 4:53pm

I can actually play a slowed down folk version of free bird on my cbg....shuts em up.

Comment by Greg on January 31, 2010 at 2:49pm

I've scored a gig for this Saturday and will be breaking out the CBG for the first time in front of a group of people. My band is on a well deserved break so I'm going back playing alone. Hope to get some audio and I maybe some video to post. Our area is so saturated with crappy cover bands playing the same songs. I swear they all have the same set list. The CBG is unheard of here as far as someone actually using one to perform with so I'm looking forward to seeing the reaction from people. Been rehearsing hard and I hope to blow them away.....If I post a pic of it broken then you'll know some cracker yelled "Free Bird" one too many times!!

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