Get ready for the 9th Annual New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival at the historic New Orleans Jazz Museum, 400 Esplanade Ave., running from Thursday, January 16, through Saturday, January 18. An astonishing array of talent from across the globe will gather to perform and celebrate homemade stringed instruments in the world’s most musical city. For tickets and information, call (504) 568-6993 or visit NewOrleansCBG.com.
The lineup is led by New Jersey roots trio April Mae and the June Bugs, energetic Florida rockers Memphis Lightning, and the sensational one-woman band Ghalia Volt. They’ll be joined by popular New Orleans acts like Cigar Box Serenaders, Mahmoud Chouki, Ed Wills and Blues 4 Sale, Rumsey Kadar, and Amzie Adams, along with Nashvillian Meg Williams and international CBG ambassador Steve Arvey. European-based performers include La Durance Blues Band (France), Captn Catfish (Germany), John Mary Go Round (Belgium), Riccardo Ferrini (Italy), and El Gordeaux (England). These artists, leaders in the Cigar Box Guitar Movement, will deliver over 16 hours of homemade-instrument entertainment during this three-day event. A Thursday Night Symposium and Builders’ Forums on Friday and Saturday afternoons round out the schedule.
Only 150 all-inclusive tickets are available for this unique and intimate cultural experience. All events will take place within the comfortable confines of the Jazz Museum.
Some Background
Founded in 2016, the New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival quickly gained a reputation for outstanding entertainment. In 2019, the festival was named 'Neighborhood Festival of the Year' by OffBeat Magazine. In 2020, the festival partnered with internationally acclaimed singer and guitarist Samantha Fish to expand its growth and outreach. The global pandemic necessitated a virtual edition in 2021, with two nights of video streamed via Mandolin.com, while ongoing concerns forced its cancellation in 2022. The return to live performances in January 2023 at the venerable New Orleans Jazz Museum thrilled all involved, and the 2024 festival was the best yet.
Throughout U.S. history, pioneers, Civil War soldiers, farmhands, street singers, and other resourceful musicians crafted expressive instruments from household items and random hardware—most notably in Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta. These simple creations shaped nearly every style of American music.
“Cigar Box Guitar” is a broad term encompassing a range of homemade stringed musical devices, including banjos, basses, dulcimers, fiddles, mandolins, diddley bows, and more. Today, musicians worldwide use these unique instruments to record, perform live, and play at home, ensuring their authentic, traditional sound remains a staple of the modern music scene.
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