LOS ANGELES — The pages of newspapers, or history books for that matter, don’t runneth over with stories of happy accidents involving chain saws. But that’s just what put Philadelphia musicians Lucy ...

The pages of newspapers, or history books for that matter, don’t runneth over with stories of happy accidents involving chainsaws. But that’s just what put Philadelphia musicians Lucy Tight and Wayne ...

All the electronics for the suitcase bass came from parts Ross Newell recycled from old smoke alarms. Turns out if you wire it backwards, the alarm component that makes the loud "beep" noise becomes a ...

Anyone who saw the funny little square-shaped guitars at Mikel Doktor’s booth stand at the Music is Art festival might have thought Doktor had created some unique, alien-type of instrument. However, ...

Tracy La Rue is a locksmith by trade, but every day after work, he can be found in his workshop at home, working with cigar boxes. While not a cigar smoker, he’s made hundreds of boxes into guitars ...

One of the best things about making music is that it’s so easy to do. There are countless ways to make interesting sounds out of nearly anything if you’re willing to experiment a little bit — just ask ...

It has been said that no zydeco band is complete without a rubboard and an accordion. But deep in the birthplace of zydeco, an exhibit at the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center features a different type ...

Shane Speal, whose Snake Oil Band headlines the first New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival on Saturday, started out playing something with a little more firepower. “In the ’80s, I was a bass player ...

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts. A quarter-century ago, when cigar-box guitar enthusiast Pat MacDonald ...

WITH THESE UNIQUE INSTRUMENTS. AND OF COURSE, IT’S MADE MASS. THE SOUND THAT COMES OUT OF THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE. IT’S CRAZY. FOR THE UNINITIATED, THE SOUND COMING FROM THIS CIGAR BOX IS MIND BLOWING.

POINT AU ROCHE — Scott Hanley had always wanted to learn to play a six-string guitar. But he injured a hand in a fall at his job as a correction officer and so had to get creative, instead. Hanley ...