smojomusic new website

Been working on my new website. Not much on it yet but it's accessible to the public now. Here it is.

www.smojomusic.co.uk

open mic nights

I've been on the hunt for some local open mic gigs. I love to hear and watch live music and in particular, small intimate venues like clubs and pubs where you can hear ordinary folks knocking out their stuff. It's a bit rough around the edges but that's what makes it real and exciting, unlike the formularised, glossy crap we get on X-Factor. I have another motive too. As a purely 'play-at-home' musician, I'd love to be able to get up at one of these sessions and show the folks some cigar box guitar playing. So I'm looking for a CBG-friendly gig. So far I've been to two sessions in my home town. Last Sunday was an acoustic night. Consisted mostly of middle aged people playing a mix of folky stuff, some good, some not so good. The atmosphere was friendly and everyone listened attentively to the performers but it lacked a bit of energy. Not exactly my cup of tea musically but there were a few outstanding numbers. A Glaswegian guy who did a reggae version of Ian Drury's 'Clever Trevor' and sounded more like Alex Harvey was great. A guy from Bradford did two hilarious songs he'd written himself. One about goths and the other about road gritting in Britain. A silver haired guy did a nice version of Leonard Cohen's 'Sisters of Mercy' accompanying himself on keyboard. These acts alone made it worth turning out on a cold November night

Last night was open mic in another local pub. A complete contrast to the last gig. It was full of young folks and very nosiy and lively. Everyone I saw played guitar and sang. I enjoyed the night but was disappointed that so many people were stood around chatting and laughing loudly whilst the performers were doing their thing. Obviously, for them it was just a place to go for a drink and a chat and have some light entertainment. They were not particularly interested in it though. I was impressed by the confidence these young performers had. Wish I had half as much. The highlight of the night was a hippy-looking guy who did some of his own songs about illegal substances and vegetables. The chorus to one song was 'I can get by with a chai and a chillum, a chillum and a chai will get me by'. He went down a storm and had everyone applauding for more.

So far, if I could mix the two gigs together in a pot and tip them out again, we might have a good balance. So the search continues. Hoping to find something a little more bluesy perhaps. I'll keep you posted but in the meantime, get out and find some of these small gigs in your own area. Might not be completely to your taste but almost guaranteed to turn up a few good acts and it beats sitting in front of the tv watching X-Factor or I'm a Celebrity.

thinking outside the box and charity shop finds

Forgive the pun about thinking outside the box but that's just what I was doing on one of my charity shop trawls. I rarely find cigar boxes in these places but sometimes I pick up something that relates to my unorthodox musical taste. I spotted this horrendous looking electric guitar. A cheapo heavy metal styled jobby in day-glo yellow. Well the price was the factor in deciding whether to buy or not - £15. Totting up ebay values of the hardware alone told me it was worth at least £30 in parts. Two single coil and one humbucking pickups plus wiring to two pots, machine heads, strat style tailpiece and a half decent neck and a see-through plastic gig bag - how could I resist. I could just dismantle it for the parts and build them into CBGs but I'm thinking about cutting the body down to a big cigarbox shape, keeping the humbucker and pots. Repaint the neck and headstock in something more subdued and maybe cladding the chopped down body with some rusty tinplate and turning the nasty thing into something even nastier (but cool).

I seem to have strayed back into circuit bending territory and my charity shop finds included two electronic childrens toys that are great items for modifications. Even as they are they can be used to make some interesting loops on my Akai Headrush. If you don't know anything about circuit bending, just type it into Youtube and have a look. I thought I was weird but some of these guys making this stuff are positivley mental!

What I did find that really excited me this week was a site I found that is related to circuit bending. It's a small collective of very clever guys who make stunning pieces of synth type equipment. They are sheer works of art as they stand, housed in lovely old cases with lots of copper plates, big old knobs, lights etc and they make some really cool sounds. Have a look at their site and see what I mean. http://www.folktek.com/

smojo's new website

Just a quick note to say I am revamping my smojomusic website so if you're trying to look at it from the link, it won't work. Hope to have something up and running soon.

new Monte Christo and Cuaba CBGs

Some photos of my latest creations.

