Suitcase Sessions

In this interview, I sit down with Devin C Williams.  Devin is a musician you will want to listen to and follow for both his prowess on the guitar and the message he delivers in each lyric.    He currently resides in Illinois but can be found performing all over the United States and most recently Europe.  To check out where you can find him performing next, follow him via his Facebook page at  ht...

In this episode, I had an opportunity to sit down with Karl-Heinz Lau.  Karl lives in Alma, Michigan and has one of the most artistic and creative minds in the CBG builders community that I've come across.  Operating under the Pigasus label, Karl prefers to build six-string guitars that are exacting in their specs but each a work of art.  His work can be found via his Facebook page and he is...

In this episode, I had the privelage of interviewing Jack Bensema from Manhattan, Illinois while at the US 10 Cigar Box Guitar Festival.  Jack is an excellent builder and his cigar box guitar vending booths is one of the best setups around that I've seen.  He builds under the Scrapgrinder Guitars label and his work can be found via his Facebook page.  His work can be found at various festival...

In this episode, I had the privelage of interviewing Preston Laisure while at the US 10 Cigar Box Guitar Festival.  Preston is a member of the CBG Minded Michigan'ders and we had a great conversation on our shared love of building and playing Cigar Box Guitars. Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos Cover Art by Alice Saurber: Alice Design S...

Season 2 Opener with Dean Dostal who is putting on the US 10 Cigar Box Guitar Festival.  In this episode we discuss all the specifics to include the venue, activities, food trucks and sponsors along with the Charity that will be supported by the revenue that will be generated by the event. Location: Custer, Michigan on  Date: 19 July 2025.   Time: Noon - 9pm Cost: FREE Watch the epidsodes on my Yo...

In this episode I invited my best friend and wife of over 42 years to give us her unique perspective on a variety of topics to include: Antiquing, Dumpster Diving, Visits To My Shop, The People in the Cigar Box Guitar Community, Her Favorite Builds, Post Surgery Purchases (and my no longer being able to use the phone to make them while still under anesthesia), and finally, her advice to Builders a...

In this episode I was able to sit down with Anthony Walker of Southpaw Cigarbox Guitars.  Anthony lives in Blythewood, South Carolina and has a long history in Local, State and Federal Law Enforcement.  He is a prolific builder of high quality, hand crafted Cigar Box Guitars and aside from being a regular vendor at the Soda City Market in Columbia, South Carolina he is also a supporter of school b...

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...

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...

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 beautifu...

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 t...

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 tal...

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 Cult...

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...

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 bui...

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 t...

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 perfo...

In this episode I hope to convince you that making Cigar Box Guitars is pretty simple and you can really use your imagination to build one.  Here I give plenty of examples for using things you might not expect to act as a bridge, a nut, a sound hole or tuning pegs.  I talk about each aspect of a standard guitar and what that might look like on your Cigar Box Guitars. Watch the epidsodes on my YouT...

In this episode, I answer the question I'm asked most often by my peers: How did you get addicted to Cigar Box Guitars?  My story is unique, like everyone else's but it is fun to learn how anybody discovers the Cigar Box Guitar and find out what it does to us as either builders or musicians. Watch the epidsodes on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@BobBowman962/videos Cover...

A conversation with Mike Breedlove, Owner and Operator of MGB Guitar Parts and Supplies.  In this episode we get to learn what motivates Mike and pick his brain on a wide variety of topics from his love of wood to his passion for the Cigar Box Guitar and spreading the word while helping introduce the artform to as many people as he can. Mike can be reached by contacting him via his website at: www...

Welcome to the “ Suitcase Sessions ” Podcast! My name is Bob Bowman and I love Cigar Box Guitars!  From the moment I heard Justin Johnson play a 3-string electric shovel and learned he made and played Cigar Box Guitars, I was hooked.  That was 7 years ago, and since then I’ve been a member of the St. Louis Cigar Box Guitar Club and have built 100 cigar box guitars.  I’ve coordinated and managed mu...

In this episode we learn about the origins of the cigar box and how it came to be the primary transportation container for cigars.  We learn how many were estimated to be in circulation in the United States between 1800 and 1960 and who was 1st to package their cigars in wooden boxes and the earliest known use of the cigar box as an instrument we would know as the Cigar Box Guitar. Watch the epids...