Jack White builds a Diddley Bow in about 1 minute

“Who says you need to buy a guitar?”

In this video clip from Dave Grohl’s “It Might Get Loud” documentary, Jack White builds a diddley bow in a cow pasture. He spends just over a minute doing it, and the last step is to tack on a single coil pickup and plug in to the amp stack he has standing by. He ends with the line quoted above. Why indeed? Continue reading “Jack White builds a Diddley Bow in about 1 minute”

Jason Farthing (The Budrows)

Musical styles: Blues, Hillbilly stomp, Rock, Americana, Originals

Handmade instruments played: cigar box guitars

He didn’t start build cigar box guitars until 2007 but he was bit by the artistic bug much earlier in life. Jason Farthing was drawing his favorite super heroes as a wee lad which is something that ultimately led to his love for the visual arts. That love turned into some of the finest custom painted cigar box guitars one can find. Continue reading “Jason Farthing (The Budrows)”

John Nickel

“In elementary school, we had a picture of Bo Diddly in our cafeteria. He was holding a rectangular guitar and the poster said something to the affect of ‘Eat your vegetables’. […] I didn’t see anything like that again until 2000 or so when Microwave Dave played the local W.C. Handy fest with his cbg. […] I had no idea at the time it would totally change my life in the years to come.”

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Johnny Lowebow (John Lowe)

Musical styles: One-man-band Blues Blast, Psycho-Hill Country, Punk, Originals

Handmade instruments played: Lowebow, cigar box guitar, stick guitar

As a young boy, John was introduced to boogie-woogie piano. Years later, and after a short stint with the trumpet, he was given a guitar. John was not one who took well to lessons on either piano or trumpet, and had a only a few on guitar. His growth as a musician really took off by jamming with friends. He grew to play in several bands in various clubs and immersed himself into the Fayetteville, AR punk scene, ultimately opening a music store with his wife in that city. Continue reading “Johnny Lowebow (John Lowe)”

Justin Johnson

Musical Styles: Blues, Folk, Roots

Handmade Instruments Played: Cigar Box Guitar, Gas Can Guitar, Diddley Bow, many others

Over the last several years, Justin Johnson has become one of the most recognizable performing musicians of the cigar box guitar and homemade/handmade music movement. A highly accomplished musician, Justin plays a wide variety of handmade instruments created by builders and craftspeople all over the world, frequently switching between different instruments on stage all while weaving a masterful tapestry of sound and spoken word. Continue reading “Justin Johnson”