Third Annual New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival Set to Run January 17-20, 2018

NEW ORLEANS - Jan. 14, 2018 - PRLog -- The 3rd annual edition of the New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival will begin Wednesday, January 17th, spanning 4 days and 3 great venues. Internationally acclaimed singer/guitarist Samantha Fish, Blues legend Little Freddie King, and the acknowledged "King of the Cigar Box Guitar" Shane Speal lead the roster of musical artists from 8 states and Australia scheduled to perform. The full schedule of events and participants can be found on the festival's website listed below.

In the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries in the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta, and in the streets and on the levees of New Orleans, improvised instruments were germane to the birth and early development of both the Jazz and Blues musical movements.

During the last quarter of the Twentieth Century, musically creative individuals became interested in reviving the art and craft of handmade stringed instruments. Spurred on by connectivity of the internet, participation in this Do-It-Yourself movement increased greatly in the earliest years of the Twenty-First Century, and has now become a full-blown worldwide phenomenon. Specialized websites, groups, parts suppliers and festivals now permeate the landscapes of Europe and North America. The Cigar Box Guitar has risen to the upper levels of mainstream popular music to the extent that celebrities like Steven Segal, Johnny Depp and Sir Paul McCartney have jumped on the bandwagon.

The Wednesday Night Kickoff at Chickie Wah Wah in Mid City on the 17th will feature New Jersey Roots Trio April Mae & the June Bugs and Australian singer/songwriter Ivor Simpson Kennedy. The music begins at 6 PM.

On Thursday evening the 18th at 7 PM, in the Performing Arts Center of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint, Shane Speal, who in addition to his musical performance career is an accomplished musicologist, will present "Poor Man's Guitar," a program of discussion, displays and demonstrations of historical and vintage handmade instruments, and an acoustic performance by Shane Speal & the Snakes.

Friday morning at Frenchmen Theatre at 11:00 AM, a CBG Builders' Forum will feature seminars on Cigar Box Guitar building and playing, an interview with author David Sutton, and an Instrument Contest, in which builders will enter their best instruments to compete for prizes.

Weekend activities at the Frenchmen Theatre continue on Friday and Saturday with stellar performances on both days. Fourteen acts will be featured during the Friday Afternoon Showcase, Friday Night Spotlight, Saturday Afternoon Hootenanny and Friday Night Shindig. Tickets for each day or all four days are available on the website.

FOR NEW ORLEANS CIGAR BOX GUITAR FESTIVAL INFO: http://www.NewOrleansCBG.com/