The Cigar Box Guitar Maker

09/24/20 • 20 min

When a promising rock musician tired of the road and the pressure, he gave up music and got a job at a hardware store. Then one day, he had a revelation....

The Cigar Box Guitar Maker, written by Nancy LeBrun, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge and free of advertising.

Introduction by: Anh Oppenheimer

Narrated by: Nancy LeBrun

Produced by: Larry Rosen

Music by: Mike Snowden, with songs by Lightnin' Hopkins, C.B. Soars, and A.J. Gaither

When a promising rock musician tired of the road and the pressure, he gave up music and got a job at a hardware store. Then one day, he had a revelation....

Introduction by: Anh Oppenheimer

Narrated by: Nancy LeBrun

Produced by: Larry Rosen

Music by: Mike Snowden, with songs by Lightnin' Hopkins, C.B. Soars, and A.J. Gaither

Previous Episode

The Healing Power of Bello

On the Northeastern coast of Italy, an unusual drug treatment community uses craftsmanship to rehabilitate some of Europe’s most intractable drug addicts. San Patrignano — or "SanPa" — was founded more than 40 years ago by a hotelier who inherited a 200-hectare estate and wanted to do something about the epidemic of addiction in nearby Rimini. He began by inviting drug addicts to his estate for Christmas, then bringing them home to live with his family. Eventually, he founded an informal, alternative medicine free clinic at their weekend farm, and from there, he began building the community.

The Healing Power of Bello, written by LAURA FRASER, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge and free of advertising.

Introduction by: Summer Brown

Narrated by: Avanthika Srinivasan

Produced by: Larry Rosen

Music by: Mike Snowden of The Cigar Box Guitar Maker.

Next Episode

Japan’s Gorgeous, Precarious Fishing Poles

While Japanese master craftsmen command up to $100,000 for turning bamboo into a fishing pole, aspiring younger makers can barely find anyone to take them on as apprentices. And this isn't the only time-honored Japanese craft at the brink of extinction. How could this happen in a country that, for centuries, has served as a model of handmade perfection?

Japan's Gorgeous, Precarious Fishing Poles, written by Yukari Iwatani Kane, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge and free of advertising.

Introduction by: Anh Oppenheimer

Narrated by: Nancy LeBrun

Produced by: Larry Rosen

Music by: Mike Snowden