LIVERMORE — Ed Roudebush heard something different in a song that didn’t quite sound like a guitar, but wasn’t a banjo either. After some research, he found the cigar box guitar, and now months later hopes to bring the trend to the Tri-Valley. Cigar box guitars are exactly what they sound like — guitars made from old cigar boxes, usually with three strings and with a certain “twang” or metallic sound. Roudebush has a collection of 150, some of which he’s made himself, and plans to sell about 60 of them at the upcoming Livermore Wine Country street festival. But these guitars, popular in the South and Midwest, have been around since the Civil War era and are easier to play than a typical six-string guitar, he said. They’re also quite creative and decorative as they can be made from almost any recycled material; Roudebush has some made from everything including a kitchen sink, shovel, paddle, license plate and even a bedpan. “I think half of America has guitars in their closets or garages that they can’t play, and they pick it up and it’s hard and doesn’t sound good,” he said.

“This is something you can pick up and play within a couple of hours.” Some of the ones he’s made himself include that 1927 license plate guitar, a nod to his Livermore home, which was built in 1926 during Prohibition. Also a nod to that era is the secret compartment in there that hides a flask. He made his daughter a horse-themed one, with a horse shoe as the bridge, and for his son a “beer-tar”— made almost entirely of beer can and bottle materials. Roudebush hopes to get the trend started in this area, especially since the guitars are easy to use for kids learning to play a musical instrument. He plans on making lunch box guitars, in various themes, that can also be plugged into an amp (and therefore headphones), so kids can practice. “I really hope this will resonate with young people,” he said. “With music, most think you’re successful if you can play a song and perform. Only that will inspire you to continue playing.” Roudebush claims the simple chords (usually D and G and without the sharps and flats) make it so easy that he can teach someone to play a song in five minutes.

His booth at the wine festival, called Gator Gittars, will feature 60 of his guitars from his collection, including some he made himself. Roudebush, 66, recently retired from the wine industry in Napa Valley, and he and his wife moved to Livermore more than a year ago. It was Terry Roudebush, his wife of 37 years, who encouraged him to think of selling them and, if it sticks, to keep making them. “I want to see if there’s an interest here,” he said. “If not, everyone we know is going to be getting a guitar for Christmas.” Terry Roudebush said at first her husband’s collection started small, and before she knew it, box after box with a guitar inside starting arriving at their front door. “It keeps him busy, but most importantly, I want him to be happy,” said Terry Roudebush. These unusual guitars began as early as 1863 — a Civil War photo of a man in Pennsylvania shows him holding such a cigar box guitar, Roudebush said. Cigars were at first sold by the barrel but moved to boxes for standardized taxing purposes.

But the boxes themselves would get thrown out by sellers, and that’s when people started to reuse them and turn them into guitars, Roudebush said.best wine bar south london Roudebush gathers his collection from across the nation, and wherever else he can find them — flea markets or antiques stores. buy oyster bay wine onlineBut not too many people know about them around here, including his own guitar teacher, who has been a musician for decades.wine gift boxes and bags “I’ve asked everyone I know,” he said.best white wine for relaxing Roudebush describes his newfound fascination with the guitars like a cosmic truth from the film “Field of Dreams” (think “If you build it, they will come”). good wine for a diet

For instance, he attended an outdoor concert and happened to sit next to Carl Wente of Wente Vineyards, who introduced him to the Front Porch Music Festival concert series.how late can u buy wine in texas His guitars on display will range in price from $45 to $495, with most less than $200. wine for sale on amazonBesides the Livermore festival, he will also display and sell his guitars at the Lafayette Art and Wine event in September and the Danville Fall Crafts Festival in October. good red wine nz Say Goodbye to the Most Interesting Man in the World; best red wine on amazonNew Wine Cap Takes A Nod From Beer; Plus Other News & Notes (Alternate headline photos: 1, 2)

Actor Jonathan Goldsmith has been known as “The Most Interesting Man In The World” in a much-loved series of ads for Dos Equis beer since 2006. In his newest and final ad for the brand, the Most Interesting Man In The World is seen taking off in a spaceship on a one-way trip to Mars. “His only regret is not knowing what regret feels like,” the announcer says, as Goldsmith advises us one final time, “stay thirsty, my friends.” Doing some traveling yourself? A more portable wine bottle makes its debut. The war against TCA continues, with more and more non-cork wine closures making debuts. The latest from Humanitas Wines of Napa Valley is a swing-top cap. Swing tops, mostly seen on pricey Belgian beers, are closures with a gasket-ringed stopper, generally made of ceramic. It’s held down by a heavy wire clamp that pivots from two holes in the neck of the bottle. Humanitas hand-bottled 46 cases of their rose Pinot Noir in the new bottles last November, which are for sale in the tasting room for $30.

