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The Art of Cigar Box Guitars

John draws makes guitars from old cigar boxes, tin cans, and a other re-purposed materials.
Rich Egger
John draws makes guitars from old cigar boxes, tin cans, and a other re-purposed materials.

John Draws is making a lot of noise – literally and figuratively – with three-string guitars made from cigar boxes and other bits and pieces.

John draws makes guitars from old cigar boxes, tin cans, and a other re-purposed materials.
Credit Rich Egger
John draws makes guitars from old cigar boxes, tin cans, and a other re-purposed materials.

The radio story.

The McDonough County man is not alone in the craft.  The website Cigar Box Nationis devoted to it. And Draws said it has a long tradition. “These go back to the early 1800s.  Down south a lot of instruments were made out of a broomstick handle or a piece of barn wood, some nails.”

John Draws sold cigar box guitars from a booth during Heritage Days in Macomb. He'll also sell them July 18 & 19 during the Spring Lake Bluegrass Jam & Festival at Spring Lake Park in Macomb.
Credit Rich Egger
John Draws sold cigar box guitars from a booth during Heritage Days in Macomb. He'll also sell them July 18 & 19 during the Spring Lake Bluegrass Jam & Festival at Spring Lake Park in Macomb.

Draws learned the craft a couple years ago after attending a workshop.  He made 44 cigar box guitars and “canjos” (guitars made with tin cans) last year. “I'm not like a master craftsman. I'm not a carpenter. I don't build cabinets.I have some basic tools out in the garage. With a little bit of time and some basic tools, I can make a working instrument.”  The cigar box guitars cost $55 - $75.  Canjos and instruments for kids are a bit cheaper.

A cigar box guitar, soup can microphones, and percussion made from gourds.
Credit Rich Egger
A cigar box guitar, soup can microphones, and percussion made from gourds.

Draws also makes amps out of cigar boxes and old radios.  And he makes microphones out of soup cans. “It gives an old-timey sound,” he said of the microphones.

As for the cigar box guitars, Draws said, “Sometimes (people) think it's like a toy or something, or a decoration for the wall. And some people use them that way. People buy them and tell me, ‘I can't play but this looks cool.’ People a lot of time are amazed that I'll pick one up and play it.”

Draws playing a cigar box guitar during an interview in the Tri States Public Radio news studio.
Credit Rich Egger
Draws playing a cigar box guitar during an interview in the Tri States Public Radio news studio.

Draws was a music teacher in the Griggsville-Perry School District. But the district just dropped its music program so he’s looking for a new teaching job.If there are any principals out there listening who want a good music teacher who makes instruments with kids…” Those principals just might find Draws in his garage making more cigar box guitars.

Copyright 2014 Tri States Public Radio

Rich is the News Director at Tri States Public Radio. Rich grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago but now calls Macomb home. Rich has a B.A in Communication Studies with an Emphasis on Radio, TV, and Film from Northern Illinois University. Rich came to love radio in high school where he developed his “news nerdiness” as he calls it. Rich’s high school had a radio station called WFVH, which he worked at for a couple years. In college, Rich worked at campus station WKDI for three years, spinning tunes and serving at various times as General Manager, Music Director and Operations Manager. Before being hired as Tri States Public Radio’s news director in 1998, Rich worked professionally in news at WRMN-AM/WJKL-FM in Elgin and WJBC-AM in Bloomington. In Rich’s leisure time he loves music, books, cross-country skiing, rooting for the Cubs and Blackhawks, and baking sugar frosted chocolate bombs. His future plans include “getting some tacos.”