Their band, Pallin’ with Al — named after the whimsical Squirrel Nut Zippers’ song of the same name — is billed as “Hamilton’s Only Cigar Box Band,” although that labeling could likely expand to surrounding jurisdictions without much competition. The instruments they play are mainly handcrafted by Bill, who retrofits strings, tuning pegs, and pickups to retired cigar boxes with his hobby/business, Willie’s Ukes & Guitars. He’s nearing 40 builds in two years.
Alice plays a tenor ukulele, and Bill plays a bass ukulele, keeping time with a vintage suitcase as his kick drum. Pallin’ with Al recently added harmonica player Greg Brown to the mix, but, as of now, Bill is not capable of building cigar box harps. The trio plays covers and originals around the area, even recently cut a four-song EP at 3rd Street Music in their hometown. The songs are currently in the mixing process, but will be released soon.
On a whim, Alice entered the couple into Colossal’s “America’s Favorite Couple” contest.
“I totally did not at all expect that we would place or advance or anything like that,” Alice said. “But I thought that maybe not every couple has shared love of music, or making music and being creative and artistic together, building things, and everything that goes with that, which is right in our wheelhouse.”
They won first place in their category in the first round. Round two, they placed second. Now in round three, in third place as this sentence is typed, the Saurbers will likely be eliminated in the Group Finalists round.
The winner of America’s Favorite Couple wins $20,000 and appears in a Variety magazine photoshoot, cementing the coveted title to print.
But since everything they do is based on their shared love of creating, winning was never really the goal.
Before Pallin’ with Al, Bill never played stringed instruments. He’d been a trumpet player in a local big band for 13 years, and dabbled in clarinet and saxophone years before that. When Alice and her sister played open mics, Bill — Alice’s self-professed roadie at the time — would often be asked: how come you’re not up there?
On one of their vintage camper outings, Bill saw a friend who built cigar box guitars. He then found MGB Guitars & Parts out of Odessa, Florida, which gave him the idea (and the parts) to build Alice two cigar box ukuleles for Christmas. In 2023, he also built a bass ukulele for himself. From then on, after Alice and her sister stopped playing open mics together, Bill was finally up there playing with Alice.
“Bill got the idea that we should call our band Pallin’ with Al, because that’s what we were doing,” Alice said. “We never imagined that we’d be doing this and meeting amazing musicians along the way. We’ve expanded our number of friends exponentially over these past couple of years. I think that part of it has just been such an amazing surprise.”
Pallin’ with Al delves into several genres, including soul, R&B, folk, and jazz — all played with cigar box instruments.
“The funnest comment we get when we play,” Bill said, “is how in the world do you get that huge sound out of that little box?”
He says he loves making them as much as he loves playing them.
And though the Saurbers may not have won the title of America’s Favorite Couple, they continue to share a love of vintage aesthetics, travel to cigar box festivals across the country, and make music and art together in Pallin’ with Al.
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio, spotlighting local musicians, underground and touring bands, cultural events, fringe phenomena and creative spaces. He buys duplicate copies of every Chuck Klosterman book, and sometimes makes music. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Pallin’ with Al at Seven Mile Oktoberfest
When: 5 p.m. Aug. 16
Where: Seven Mile Community Park, 400 Walnut St., Seven Mile
Cost: $5
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