nashville art...

  nashville art...

                 

  One of our favorite events in the fall is the St. James Court Art Show.  The weather has been perfect the past two or three years, but, regardless of the climate, the show goes on. 

    According to its own website, The St. James Court Art Show is a juried fine arts and contemporary crafts show featuring over 600 artists from around the United States.  

  The setting for the show is the country's largest collection of Victorian homes located in historic, Old Louisville.  Typically, in excess of 300,000 people attend the three day event. 

  As we walked among the crowded streets among yesterday's mansions last October, we were passing judgement on various creations highlighted in different booths when Regina noticed a particular piece of art and said, I think this guy would be a great interview for you.

  The two of us were standing 15 feet away from an artist and his work in a booth called, Nashville Picks.  I was munching from a bag of unsalted popcorn and didn't really want to be interrupted.  But, I had to agree with her.  The art looked unique and promising.  

  We eavesdropped while the artist was negotiating with a potential customer over the final price of  what appeared to be a homemade guitar. The two settled on $900 and both buyer and seller seemed content. 

  HUH?  What's up with that? 

  The owner of the newly purchased piece of art left and I approached the guitar's creator and explained my intentions.  He gave me a business card and agreed to an interview and told me to contact him in November when he was more likely to be back in Nashville, his home base.  

  We connected on schedule and I found out about Dustin Michael Headrick and his business called, Nashville Picks. 

  I am going on 50 and have six kids and am a grandfather of one, he said.

  Tell me about your store.  I only know it is in Nashville and you sell guitar picks and other unusual art.

  Nashville Picks has a permanent location at the Nashville Farmer's Market in downtown Nashville, he explained.  We are open every Friday and Saturday.  

  Besides the store, you are in front of people almost year round. 

  Yes, I am, he added.  I travel to hundreds of large juried art shows and music festivals across the U.S. and showcase my guitars, amps, guitar picks, and, art. 

  What did you do before Nashville Picks?  Are you a musician?

  Born and raised in Nashville, he said proudly.  My entire family were professional musicians and producers.  I've always been an artist my entire life in some capacity.  

  I still write, perform, and produce music in a variety of genres and have produced music and multi-media for Microsoft, Sony, Universal, Fox, Dell and many other media outlets over the decades. 

  What about Nashville Picks? Was the store your idea?   

  Nashville Picks was a hobby that became a full-time venture for me around 2003, he explained.  I began handcrafting antique silver coin guitar picks for musicians around Nashville 20 years ago and found the global demand for my art was going to take more time and effort than I expected.  It was a pleasant surprise. 

 Tell me about your picks.  

  I have two brands, he informed me.  Nashville Picks and Master Artisan Guitar Picks.....I have handcrafted guitar picks that start at $20 and range to $3,000.  In 2024, I'll be launching a new series of solid 24k gold guitar picks embedded with diamonds that will range from $10,000 to $50,000.

  Do you create these picks? 

  I handcraft everything I sell, he answered.

  Give me an idea of the cost of an expensive pick.

  I have a popular coin guitar pick created from an antique gold $50 American coin that sells for $3,000, he told me. 

  The band, Phish, have an entire set of guitar picks crafted from hand-etched 500 year old Ming Dynasty brass.  I've also been approached to create a coin guitar pick from one of the original Bitcoins.  That pick is currently worth $38,000 and rising. 

 You sell a variety of art objects besides picks and they mostly deal with music. 

  I create original instruments such as resonator cigar box guitars and resonator six strings that are art installations as well as studio quality instruments, he stated.  

  Plus, I build amps using antique radios, wood boxes, suitcases and other oddities.  The guitars start around $500 and range to $10,000 depending on the style and set-up.    

  Paint me a picture of the most unusual guitar you have created.

  The most interesting guitar is a 3-string cigar box with an antique glass trivet mounted inside the box with a contact pick up on the glass, Dustin smiled.  The guitar sounds like the acoustics of a mid sized 1800s church house.  

  The outside has an antique chalkware Roman soldier and the front has antique Syroco butterfly wings with coins as washers.  

  What about the amps?  Where does the inspiration come from for those?

  The same place as the instruments in this series, he said. My affinity for the early 1900s when mass manufacturing was a rare thing and normal people had to make their items from whatever materials they had around.   

  Do you have a favorite amp you have created? 

  I have a beautiful 1919 Silvertone AM radio console that fits a Fender 15G just perfect, he stated.  I also rigged the interior with contact pick ups so the studio can have a line out from inside the box. 

   When you travel, do you stay in hotels?

  When I was younger, I slept in my van to save money.  Now, I stay in nicer hotels and AirBnBs.  Hopefully, they have a piano in the lobby because I love playing the piano. 

  Tell me a funny story that happened at a show or festival. 

  A couple walked into my booth at a high-end juried art show a few years ago and stood looking at my cases of guitar picks, he recounted.  Right in front of me, the wife says, Oh, Honey, do you want one of these picks....(pause).....I'm just kidding, Honey, these are hideous!  

  The guy was a serious player and former customer.  He reached in his back pocket for his wallet and bought a $500 set of guitar picks on the spot right in front of her. 

  Traveling as much as you have over the years, you have no doubt had some harrowing experiences.  Has life on the road been good? 

  I've made wrong way turns into New Jersey in rush hour traffic; I've been surrounded by a pack of coyotes in the dead of night; stayed at haunted farmhouses; met some of the most famous people on earth; had stoic and life-changing conversations; asked thousands of questions from vastly more experienced artists; lost tens of thousands of dollars on poor events; been both praised and ridiculed to my face regarding my art, and on and on.  All in all, I like to call it gleaning wisdom. 

  What is the most unusual item you have been asked to make or create?

  I can't tell those stories here, but, maybe one day, he grinned. 

  What about the future?  Anything you want to do or do you have a Bucket List?

  I'll probably write a book when I retire, he guessed. 

  Dustin, thanks for your time and I hope to see you here next year.   

  Coming up:  more POS; another job$ somebody's gotta do; a conversation with a retired judge, and; the George Brothers met up at a birthday celebration. 

  And, finally.  A recent visit to a doctor provides today's final note.

  We were discussing age when Dr. Tim Brown told me a story about an intern he recently tutored.  

  The intern was 31 and asked Dr. Brown how he managed his growing practice as he was getting older.  

  Dr. Brown told me he said the following to the intern: 

  They don't teach you this in Med School, so, I want to make sure you know it.  

  When you turn 40, three things will happen all at once.  

  One, you will need reading glasses.  

  Two, you will make strange, unwanted noises when standing after sitting in a chair. 

  Three, you will have an incurable urge to want to listen to talk radio.

  HUH?  What's up with that?