Keith Urban, Outside the Box
It's official. Keith Urban can make something out of nothing. And by "nothing," I mean a cardboard box. Going through the liner notes on his Days Go By and Golden Road albums, I discovered that he is credited with playing a lot of instruments. One of which is the cardboard box. Now, there are plenty of instruments I've never heard of. So at first I though "cardboard box" was just some hip nickname for some obscure instrument. But I did some sleuthing. And sure enough, it is what it is.
It would be absurd -- yet so much fun -- to picture him playing it live. As in, "And over here, on lead cardboard box, all the way from the land down under -- Mr. Keith Urban!" And it's just as juvenile to picture Urban having friends over to jam and having him brag about his newest instrument acquisition, "Man, you've got to see my new cardboard box. Check this out: It's a vintage 1978 UPS shipping box. With the original packaging tape and everything. Wait ‘til you hear the sound."
Still, I do love a man who can make something mundane sound good. A handful of country stars are really good musicians. But Urban already had the whole string section down. Then he proved to be a prolific piano man. He even plays something called an E-Bow, and a bouzouki, a kind of a Greek mandolin. And now this empty-box-turned-percussive-instrument? If Urban can make that sound cool, imagine what he could do with other household items. It just proves to me that for certain stars, the talent pool has no shallow end.
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nick says:
what!?! even i didnt know he uses a cardboard box hahaha. im loving it.. i just wonder which songs he used it in… lol
David Nisbet, Scotland says:
He needs to drop the rock & roll guitars and pick up fiddle, steel guitar & banjo.
Vicki says:
Keith is amazing! Good singer, excellent musician-songwriter and all around sweety!
Donna says:
Watching Keith play the cardboard box……..priceless!
Janie says:
I’m sure that man can play ANYTHING and sound darned good too!!!!
Nikki says:
It’s amazing what can happen with a little creativity and a lot of talent!
Brenda says:
Seriously, is there anything he can’t do?
debbie and kimberly says:
Doesn’t suprise me .. the man is super talented!!!!
bobby says:
not to sound picky, but the album is be here, not days go by
Colleen Thrupp says:
Just fantastic … No surprise though, with all the Aussie country music influences in his youth …
Keith and most Aussie’s would be familiar with Rolf Harris who became famous for playing a “wobble board” …
When will we be seeing the youtube performance ???
dasy go by says:
Bobby–days go by was released in 2005 and is its own album. On be here he is listed as hand-clapping! but not the box. Sorry but I have the whole collection of cds right in front of me.
Ben says:
Keith’s awesome. I wanna see him play the cardboard box!
gloria says:
On his DVD when he’s doing Homespun love and he beats on his acoustic guitar and then taps on the microphone and makes the beat…I LOVE IT!! Keith is just truly awesome at anything he does! David Nesbit…you never know what Keith will have up his sleeve for his next tour…could be all the instruments you’ve mentioned! THat’s what I love about Keith, he’s always changing!
GG says:
I love those hand claps!
Cher says:
David Nisbet….Keith does play the banjo….check out his video for Better Life. He’s also played it in several other songs. I’ve never seen or heard Keith play the steel guitar or fiddle but I’m sure he could but I have seen him play the drums at a few of his shows! I truly believe Keith can do anything he sets his mind to doing.
What a talented guy!
Jan says:
Glad someone noticed how talented this man is…Creative and super-talented.
Many do not know all of the “instruments” he plays– drumming on drums and the guitar, piano, any kind of guitar you can think of, ganjo (6 string banjo), and many of the others mentioned.
What talent…and don’t forget the voice–one of his best instruments of all!!
Thanks for opening up this info to others!!
jessica says:
1st off the man can play anything with a string…..
He can play a beat without skipping one..
We all know he can write and sing…
I believe its time to play….oh I dunno ..the flute!
hahaha how about a recorder <this image makes me giggle.
I absolutely love Keith. I have for quite a few years now and he will always be amazing to me <3 ;)
Susan says:
bobby, the Be Here CD was released as Days Go By in the UK and overseas, U.S. could buy it at WalMart at one time. The album cover art is the same but there’s a different song mix and two more songs on Days Go By.
Sue Ann says:
It is so great that more and more people are noticing how extremely talented Keith is. He is just an amazing artist. I was already sure he could play anything!
olivia says:
Keith is so cute!and he has talent!I think Keith uses the box in his newst song on Greatst Hits plus 13 kids album.Romeos Tune is his newst song.I think he got it from his wife,Nicole Kidman,whom everybody knows is pregnant,and is due this month!
Maddy says:
I love him I have like 3 pictures in my room. I’m so happy that they will have a baby. I’m just 9 and I have all his songs! I would love to see his or meet him but I went to his concert and after that whenever I see something like a billboard with him on it, I go nuts tell all my friends about him and always hums his songs! I had took 2 hours to draw him if my mom told me that he was on the phone then I would explod as you can see I am koko for Kieth Urban !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO ********************************************I love him he is ssoooooooooooooo cute if he stopped playing i don’t know
urban lover says:
OMG WHAT CAN I SAY BUT, I LOVE KEITH URBAN I WAS TO A CONCERT OF HIS & YELLED I LOVE U KEITH HE LOOKED AT ME & POINTED BACK AT MEHE IS SO COOLl I HAVE ALOT OF PIX OF HIM EVEN A COLOGE OF HIM ABOVE MY BED RIGHT WHERE I SLEEP I DREAM ABOUT HIM EVERY NIGHT HE IS AN AWESOME SINGER & SONG WRITER I CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR WHAT HE WRITES NEXT HES GOING TO B A GREAT DADDY I’M SO HAPPY FOR HIM & NICOLE ALL I KNOW IS SHE IS ONE LUCKY LADY!!!
HE IS SO HOTT! says:
okay point blank he is sooo hott!!! And he has the sexiest accent ever, plus he can sing anything you give him so hes just one big bowl of FFFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNEEEEE!!
Country Music News Room » Blog Archive » Keith Urban’s New Guitar Has Arrived says:
[...] because he’s Keith Urban — the man who’s occasionally listed in liner notes as playing the cardboard box — he makes the guitar look downright lightweight, and he makes it sound like he’s been [...]