Delta blues, which was born in the poverty-stricken areas of Mississippi and Louisiana, was not first performed on Gibson or Gretsch guitars. It was first played by the “diddly bows” and home-made stringed instruments created with salvaged materials. Some of these instruments only loosely resembled guitars in that they had strings, a neck and instrument body. The cigar box guitar, first created at the turn of the 20th century, has been rediscovered in the past thirty years. An underground movement has created festivals, workshops, dedicated performers and artisans creating modern versions of the primitive string instrument.
