Its been a long time coming but it’s nearly here! Friday 18th March is going to be a very special day for the UK cigar box guitar scene.
Borne out of discussions on The Brits Are Coming group on the Cigar Box Nation website, the innovators of the UK Cigar Box Guitar Festival, Chickenbone John, Randy Rooster and Smojo have taken it upon themselves to set up THE HOME GROWN MUSIC COLLECTIVE.
Quoted from the website: “The Home Grown Music Collective has one fundamental aim: We want to ensure that making music is accessible to EVERYONE, regardless of their financial situation, social standing or geographical setting.
It is a tall order in this commercially driven environment, but even in these hard financial times, we believe we can make a difference.
The message is simple, you do not need an expensive shop bought instrument and years of training to make good music. Music comes from the soul, and that, you already have”
This is well illustrated by the explosion of the UK Cigar Box Guitar scene, growing from an online idea into a real-world thriving community of friendship and creativity.
For the uninitiated, a cigar box guitar is simple stringed instrument made from an empty cigar box. No frills, no big names, and more importantly, no exclusions!
“Some of the objectives of the group are:
To foster and encourage the playing and performance of music on instruments outside the scope of mainstream conventional instruments. The group recognizes that it has arisen from the “cigar box guitar” culture, but that this is by no means an exclusive genre and reflects the ethos of making and playing instruments made from found objects and recycled materials, using innovative designs.
The group seeks to encourage and revive the idea of making one’s own musical instruments, and making music without having recourse to using commercial standardised instruments or adhering to conventional musical genres.”
The membership will be opened on the 18th March, so make sure you check in and join up to receive your membership card, 2 x free HGMC plectrums, 2 free stickers, and a voucher entitling you to a £5 discount off the price of an all day ‘Boxstock’ ticket!
To learn more about the objectives of The Homegrown Music Collective and it’s creators, click on the banner below.
