Watch this first. Or not. 

audio/video: Uncle John

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Little Albert trudges westward up the winding pathway to the burnt out ruins of the old Doo Dah place, periodically stopping to adjust the load on his back, nervously glancing over his shoulder at…

Merry Christmas! May your day be filled with joy, blessed with the sounds of children's excitement, and shared with our most precious gifts-family and friends!

Hello again Dear readers to my Blog, and Merry Christmas.

This is most likely going to end up being a cautionary tale, but as this seems to have been a topic of discussion for me lately around the house I figured maybe a few of you might be interested.

Question of the Week - December 24, 2013

"So, Greg.... Hows the Business doing?"

Yes Folks.... believe it or not, I'm a professional "self employed" Luthier. < GASP! >

How can…

I suppose this is my version of those awful ‘round robin’ letters you get sent with Christmas cards, so if you don’t like that sort of thing, then please read no further. I haven’t been trekking in the Andes, celebrating a birthday in the Maldives, skydiving, buying a Porsche or seeing my children graduate from Oxford University…nobody is forcing you to read on, so rather than posting to tell me to shut the f*ck up, just stop reading, OK?  Having said that, I’ve felt the need to put my…

Well, I found this tune on my Uke fretboard as well (it's another stick dulcimer tune I play). Enjoy...

Hello Fellow Cigar Box Nation Reader,

I've been lurking around the forum for about a year now learning what I can and giving back when I can, and as this year draws to a close I feel it's about time I started a Blog so that others who find their way to these pages might find some trinket or two worthy of adding to their own personal vault of knowledge.

First off I would like to encourage you to pursue your muse, and take time to listen to the music that is all around us…

I was noodling around with my ukulele yesterday and discovered I could find most of the song Hard Times on the uke fretboard. Hard Times is one of my favorite songs and I play it regularly on my stick dulcimers. So, I decided to create a set of Tabs for it so I can practice it some more and pass the song on as part of my Uke tabs collection. The arrangement is mainly the melody (I'm not a chords kind of player). Here's the tabs...…

Happy 5th! Here's a set of free plans. It's called a Rocky Mountain Dulcimer, a cardboard topped 3-stringed instrument. Sounds great! …

I used the info from this page to build this 3 string. It sounds bluesy and raunchy and I like it like that! Thanks for the help.

Just an idea , has anyone tried a double string diddle-bow, as in say, 2 "A" strings in the same tuning?

I'm booking 2014 festivals for PA, NY, NJ, MD, DE and VA areas.  Want to see cigar box guitars at your local music/art festival?  Email me the fest link at shanespeal@yahoo.com and I'll apply.  Any and all fests considered! 

-shane

Here's the info I'm sending out.  Feel free to copy/send to your local fests as well:

I would like to submit Shane Speal's Snake Oil Jug Band for consideration in the 2014 ___________ Festival.  The act is quite…

Thanks for a great Cigarbox Don CD Launch, the good news is Don has had a word with his pal Cigarbox Santa, he makes Cigar Box Guitars to (and other toys) and is gonna drop by his wee hoose for a wee hoose concert for all the wee ones (and big ones) join us please



If you don't already have a ticket, you can grab one…