Songs Inside the Box:
A Max
Shores documentary on the Cigar Box Guitar Revolution
Since the 1800s, craftsmen have been lovingly forming trash into
treasure by making musical instruments from disposable cigar boxes. They worked primarily in isolation until recent years.
The Internet changed that.
Search the net for information on cigar box guitars and you'll soon discover Shane
Speal's Cigar Box Guitar (CBG) Forum. It started as a way for the York, Pennsylvania marketing professional to keep up
with a few friends who shared his enthusiasm for CBGs, but it grew quickly. Now the forum includes over 2,000 members who
trade tips on building and playing instruments every day. This communication led to a special event to give them an opportunity
to get together, the Cigar Box Guitar Extravaganza in Huntsville, Alabama.
"It's like a family reunion
combined with a music festival," says Max Shores, producer/director of the documentary shot at the third annual Extravaganza
in June 2007. "These people know each other through the CBG forum but they don't get to see each other face-to-face
often."
For Bill Jagitsch, a computer technician from Arkansas, the Extravaganza was like meeting best friends
for the first time. "I've been a member of the forum for two and a half years and I've communicated with these
folks daily, but I've never met any of them until today. It was definitely worth the six hour drive."
Jagitsch took the stage in the persona of Bluesboy Jag and entertained the audience with delta blues. He was just one of 12
acts performing at the Extravaganza which featured a wide variety of musical styles played on CBGs and other homemade instruments.
Several years ago Pennsylvania biochemist David Williams made a CBG and got hooked on the hobby.
Discussion in the forum led him to historic one-string instruments which he recreated with scientific accuracy. The normally
reserved Williams took the stage as the outgoing One String Willie and showed that a primitive instrument with only one string
can make beautiful music.
"These guys gave me a reason to live," said Gerry Thompson from New Jersey.
"I had a liver transplant 16 years ago and for the past four years my body has been rejecting it. I had a new transplant
just a month ago and I wouldn't miss this event for anything." Thompson and his group, the Color of Skies, performed
ballads from the stage and mingled with friends both old and new throughout the day long event.
"There were so many different approaches, styles, and interpretations of the CBG," said
Robert Hamilton of Massachusetts. "It was well worth the 1500 mile trek to get here." "All the performers were
awe-inspiring, and I mean everybody!" Hamilton continued.
When the other two members of Hamilton's group,
the Low Country Messiahs failed to make it to the event because their car broke down, Hamilton was joined onstage by Shane
Speal, the self-proclaimed "King of the Cigar Box Guitar." The two had never played together before, but they played
in perfect harmony at this event.
Speal is the glue that holds this widely diverse community together and he brought
along his personal collection of historic CBGs dating to the 1800s. When he took the stage, he played music ranging from punk
rock to a Hindustani raga on his battered Macanudo box.
"These
folks pride themselves on being able to play circles around a lot of musicians who use store bought instruments, but they
use instruments they made themselves," said Shores. "It's something you just have to see and hear to believe,"
he continued. "Some of the performances are demented while others are profound, and the camaraderie experienced at this
event is truly heart warming."
Production for the cigar box guitar documentary began at the Extravaganza
and is still ongoing. The documentary is scheduled for release in the Spring of 2008.
