The 7th annual New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival will take place January 13-15, once again presenting some of the world’s most entertaining alternative instrument performers. The festival celebrates the cultural significance of homemade musical devices in the early development of all traditional forms of American music, especially Jazz and Blues.
Thursday evening’s Kickoff event will feature a combination of exciting live performances and the final voting in the festival’s C. B. Gitty International Cigar Box Guitar Video Playoffs. The Instrument Builders’ Forum and Contest will precede afternoon and evening lineups of CBG pros on Friday, and additional sets throughout Saturday afternoon and evening will conclude the festivities.
The talent lineup will include New Orleans Blues legend Little Freddie King, Cigar Box Serenaders, John Nickel, Steve Arvey, the Amzie Adams Band, Cash O’Riley, Ben “Gitty” Baker, Max Valentine, and Los Hermanos Cabra. Ticket information and additional talent news will be forthcoming on the website: www.NewOrleansCBG.com Details concerning submissions to the Video Playoffs can currently be found on the site.
The New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival was founded in 2016, and during its first 4 years gained a reputation for outstanding entertainment. The 2019 edition won OffBeat Magazine’s Neighborhood Festival of the Year award. For 2020, the NOCBGF partnered with internationally acclaimed singer/guitarist Samantha Fish to expand the growth and outreach of the festival and the cigar box guitar. The global pandemic forced the 2021 shows to go totally virtual, with two nights of supercharged video streamed via Mandolin.com.
Historically, pioneers, Civil War soldiers, rural farmhands, street singers and other resourceful musicians found ways to build expressive instruments from household items and random hardware, most notably in Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta. Many musicians throughout the world are currently using modern CBG’s to record and perform live, making the unique instruments and their authentic, traditional sound a staple of today’s Americana music scene.