Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Shelley on July 20, 2009 at 10:44pm

Hi Kevin,
I'm really glad you addressed this issue. I've been wondering about it myself. Why aren't there any black CB players!!? Kind of unusual isn't it. It's the same thing with the Banjo. You ever see any African-American Banjo players? Never, which is a strange thing since the banjo is an african instrument. I don't have any answers about this other than maybe the connotations of these instruments with the past are something that folks want to shake.

There are a few old-timers still playing slide and such in Mississippi (where i'm from) but they're not connected with the internet! The young'ns....seems like guitars & blues and all of the stuff that goes with it just isn't their thing. Kind of ashame isn't it.
-Shelley.

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Permalink Reply by Doc Oakroot on July 21, 2009 at 12:29am

There's actually a black banjo group at yahoogroups with plenty of black banjo players. But the ratio of black to white banjo players is probably similar to the ratio of black to white CBG players.

Shelley said:

Hi Kevin,
I'm really glad you addressed this issue. I've been wondering about it myself. Why aren't there any black CB players!!? Kind of unusual isn't it. It's the same thing with the Banjo. You ever see any African-American Banjo players? Never, which is a strange thing since the banjo is an african instrument. I don't have any answers about this other than maybe the connotations of these instruments with the past are something that folks want to shake.

There are a few old-timers still playing slide and such in Mississippi (where i'm from) but they're not connected with the internet! The young'ns....seems like guitars & blues and all of the stuff that goes with it just isn't their thing. Kind of ashame isn't it.
-Shelley.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Alexander on July 21, 2009 at 3:38am

Kevin,
Just wondering if CBG has the same reputation as tap dancin' ? There's a whole lot tied up with that question, but I imagine that a poor sharecropper twangin' away on his diddley bow can't be any more glamorous to some folks than the image of the African American tap dancer.

Like a lot of cultures, it would seem that African Americans pick and choose the elements in their history which they'd like to keep. My great grandfathers gave up kilts and bagpipes years ago. Which is a shame, cause a lot of us have great legs.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on July 21, 2009 at 4:09am

"I don't know. I do know that I'm a lonely one--which is ironic considering the past of CBGs. But I can't quite bring myself to believe I'm the only one."

You know, that is a great point. Considering Muddy, Lightnin', Jimi, you would think CBG would appeal to all races, and yes, to African-Americans. Its a part of your heritage and history -- a contribution to the American culture in as much as any other. I wonder tho if the modern African-American culture thinks that this type of paying style is somehow degrading -- which in my opinion is not.

I will say that I considered it an honor and a joy to watch Mac Arnold play his two GCGs (Gas Can Guitars, or as I still refer to them as CBGs). Man could play. He's the real-deal as far as I'm concerned.

Hey, recruit your fellow African-Americans. Please.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on July 21, 2009 at 4:44am

Shelly, I've noticed something you touched upon, and that is that many blacks steer far away from anything that reminds us of those dark days of slavery and oppression. You rightfully mentioned the banjo. Like the diddly bow, it finds its origins in Africa. Yet how few black banjoists there are. And how many black farmers do we find today? Very few, perhaps, again, because of the whole slavery experience. There may be some truth to what you're saying. As a black man myself, I've speculated similarly.


Shelley said:

Hi Kevin,
I'm really glad you addressed this issue. I've been wondering about it myself. Why aren't there any black CB players!!? Kind of unusual isn't it. It's the same thing with the Banjo. You ever see any African-American Banjo players? Never, which is a strange thing since the banjo is an african instrument. I don't have any answers about this other than maybe the connotations of these instruments with the past are something that folks want to shake.

There are a few old-timers still playing slide and such in Mississippi (where i'm from) but they're not connected with the internet! The young'ns....seems like guitars & blues and all of the stuff that goes with it just isn't their thing. Kind of ashame isn't it.
-Shelley.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on July 21, 2009 at 4:49am

Don, when I play, the response is fantastic, both because it's such a novel thing for people to experience and because of the skill which belies the simplistic primitive appearance of the CBG itself. They sort of chuckle and strain to look at it, wondering if the thing really plays. Then, when I play, they light up and invariably respond enthusiastically. After performances, young people come up and ask how they can get or make one themselves. I remember the first time I introduced it in church and brought the roof down! It was great. But I was so dismayed that no one seemed to know anything about CBGs. It does provide an opportunity to educate them though.