A cigar box guitar message to young folk

Although the majority of visitors to the UK CBG fest was made up of middle aged blokes, it was refreshing to see a number of young people and a few ladies there too. The high number of (shall we say) older men (I am purposely avoiding the word mature) is quite understandable. We are part of the 'baby boomer' brigade that grew up on rock n roll and have never wanted to let it go. Unlike the lyrics of The Who's My Generation, who sang 'hope I die before I get old', we didn't. And we only got old in our bodies, not so much in our hearts and heads. So we're hanging in there, following our passion for music and instruments and exercising our creative muscles. We were fed on blues and soul and folk and raw rock and roll music. Real bands, real people just having fun and doing what they wanted. Sadly today, the music industry has lost it's soul and degenerated into a multi-million pound industry mostly churning out the equivalent diet of sanitised, flavourless baby food.

So what's this message to young folk then? Well you see, we older dudes can still remember the good times and want a piece of it still. So we are still flying the flag for good, home grown music but we are getting to an age where we will be disappearing from this planet. It's nice to think that there is a younger generation (though in a minority) who feel the same way as us about music and that was evident at the fest. I am impressed and heartened by the enthusiasm and creativity of the young folks that were there and that lurk about on various internet sites. So what I want to say to you is this. Keep up the good work, be yourselves, fly the flag of individuality and true creativity. Seek out the good stuff that is still being produced. Don't be frightened to come forward and let your work be known. Talk to your mates and get them on board. Lastly, don't be shy to come and talk to us oldies. We're not your parents! In CBG World the generation gap doesn't exist and we need your energy and enthusiasm. We're pretty much the same as you inside, we're just walking around in Ratrod bodies.

Love and Peace from an ageing hippy.

Two guitars finished, tobacco tin amps started

Just finished my latest two CBGs. One of them has to be the prettiest looking yet. A white and green Cuaba box. I've done th neck in a matching white rubed-down paint finishe with a crackle paint green headstock. The other is a big yellow Monte Christo box. Neck in rubbed down red paint. Pleased with both of them, just need to let them settle in by playing them a little to make sure there's no problems with them before they go to their new homes.

So my next project is a batch of tin amps. Gonna make about 5 or 6. Some will be in nice old tobbacco tins and some in other old tins that I have picked up. One is a lovely yellow and red mustard tin from 1979. I'm quite excited about this project because I love making these little things and I think the old tins look incredibly cool. Probably follow those up with soem baccy tin mics if I can find some suitable inserts. The last ones I made used old 1960s telephone receivers. Being an ex-telecomms man, I had them in my "bits" box already. Need to investigate other sources.

best cigar humidors

OK so if you've found yourself here looking at cigar box guitars, you might also be interested in cigars themselves and something nice to keep them in. Maybe even to make a guitar from a special box like a humidor. Get the best cigar humidor here.

UK 2010 CBG Fest part two

Top photo - Here's the "gang of five" UK CBG dudes at the 2010 Fest Birmingham. left to right: Chickenbone John, Hollowbelly, Smojo, Bluesbeaten Redshaw and Roosterman (at the front)
Bottom photo - After hours jam session (left to right) MrRandomWritings, Chickenbone John, Roosterman.

I'm still wading through all the messages, photos and vids that have been posted on Cigar Box Nation that have followed the event. Everyone who went, seems to be buzzing with excitement. I could get to like this thing!

UK CBG fest 2010 report

Wow, another cracking event and a big thumbs up to Chickenbone John for organising it and thanks to him from us all for the hard work he put into it. This was the second one and I can't wait for the next. Highlights of the day for me were the short documentary made by Lesley Ross on the UK cigar box guitar movement; Hollowbelly's playing workshop (see photo of him playing my special); doing my demo on my pedals (what a buzz and a huge step forward for me personally); the evening gig (loved Tinqui8's spot in particular) and just meeting so many great folk. It really felt like being part of a big family. There just wasn't enough time in the day, to explore everything and talk to all the folks I have met online. What I love about this stuff is the huge enthusiasm that we all seem to have for it. The creativity that goes into it is inspiring and the opportunity to express your self in an individual way is liberating.

Roosterman gave a very entertaining demo on cbg building - he's a natural comedian and once you've net him, not forgotten. The day also included a viewing of Max Shore's CBG documentary in full; a great open mic session; playing workshops with Yellowbelly Flatt and Chickenbone John (pity I missed CB John's but it coincided with the film). A UK based CBG fest has been my dream for a few years and so this was a a dream come true!

Here's Hollowbelly at the evening gig.