The votes have been cast and tallied from the DIY Boombox Worldwide 2018 Contest, and I am proud to announce Max R. as this year’s winner (greatly aided by his wife Robin on their honeymoon overseas) ! So many wonderful submissions and a big thanks to all who participated!

When contacted about writing musings to the piece, Max was kind enough to send the following:

“Who has time to plan a wedding and Parisian honeymoon simultaneously? Not us. So we rambled our way through the City of Light, our New Orleans wedding playlist – Louis Armstrong, Dr. John, Fats Domino – replaced with klaxons, sirens, bored accordionists banging out sidewalk chansons, the faux-clicks of iPhones, occasional faint strains of continental jazz guitar. Not knowing where we were going meant we rounded every corner with anticipation. And Paris kept surprising us. We happened upon the main courtyard of the the Palais du Louvre, with its iconic Pyramids on our first morning. It was overwhelming, bigger than we’d thought to imagine it, more intricate. The courtyard is a virtuoso monument to the genius the Louvre contains. So we set up our “Boombox,” thankful to have found it so resplendent under a beautiful sky, to have found each other, to be taking it in together.”Additionally, I wanted to include a track fitting of my appreciation of the people, much like Max and his wife Robin, who support the blog with their loyalty in following and reading weekly, sharing, and even participating in the fun. Elton John’s “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” (co written by Bernie Taupin) was the standout choice not only because the Mona Lisa sits proudly in The Louvre, but because it addresses melodically a gratitude for “people out there like you”. This specific version is actually covered by blog favored The Killers from a cover album released this year entitled “Revamp: The Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin”. It has other big names such as Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Q-Tip, Mumford & Sons, Lady Gaga and Sam Smith lending their talents to revisions of a great songbook. I highly recommend picking it up.Be on the lookout for other opportunities to win a HaveBoomboxWillTravel care package (some great vinyl and special boombox extras).Finally, support from readers, subscribers, and participants like you is vital in making sure that we can provide exciting content. Knowing this, I’d ask that you’d consider donating to help offset the operating costs of the blog for video hosting and records to feature. Donations can be made here. I hope you’ll consider giving to continue seeing content like this. Thank you for your consideration!