The Great Depression of the 1930s saw a resurgence of homemade
musical instruments. Times were hard in the American south and for
entertainment sitting on the front porch singing away their blues was
a popular pastime. Musical instruments were beyond the means of
everybody, but an old cigar box, a piece of broom handle and a couple
wires from the screen door and a guitar was born. Many people of this era made their own tools and making a musical instrument was not too much of a stretch.
A modern revival of these instruments (also known as the Cigar Box
Guitar Revolution) has been gathering momentum with an increase in
cigar box guitar builders and performers. A loose-knit tour of
underground musicians tour the East Coast (US) each summer under the
banner "Masters of the Cigar Box Guitar Tour." These musicians
include Doctor Oakroot, Johnny Lowebow, Shane Speal, Tomi-O and many
others. Also, there is a growing number of primitive guitar, luthiers adding
cigar box guitars to their items for sale on their websites and
eBay.
An all-cigar box guitar record label has even been formed to
further promote the revolution. Insurrection Records is run by Shane
Speal (also a cigar box guitarist and curator of the National Cigar
Box Guitar Museum). The label releases "homemade CDs of homemade
recordings of homemade instruments," and is known for their 'outsider
art' handmade packaging for the discs. Currently the label only sells
their wares on eBay. A compilation of cigar box guitar recordings,
Masters of the Cigar Box Guitar Vol. 2 is scheduled for release in
2007
Modern revival is sometimes due to interest in jugband and the DIY
culture, as cigar box is relatively inexpensive when considering
other factors, such as strings and construction time. Many modern
cigar box guitar can thus be seen as a type of practice in lutherie,
and implement numerous own touches, such as additional of pick up and
resonator cones into it.
Another factor in the current revival can be attributed to many
musicians desire for a more primal sound. Blues guitarists, in
particular, have picked up the cigar box guitar in an attempt to play
Delta Blues in its purest from.