I work for a childrens' psychiatric hospital (for troubled kids), and one of the favorite encounter groups we do involves me building and then playing a diddly bow right before their eyes. They love it!

Don Miller said:

I tried to write some stuff speculating on social movements, musical styles, racial dynamics over time, etc, but all I learned was I don't know a damned thing about it.
I notice you're in KC, Kevin. There must be other blues players around. Do you play out with the CBG, or go to jams? If so, what kind of reaction do you get? It may be harder to find other black CBG players than it would be to create a few. Get CBGs into the hands of players, even for a few minutes. Make a few and sell them cheaply or give them away. Maybe start your own regular jam - in a park, where other people will notice. Talk about the history here and there, and pretty soon you'll have an African-American Cigar Box Guitar Renaissance.
I did notice a young man playing diddley in one of your photos, and a young lady who looks like she's ready for a turn. If they each tell two friends, and THEY each tell two friends...

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on July 21, 2009 at 4:51am

I think you may be right as well, Dave.

Dave Alexander said:

Kevin,
Just wondering if CBG has the same reputation as tap dancin' ? There's a whole lot tied up with that question, but I imagine that a poor sharecropper twangin' away on his diddley bow can't be any more glamorous to some folks than the image of the African American tap dancer.

Like a lot of cultures, it would seem that African Americans pick and choose the elements in their history which they'd like to keep. My great grandfathers gave up kilts and bagpipes years ago. Which is a shame, cause a lot of us have great legs.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on July 21, 2009 at 5:07am

Cool. Thanks, Doc!

Doc Oakroot said:

There's actually a black banjo group at yahoogroups with plenty of black banjo players. But the ratio of black to white banjo players is probably similar to the ratio of black to white CBG players.

Shelley said:

Hi Kevin,
I'm really glad you addressed this issue. I've been wondering about it myself. Why aren't there any black CB players!!? Kind of unusual isn't it. It's the same thing with the Banjo. You ever see any African-American Banjo players? Never, which is a strange thing since the banjo is an african instrument. I don't have any answers about this other than maybe the connotations of these instruments with the past are something that folks want to shake.

There are a few old-timers still playing slide and such in Mississippi (where i'm from) but they're not connected with the internet! The young'ns....seems like guitars & blues and all of the stuff that goes with it just isn't their thing. Kind of ashame isn't it.
-Shelley.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on July 21, 2009 at 5:14am

Kevin M. Kraft said:

I remember the first time I introduced it in church and brought the roof down! It was great. But I was so dismayed that no one seemed to know anything about CBGs. It does provide an opportunity to educate them though.

I work for a childrens' psychiatric hospital (for troubled kids), and one of the favorite encounter groups we do involves me building and then playing a diddly bow right before their eyes. They love it!

This is exactly why this group is vital to the preservation of this instrument and its history. Indeed it is an opportunity to educate and bring back an instrument that has touched so many peoples and styles.

You're work with the kids sounds fantastic. Keep up the great work!

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on July 21, 2009 at 5:20am

Thanks, I sure will. I appreciate your encouragement.

Wes Yates said:

Kevin M. Kraft said:

I remember the first time I introduced it in church and brought the roof down! It was great. But I was so dismayed that no one seemed to know anything about CBGs. It does provide an opportunity to educate them though.

I work for a childrens' psychiatric hospital (for troubled kids), and one of the favorite encounter groups we do involves me building and then playing a diddly bow right before their eyes. They love it!

This is exactly why this group is vital to the preservation of this instrument and its history. Indeed it is an opportunity to educate and bring back an instrument that has touched so many peoples and styles.

You're work with the kids sounds fantastic. Keep up the great work!

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Permalink Reply by Shelley on July 21, 2009 at 7:30am

Yes, do keep up the good work!

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Permalink Reply by Mortimer Snerd on July 21, 2009 at 8:02am

well, I got on the cigar box guitar train here because they sound cool, not because of the history of a poor black man's attempt to make a home made guitar out of a cigar box. I think many here are here for that alone. A few like to ride that history train and make us all believe that CBG were invented by poor black men, and grand stand on how "thats how the blues were born". Now we can spin it anyway we want to, but the pictures I see of old Blues players, have guitars, resonators and Dobro's. Sure you can find a picture or two of a crude home made guitar made from a cigar box, but I kind of think we embellished up this mystic fabricated idea of all poor black blues players had cigar boxes for guitars.

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