When most people think of a surgeon, they don’t typically imagine handcrafted musical instruments, hill country blues, or early morning painting sessions. But for Kirk Withrow, M.D., associate professor and director of Salivary and Sleep Surgery in the UAB Department of Otolaryngology, creativity isn’t a side hobby; it’s part of how he sees the world.

Withrow has spent years balancing a medical career with various creative endeavors, from building cigar box guitars to writing books, painting, trail building, and practicing jiu-jitsu.

Cigar box guitars

Withrow’s artistic journey started in a place few would expect: a hospital room. As a third-year Otololaryngology (ENT) resident, he cared for a patient who worked as a cabinet maker. Withrow soon learned the patient also crafted beautiful, handcrafted cigar box guitars, which are stringed instruments traditionally made from empty cigar boxes, a stick or wood neck, and a few basic parts, often used in American folk and blues music. Despite having never heard of cigar box guitars, the two quickly bonded over their shared love of music.

After his recovery, the patient gifted Withrow his favorite creation—a beautiful 3-string fretted cigar box guitar. Already an amateur banjo player, Withrow was intrigued, and soon discovered a broad community of equally passionate and generous cigar box builders musicians as well as a renewed sense of creativity he hadn’t been aware of previously.

“I played the guitar for a while before eventually taking it apart and studying how it was made," he admitted."I realized, ‘I can do this.’ That’s really what started it all.”

What began as curiosity quickly became passion. Withrow’s playing preference soon shifted from five to four strings, which meant he needed to start building. When playing his cigar box guitars his sound leans toward North Mississippi hill country blues and old-time bluegrass, though he also plays electric guitar and produces electronic music, depending on his mood.

“I honestly don’t think many of my artistic endeavors would’ve happened without that first guitar showing me what’s possible,” he shared. “Once I realized I could build them, it opened the door to everything else. All the self-imposed limitations disappeared and I was given ‘permission’ to create anything I wanted.”

Writing, painting, and more

Music is just one of Withrow’s many creative outlets. Over time, his curiosity led him to explore visual art and writing. What started as answering medical questions from a friend turned into his first nonfiction book, then five more. Later, his creative curiosity led him to explore painting as well—primarily alcohol ink on canvas.

Jiu-jitsu

For Withrow, jiu-jitsu is more than a sport; it’s a transformative practice that shapes every aspect of his life. He has been practicing consistently for nearly a decade and typically trains in the early morning.

“I do jiu-jitsu three to four days a week in the morning before work," he explained. "After such intense training, the rest of the day seems like a breeze by comparison."

The practice, he says, has had a profound impact on both mind and body. “Jiu-jitsu is something that improves every part of your life,” he shared.

Building trails

The combination of creativity and athleticism didn’t stop at the gym; it found its way into nature. What started as a desire to ride the steepest trails possible evolved into much more when a friend opened a local bike park.

“One of the guys I train jiu-jitsu with opened RideBHM,” he recalled. “I started helping the trail crew with the initial trail work and later moved on to building the type of trails I wanted to ride on my own.”

The result is more than twenty-five of the most challenging and aggressive mountain biking trails (MTB) lines in the Southeast.

Trail building quickly became another outlet for his need to create. “Trail building is definitely a creative process—just with wood, dirt, and rocks as the canvas,” he said. “Creating something that can be enjoyed by a community of people is very rewarding.”

Whether shaping trails through the woods or refining his technique on the mat, Withrow approaches everything with the same persistence and creative drive that define his personal and professional life.

That mindset of experimentation, exploration, and problem-solving carries into his medical career as well. Withrow is the only physician in Alabama and one of the few in the region to perform complex salivary endoscopy and gland preserving surgery.

“Salivary endoscopy isn’t something I was taught during residency,” he explained. “There was a need, I knew what was possible, and I knew I could do it so I started learning. It’s the same mindset I bring to creative projects. Once you see that most anything is possible, it opens the door to trying new things in your own way.”

Withrow concedes that his practice has been shaped partly by his long-standing connection to the UAB Department of Otolaryngology, where he completed his residency before joining the faculty in 2008.

He credits UAB's support Withrow for giving him the freedom to pursue his clinical interests without constraint.

“There hasn’t been anything I’ve wanted to do professionally that I haven’t been allowed to do,” he shared. “I told them I wanted to do salivary endoscopy after spending half a day with a colleague at the Medical University of South Carolina. They bought the scopes, and I got started. I told them I wanted to start a hypoglossal stimulation program and now we have a world-renowned program here at UAB. The support of the institution and the department, in a similar way to that first cigar box guitar, really paved the way for my clinical success.”