One of the most fascinating and interesting Blues instruments, for the last two centuries and beyond, has been and still is the Cigar Box guitar.
Together with its very recognisable sound, a Cigar Box guitar has always captured the imagination of those purists Blues guitar players that associate the primitive sound of that type of guitar to the Blues sound of the plantation, with guitar bodies often "invented" by improvised makers, using old and often colourful boxes advertising products of a bygone era.
It was therefore a great discovery for our website to find out that in Italy, a country that has got a strong bond with Blues on many levels, there is still somebody willing to dedicate great love, patience and passion in the construction of Cigar Box guitars, so much so that his reputation and talent has been also openly appreciated and recognized by some of the finest musical institutions in the United States.
The gentleman in question is Alessio Benvegnu', a class 1971 huge Blues and Jazz lover coming from the north of Italy, who showed a huge love for music already at the very tender age of 9, when he had already been fairly successfully attempting to play drums, keyboards and then piano for the past six years.
Through his deep passion for wood working, Benvegnu' decided almost 11 years ago to start building Cigar Box guitars with his own hands, aided in this goal by his wife Emanuela, who kept on encouraging and supporting her husband, once she realized how talented Alessio was.
We had the opportunity to chat about Benvegnu's exceptional Cigar Box guitars building skills with the Man Himself, to try and understand even more from where this great love for Cigar Box guitars comes from and his personal relation with the Blues.
BR - How much does it honor you to be appreciated as one of the Blues Artisans for excellence not only in Italy, but also in other countries, Alessio?
AB - We started working on this project, together with my wife Emanuela, about 11 years ago. I have always had a great passion for the Blues and I also have a past as a harmonica player and as a trumpet player but, when I discovered the Cigar Box as an instrument, I really liked the idea of trying to preserve this type of instrument by constructing them by myself. I had this passion for working on wood since I was a child and for me, because I have always associated the idea of pure and raw Blues with the more rural part of it, the one played into the cotton plantations, so to speak, it became very natural trying to build such an important Blues instrument, out of deep respect for it. It took me a while to understand how to build the diapason scales properly, but with a lot of patience and, above all, passion, I think I succeeded quite well.
BR - How does the construction of a Cigar Box come about, Alessio, and how much time is needed to create one that respects the design and purity of the sound you intend to achieve?
AB - So, first of all I wanted to specify that I do not build Cigar Box guitars with the aim of selling them, unless someone specifically asks me to. What you collect, monetarily speaking, if this happens, it goes entirely towards the material needed to build other guitars and not for personal profit. Both my wife Emanuela and I, fortunately, have got already a 9 to 5 job that has nothing to do with music, therefore, building Cigar Box guitars, is just a passion and has nothing to do with profits of any kind and it is something to which I can dedicate myself when I have time on weekends, or when I return back home from my real job in the evening. In answer to your question, I am someone who works very instinctively, when it comes to work on building a Cigar Box. I start with an approximate diagram of what I intend to build but then, inevitably, I rely on instinct following that type of tangent, so the initial diagram has only a preparatory and general function. As for timing, I can tell you that it normally takes a couple of months on an average, to finish one. I use a lot of ebony, mahogany, rosewood, all particular woods for the construction of those guitars, while the boxes are mostly made of Spanish cedar. The humidity of the wood plays a fundamental role in the whole process and you need to understand when the humidity is right, to start working on it. The drying of the wood is also an important process as is the painting on it, the latter being a step that I leave to my wife, since it is a project that we carry on together. If someone tries to impose a deadline on me, in case someone wants to order me a guitar, I always refuse to provide one, explaining that it is the wood that decides when the Cigar Box is ready to be then able to complete the finished product. I like to think that more than being a luthier, I feel like a popularizer of the concept of preserving the Blues through the construction of those guitars, something that I hope to be able to carry on doing with my wife for as long as possible.
BR - What is the last Cigar Box anyone commissioned you to build that required a particular effort to finish, Alessio?
AB - When I build guitars, I always make a couple of them at a time and among the last ones I made, one went to the owner of a well-known restaurant located on the edge of the Po river delta, near where I live. I must say that those who ask me for guitars to be built, they always give me a lot of satisfaction, like that aforementioned gentleman who owns the restaurant, who often sends me videos of him playing the guitar I built for him.
BR - We know that you were awarded a special award by the Berklee College Of Music in Boston for your talent in building guitars as unique as your Cigar Boxes are, something that must have certainly made you proud. Has there been any music artist for whom you built a Cigar Box, whose appreciation particularly pleased you?
AB - I must say that more than citing artists, I like more to cite the appreciation of organizations that ask me to make exhibitions of my Cigar Box guitars, given that throughout Italy, there will be a maximum of ten people left building these instruments, like I try to do. These events, where I exhibit my guitars, more than giving me the opportunity to sell guitars, they provide me instead a lot of satisfaction in helping to open the minds of people who do not know yet what Blues is all about in depth and in a more exhaustive way. But definitely, the recognition from Berklee is something that will stay with me for life, a truly emotional moment for me. As far as artists are concerned, if I really have to mention one, then I choose Roberto Formignani (Renowned Italian Blues guitarist), among the most talented I have ever had the fortune to watch performing. If I can add one more thing, speaking of craftsmanship, being recognized by another country like the United States, although it was something that moved me, it also confirmed to me once more that we artisans are not prophets in our homeland and this, as an Italian, hurts me a lot, not because I wish to be recognized as such, but solely because I know that Italian craftsmanship, and here we are talking not only on a musical level, is and has always been considered among the best in the world; but in the last twenty years, unfortunately, an artisan has become a bit of a dying breed, in my country of origin and that is why it is more important than ever to be at least still highly appreciated, at least, outside of our country. I really hope that from that point of view, things will improve very soon but, as I said, not even for me, but for those few hundred artisans left in Italy, who still ensure that our country is still among the most renowned in the world in many fields.
BR - For you, Alessio, building Cigar Box guitars is a hobby that is surely very close to both your heart and your wife Emanuela's and in that respect, we were wondering if you had, in the absence of a real website where to display your guitars, at least an email address, where you can be contacted for requests concerning Cigar Box's commissions.
AB - We have neither created a website nor a specific email where to be reached, in that respect. I rather prefer that anybody interested in having a Cigar Box guitar made for them would rather contact me through social networks' platforms such as Facebook or Messenger, for that type of requests. And even if, in the end, they don't have an adequate budget to buy a guitar, I'm still happy to exchange opinions with anyone about Blues in general and create new relationships within the Blues world.
BR - Is there any important advice you could give to someone who intends to start building Cigar Box guitars or guitars in general, Alessio?
AB - First of all, to have the necessary stubbornness to never give up, even if the first attempts may not be very successful and to have the necessary mental strength and patience to continue in their instinct and creativity. I like to think that we all follow a path in life, whether it's in guitar building or anything else. When building your own design, more specifically when building guitars, behind those people you find very often personal stories of many different kinds, where someone tries to pour out even small personal suffering out as a way to reconcile themselves with life, while attempting the construction of a guitar. But it is essential, as I mentioned before, to persist and never give up, because the satisfaction and pride that building a Cigar Box guitar brings, for me as I am sure for many more, is a pleasure for the mind and the soul. I don't live close to the Mississippi river, but I feel like a son of the Blues of the Po Delta instead and here in Italy, we have our Blues to tell. I've loved this music genre since I was 16 and it's so ingrained in my DNA that I already know I'll continue to love it for the rest of my life. Just as much as I shall keep on loving my Cigar Box guitars, very likely, for the rest of my life.
