Suitcase Sessions

In this episode, I am deviating from the norm to have a little bit of fun with my son Dan and his wife Haley.  They traveled about 9 hours from their home in Florida to spend some time in Gadsden, Alabama seeing the Cigar Box Guitar exhibit at the Mary G. Hardin Center For Cultural Arts Museum - and to spend some time catching up with me!   We decided to film our time catching up and treat it as a normal episode on the Suitcase Sessions Podcast.  If you want to spend a few minutes exploring just how many things we can talk about and find humor in, this is a fun one!

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal

In this edition, I had the privelage of interviewing Tom Banks, Executive Director of the Gadsden Cultural Arts Foundation, and the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts.  Tom is excited to host a permanent display of Cigar Box Guitars in Gadsden, Alabama and ensured that some 60 Cigar Box Guitars had a promonent location on the wall adjacent to the Performance stage within the Museum.  Gadsden sees and hosts concerts and music festivals, attracting both performing artists and music lovers representing everything from Bluegrass to Rock, Country to Heavy Metal.  It is exciting to know that many of those people will be patrons at the museum who will enjoy learning about Cigar Box Guitars.

If you would like to know more about the Gadsden Cultural Arts Foundation, you can learn more at: https://culturalarts.org

or you can reach out to Tom directly at: [email protected]

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal

In this episode, I sit down with Roberto Vasquez.  If you're paying attention, you'll note the 3-string, paint can lid resonator leaning against the suitcase at a crossroad in my podcast logo.  Roberto made that cigar box guitar for me about 7 years ago as a part of a Christmas exchange among a group of builders, and it has been my favorite to noodle around on.  Roberto lives in beautiful San Bernardino County, California in Fontana and talks to us about how he found the cigar box guitar and started making, playing and selling them.  We wrap up with a great story on an opportunity he had to build a CBG for Cheech Marin of the comedy and movie duo Cheech and Chong!  

If you want to see more of Roberto's cigar box guitars you can check out his listings on his Etsy site: Etsy/rvmusic.etsy.com FB/RLVCBG

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal

In this episode, I had a chance to sit down with Mark "The Harp" LeClair.  Mark is a Cigar Box Guitar builder and performer.  He is known for playing his cigar box guitars with his harmonicas and has an ability to tell stories with musical accompaniment on the fly.  Here, you will learn how Boys Life Magazine and his natural curiousity led him to building his first cigar box guitar and then how his time in the U.S. Army found him carrying a harmonica into the field to pass the time.  Mark is a lot of fun to watch perform and it was equally as fun to learn as much as I did from our conversation.

If you want to learn more about Mark LeClair

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal

In this interview I had an opportunity to sit down with Logan Elliott.  Logan is from the Springfield, IL area and is a prolific builder of Cigar Box Guitars.  He specializes in Fretless CBGs and operates under the name of Logan's Home Grown CBGs.  Logan has appeared on several Radio and TV spots both locally and nationally and has been featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles talking about his charitable work for the Veteran's Honor Flight program and many others.  

If you would like to learn more about Logan or have him build a one of a kind instrument he calls playable Folk Art you can find him on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/CBGhomegrown

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal

In this interview, I sit down with Alice and Bill Saurber; the husband and wife musical duo "Pallin With Al".  Alice plays a Tenor Ukulele and Bill plays a Ukulele Bass (UBass) and together they are very talented performing artists who hail from the Greater Cincinnati area.  We had a chance to sit down in Gadsden, Alabama where they performed on-stage at the Mary G Hardin Center for Cultural Arts at the opening of their permanent Cigar Box Guitar Display and for some 20,000 people gathered for a Car Show on the 1st weekend in June.

In this episode, Bill and Alice perform their rendition of Sugarpie Desantos "Going Back Where I Belong" with an Elise LeGrow flair on their Cigar Box Ukuleles!

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal

Interview with Jesse Thomas of Hummingbird Guitars while in Gadsden, Alabama at the Grand Opening of the Cigar Box Guitar Exhibit at the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts and simultaneous event sponsored by MGB Guitars - "BoxCon".  BoxCon was a builders convention and I had an opportunity to interview Jesse to get to know him as a builder.

You can learn more about Jesse by checking out his Facebook page for Hummingbird Guitars at: https://www.facebook.com/HummingBirdGuitarsbyJesseThomas

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal

Interview with Travis Bowlin in Gadsden, Alabama for the Suitcase Sessions Podcast. Travis Bowlin is a highly talented recording artist and Cigar Box Guitar builder. In this episode, we talk about his passion for music and get to hear a new song of his played on a cigar box guitar that he had just finished building. We also get insight into who his musical influences are and how he got started building Cigar Box Guitars as well as information about the 3rd Annual Cigar Box Guitar Festival he organizes and hosts in Blue Ridge, Georgia at Bearclaw Vineyard this October 4th - 6th.

You can find out more about Travis by checking out his Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/RollinwithTBowlin

Or, you can email him at:
[email protected]

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal

In this episode of the Suitcase Sessions podcast I had an opportunity to sit down with Cody Goggin.  Cody is the lead singer and guitarist for Cody and the Chameleons.  He is a true performing artist and he shares with us his passion for all aspects of the artform from writing his own lyrics to producing his own albums and documentaries.  Here we get to learn about his musical influences and how they feed his creative process.

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal

In this episode we sit down with a member of the St. Louis Cigar Box Guitar Club who is both a builder and musician to discuss his motivations and influences as well as listen to him talk about and play a few of his Cigar Box Guitars.  Russ performs with both the Unspecific Railroad band and with Cody and the Chameleons when not performing on his own.

I would be remiss to leave out that Russ performed and provided the music for my Podcast.

If you want to see more of his builds or to talk with him directly, you can find him on his Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/skipnchatter.guitars 

or via email at [email protected]

Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos

Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design Studio - 513-907-9878
Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 1 performed by Russ Wellington and Cody Goggin

Cigar Box Guitar Music for Season 2 performed by Dean Dostal