Mumble Mumble Coffee Mumble...

It's another cold Monday morning in Pennsylvania and this coffee is quite wretched.  (Why did I buy the cheap stuff again?  Will I ever learn?)  Melissa and my oldest son, Shane Jr are already out the door for work and school, respectively.  My younger son, Brennen is in the other room eating Pop Tarts and watching Spongebob.  I'm sitting here planning out another week of rock and roll: recording, guitar building, performing, touring...and what to make for dinner when they all come home. 


I often wondered what a professional musician did all day.  Now that I am one, I'll give you a glimpse...

NEW RECORDING:  I've been trying to record one to two songs a week for a new solo album to be released in the Spring.  I usually do this in the morning, after everyone is gone.  My recording rig is Boz Bostwick's old 8-track recording unit and it sits atop my great-grandmother's Singer sewing machine.  It's a very basic setup, but perfectly primal for cigar box guitar music.


For me, the recording process can be frustratingl.  Sometimes tracks get erased, are recorded improperly or the feel is just wrong at the moment.  As I tough it out, I capture that magic, one song at a time.   By lunchtime, I'm ready to take a break and clear my head in my woodshed.


NEW CIGAR BOX GUITARS:  When I'm not recording, performing or scheduling the next tour dates, I head back into the woodshop a couple hours each day to build more cigar box guitars.  Things are quieter in the winter and the guitars I'm building are built a little slower, more detailed and fine tuned.  I had so many people ask me to bring back certain styles from the past holiday season.  The first instruments to emerge in 2014 are a return of The Healer cigar box guitars.  These are pro-grade acoustic/electrics using beautiful wooden Tabak cigar boxes and a highly responsive bridge rod pickup. 
THE HEALER CIGAR BOX GUITAR - $140 on sale (two available)


TOURING:  Ah, those in-between moments when I'm not recording or building guitars...  That's when I'm on the phone or email, contacting new venues and setting up concert dates.  I'm currently hounding every summer blues festival within a 300 mile radius.  It's a process that makes me feel like a cold-call salesman again.  I feel lucky that I spent 8 years in radio ad sales and received all that crazy training back then.  (Thanks, Rick.)  If you know of a music fest in PA/MD/NY/NJ/DE, please pass the
Shane Speal Snake Oil promo video to the organizers. 


The current Shane Speal DIVE BAR TOUR is underway right now in the Central Pennsylvania area.  I'm bringing
The Shane Speal Duo to Danville, PA this Friday night at TJ Shooters.  I'd love to see you there.  Here's the
Facebook event page for the show with the info.  Oh...and although we're listed as a duo, there's a chance that Farmer Jon from the Snake Oil Band will be joining us on washtub bass.


(Don't forget to buy your Dive Bar Tour shirt at
www.cigarboxguitar.com)


FAMILY:  Remember when I said I was a full-time musician?  That's also  code words for
stay-at-home-dad.  The woodshop closes at 3pm so I can do homework with the boys, clean the house a bit and get dinner ready by the time Melissa gets home.  This is one of the best things to ever happen to me when I made music a career.  No longer do I pick the kids up from daycare, rush around and desperately try to spend a couple short hours with everyone.  Now I'm here when they come home, things are relaxed and everyone is going great.  I wouldn't trade this career for anything. 


This is also the reason I only tour up to 3-4 hours away from my house.  If I do a gig in the evening, I can drive home in the middle of the night and be here by the time the boys get on the bus in the morning.  I don't myself as a rock star.  I'm Ward Cleaver.

So that's what's happening on a cold Monday morning for the "King of the Cigar Box Guitar."  Many small jobs and tasks that act as Lego building blocks to one really great life.  Thank you all for discovering the music, the shows and the instruments.  Let's see what awesomeness we can make in 2014.

Stay primal,
Shane Speal



SHANE SPEAL DOWNLOADS - JUST $3.33 PER ALBUM! 
I'm raising money to purchase stage truss systems for my Dive Bar Tour.  All my past albums are on sale for $3.33 per album download from today until Jan 30th.  This sale allows you to snag three albums of your choice for 10 bucks.
 
Shane Speal $3.33 download sale.

SHANE SPEAL DIVE BAR TOUR 2014 shirts - $16




THE HEALER acoustic/electric cigar box guitar - $140





Hey wait...these handmade RUST-O-PHONIC microphones haven't been announced yet.
Why are they on sale already for just $35? 
Are they as lo-fi as they look?  Is there a video demo in the link?