This bud’s for you. Last week (March 7) it was reported that unusually warm temperatures have brought an early start to the 2016 wine-grape season in Northern California. “Bud break,” when vines awaken from winter dormancy and shoots emerge from buds on the vine, is starting ahead of schedule in Napa, Sonoma and Lake counties according to Jennifer Putnam, CEO and executive director of Napa Valley Grapegrowers. Bud-watchers say it’s about a week ahead of 2015, itself an early start. However, growers and vintners also comment that early bud break doesn’t predict much about the size or quality of the coming vintage. Meanwhile, In the Trade Opici Chairman Hubert Opici Turns 100! Raise a glass to wine-industry legend Hubert Opici, who celebrated his 100th birthday on March 13, 2016. The chairman of Opici Wine Group, who was recently honored as an “American Wine Legend” at Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Star Awards, attributes his longevity to his family and deep passion for wine.

“I feel truly blessed to be celebrating 100 years surrounded by my daughter, grandchildren, and great grandchildren,” says Hubert. “Their love keeps my heart young. And working alongside them to build this business has been an immeasurable pleasure.” To honor this remarkable milestone, the Opici family created a limited-edition Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon called H. The grapes are sourced from select parcels of old vines in the heart of Napa’s Oakville district. H is available in select markets around the county at a retail price of $33. And now back to the ongoing saga of Italy v. In the latest chapter of an ongoing feud we reported on earlier between Prosecco’s DOC Consortium and the countries of New Zealand and Australia, the Italian group has responded to recent claims by South Pacific vintners that international trade laws permit the use of the term “Prosecco” as a grape variety and not a region. Not so fast, says Luca Giavi, the director of the Prosecco DOC Consortium.

“It is true that Prosecco used to be the name of the variety,” Giavi notes, “but it is also true that in the minds of international consumers, Prosecco is a wine of Italian origin. That is precisely why we asked for and obtained the IG (geographic indication) certification in 2009.” “The deceptive nature of the request on the part of New Zealand producers to use the name Prosecco is even more evident if we take into consideration that to this day, there are still bottlers in New Zealand who label as Prosecco wines produced from Riesling, Muller Thurgau, and Pinot Gris, with no objections from their colleagues or the authorities. Making the name of the variety an issue seems to us an excuse to exploit a success that is entirely Italian. As has been stated previously, it might be legal, but it isn’t right.” Across the Pacific, Washington continues to have highest liquor tax in country. It’s no surprise to beleaguered consumers, but according to a study from the Washington Policy Center it appears that Washington state is going to have the highest liquor sales taxes in the nation for another year.

Nearly 40 percent of every sale on every bottle of liquor goes back to the state. Only those in border towns, such as Spokane, Walla Walla and Vancouver can escape by purchasing their booze across state lines. Don Poffenroth, co-founder of Spokane’s Dry Fly Distilling, comments that he and other producers are surprised prices did not go down as expected when control of alcohol sales was taken away from the state government. “We thought the prices would come down,” he said. The government instead chose to raise taxes proportionally to any price drop—now more than 33 dollars per gallon of liquor. Compare that to Missouri, where the tax hovers around two dollars per gallon. Poffenroth believes this is putting smaller businesses out, and driving more people out of state to buy their liquor, making it nearly impossible to spark competition. “Getting in the game today, the price of entry is 10-times what it used to be,” Poffenroth notes. It’s hard to make it in the Pacific Northwest…

Good news/bad news: Oregon wine sales are up, but even healthy sales don’t always bring profitability. Despite growing demand for their wine, more than a quarter of Oregon wine producers have reported being in financial distress. The producers were surveyed by Silicon Valley Bank, a wine industry lender. Some 28 percent claimed to be in poor financial health, compared to 16 percent for the industry overall. This is despite predictions that sales will grow 13 percent in value and 9 percent in volume this year alone. The number of Oregon wineries has climbed about 75 percent, to 676, in just the past five years, and nearly tripled over the past decade, according to the Oregon Wine Board. In the Silicon Valley Bank’s survey, 41 percent of Oregon wine producers said a sale is likely or possible, compared to about 25 percent for the industry as a whole. Here are some upcoming wine events that are likely to sell out in advance, so move fast! Celebrate Walla Walla: The World of Cabernet Sauvignon