Justin Johnson headlines Cigar Box Festival in Sarasota

It’s about as “roots” as roots music can get.

Justin Johnson is one of the figureheads in the world of cigar-box guitar music, which embraces all sorts of home-made and hand-made instruments. He’s the headliner at cigar-box guitar festivals around the country and abroad, and he’ll headline Fogartyville’s Cigar Box Festival on Saturday in Sarasota.

Like a lot of musicians who play at such festivals, Johnson is as committed to the earthy joy of the instruments themselves as he is to his roots music. When he’s not playing music, he holds workshops and creates educational materials to help other people learn to play music on instruments that are made by musicians, often crafted out of found or recycled materials.

He’ll conduct a workshop at Fogartyville at 5 p.m. Saturday, a couple of hours before his show is scheduled to start. Another workshop, focusing on building instruments, starts at 4 p.m., but Johnson is not leading that one. The workshops costs $10, whether you go to one or both.

Some of Johnson’s instruments may be made from discarded cardboard boxes, but his performance is polished and sophisticated. He plays a wide variety of hand-made instruments, created by builders and craftspeople all over the world, frequently switching between different instruments, while he weaves a tapestry of song and stories. His style and his instruments make his shows distinctively different from that of other most other roots and Americana musicians on the circuit.

Details: 7 p.m. Nov. 26, Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota. $15 advance, $20 day of show. 941-545-5635, fogartyville.org.

This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Justin Johnson headlines Cigar Box Festival in Sarasota."