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Arts and Entertainment


Electric cigar box banjos a hit with Phish-heads
Akron biochem student turning cigar boxes into art
by WKSU's KABIR BHATIA


Reporter
Kabir Bhatia
 
Ricky Louke turns cigar boxes and guitar strings into electric banjos
Courtesy of Derek Van Ittersum
In The Region:
You can buy pretty much anything at a Phish concert. For two decades, the New England quartet has been gaining fans as rabid and loyal as The Grateful Dead’s. Thousands of Phish-heads criss-cross the country every summer in a self-contained community, complete with its own bazaar. WKSU’s Kabir Bhatia caught up with one Akron-based vendor who could be giving the guitars on stage a run for their money.
Electric cigar box banjos a hit with Phish-heads

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Shakedown Street -- the mazelike marketplace outside every Phish concert looks more like “Road to Morocco” than a tailgate party. Vendors are offering vegan burritos, water pipes, exotic beverages, and... an electric, cigar-box banjo.

Ricky Louke could be any fan trying to make a few bucks before heading into the big show. But the University of Akron biochemistry major supports himself all summer through flea markets, art shows, and by following Phish on tour. His electric banjos sell for around $100, but he says he does it mostly for fun.

Cigar box banjos are nothing new, but Ricky Louke says he’s one of about two-dozen artisans who’ve electrified the instrument, which looks like a regular banjo except for the square body with cigar maker’s logo.

As for the strings themselves, Louke uses heavy gauge electric guitar strings to give his instrument a more sitar-like sound.

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