Shakey Joe Kambic Duo

Shakey Joe Kambic

Shakey Joe Kambic plays guitars made from cigar boxes. He plays some originals in his set mixed with his passion, early Delta Blues.

Around the age of nine, Joe received his first music lessons, them being accordion lessons. In a few short years, accordion lessons evolved into organ lessons. He took what he learned and later moved to the piano; discovering that he could play by ear popular songs from the 60s and 70s.

It wasn’t until after he moved to Denver, Colorado in ’72 that he picked up his first guitar. With both the guitar and a piano in his residence, he started writing songs.

While in Denver, he was fortunate to have met the piano player for the Platte River Jazz Band, from whom he took stride piano lessons. That musical style can be heard in his first recorded song “Waitin’ For The Light To Change (Blues).

It was during those years in Denver, when he first heard Johnny Long perform at the Prairie Schooner in Larimer Square. He had no idea at that time that they would become musician friends decades later. Through his employment as a painter, he met and worked for Rich Ruoff in Lancaster. He worked the front door as a doorman when Rich opened Chameleon Club. Many years later, Joe asked Rich to book John Long at the Lancaster Roots and Blues Festival, which happened twice.

After returning to Lancaster in 1980, there were decades when Joe stopped playing music, finishing college, graduating from law school and practicing law in Lancaster. It was in 2019, while volunteering as a main stage loader for the Roots and Blues Festival when he was introduced to cigar box guitars, specifically made by Stan Opiel at Mudboy Guitar Works.

After looking into the history of the instrument, it became obvious to him that he needed to learn songs from the later 1800s and early 1900s. He strives to share, and thereby preserve, the history of the musicians and Roots and Blues songs from those eras.

His first CD, Shakey Joe Kambic 1, has been out for a few years. He has plans to record this year a solo CD covering songs that he enjoyed over the decades.

A couple of years ago, Shakey Joe Kambic has teamed up with the excellent percussionist Tim Snyder, who sings more contemporary blues for the DUO and provides the beat for their songs on his cajón. Tim has brought depth, energy and new challenges to the music that Shakey Joe Kambic plays.

Tim Snyder

Tim has been performing professionally for over 40 years. Obsessed with percussion from a young age, he has been in a variety of bands playing and singing different styles of music in the Northern Poconos area (NEPA).

Tim’s heart has always been in classic rock and Blues, with his roots growing out of those musical styles. Of the many bands in which he performed, they include Storm, Audio Pi and twenty-plus years with the regionally popular Hometown Boys.

Tim continues to look forward to making new creative inroads with his music since relocating to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. So much so, that he has set up a small studio and practice space on his property.

The DUO is working on releasing their first CD here in 2026.