On the Banks of Troublesome Creek

Doug Naselroad (far left) and the staff of Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company gather round a work table.

By Sarabeth Brownrobie

The Appalachian School of Luthiery began with an idea and a building in Hindman, Kentucky that was along the side of Troublesome Creek. The building was ready, but it took a call from the Appalachian Artisan Center to Master Craftsman Doug Naselroad to get things started. Naselroad was asked if he would consider coming to Hindman to share his more than 40 years of luthiery experience to teach area residents to build instruments. “That was an unusual statement in a lot of ways. Just someone asking for a luthier is really unusual,” Naselroad remembered.

Intrigued by the possibilities, Naselroad drove the three hours from his home in Winchester, Kentucky to Hindman to see about putting together some programs for the Artisan Center. He found that there was an underutilized infrastructure for arts education, especially woodworking, already in place. He immediately got to work. The school he put together, the Appalachian School of Luthiery, has been an incredible success. Originally envisioned as a program that would charge fees for classes, things took an unexpected turn when one particular person approached Naselroad during an event.

“This guy came up to me and said, ‘Mr. Naselroad, I need to get into your program.’ I told him to sign up and he, said, ‘No, you don’t understand, I need to make guitars.’ I said, sure, fine, go ahead and sign up and then he told me he had a felony on his record that he needed to take care of first,” Naselroad recalled.

He saw something in this young heroin addict. Naselroad approached the board of the school to see if it was feasible to include the young man in classes after he was released from rehab. The board decided to take a chance but was guardedly optimistic about how things would work out. That chance paid off. The young man went on to make over 16 instruments, went back to college, and now works in the information technology sector. The school itself became an integral part of efforts to mend parts of the community affected by the opioid epidemic.

“I didn’t realize til several years later that his situation would shape our organization,” Naselroad mused. In 2018, Hickory Hill Recovery Center teamed up with the school for a project called the Culture of Recovery. The project offers apprenticeships in craft trades such as blacksmithing, luthiery, and ceramics to clients of the center. Now the Appalachian School of Luthiery regularly includes members of the community who are in recovery in its programs.

“Our resources meet the needs of the community both individually and collectively,” Naselroad explained. “We offer a way that people can get inspired and motivated – whether they have had an addiction, or not. We give them hope.”

Making instruments at the school was just the beginning. Naselroad has had his eyes on a building up the street, and recently his plans came to fruition in the form of the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company. Along with a shop supervisor, students from the school of luthiery have been hired to build guitars and mandolins. Full-scale production is in its infancy, but instruments are already being crafted for the prestigious National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) market held in Anaheim, California in January.

“I’ve always wanted to be able to offer something in terms of employment. It turns out now we are. That’s really cool,” Naselroad explained.

One of the craftsman at the shop, Nathan Smith, first came to the school as part of an 18-month program through drug court. He loved being around the instructors and kept coming around beyond what was required.

“I was only supposed to come one day a week for two hours,” Smith said. “A lot of times I was in here every free minute I had. They’ve taught me a whole lot. I never would have imagined that I would make an instrument,” said Smith who credits the program with helping him to stay sober. “After I made my first instrument, I sat back and looked at what I had done myself. I knew that things would be a little harder with other instruments, but I knew I had the capability to do it as long as I focused and took my time.”

Smith believes that being able to build instruments helped take his mind off the things that he was trying to escape through drug use. He was thankful for the counselors that he encountered, but said, “I feel that if you have something that you can do that you’re not just sitting talking – that you have hands-on training – something that keeps you focused, it can help you tremendously. It’s got me back on track; it’s got me where I want to be.”

The growth of the school and factory mirrors the growth of the students and employees. Smith summed up his experience, “Starting from nothing and building a beautiful instrument - it’s amazing what you can do with just a block of wood. I’m not going to say it’s easy, but it gets easier as the process goes along.”

“We offer a way that people can get inspired, get motivated, and get interested in life,” Naselroad explained. “Whether they’ve been in an addiction situation or not. Serving these guys, helping them to build a future – that is what keeps me here.”

Paul Williams plays a mandolin made at the Appalachian School of Luthiery.

Doug Naselroad inspects the bodies of instruments left on newly assembled drying racks at the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company.