 Welcome to the drum history podcast. I'm your host Bart van der Zee and today I'm joined by Bryson Nelson of Nelson drum shop Bryson welcome to the show. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me Yeah, so this is a bit of a different episode than you know a typical like the history of blank Because I think you have a very neat I don't know just a persona and just a vibe that you have created for your shop both in person and on Social media which is very important now as we know So good work, I should just say upfront. I think you've done a good job for a young guy to create such a really Nationally internationally known brand. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's very kind. Yeah So you're a young guy. How old are you if you don't mind me asking? You're a pretty young guy I I just turned 30. Okay. So yep. Nice. Well, I'm 31 so we're right around the The same age and we both are in the trenches with young young young boys Yep, which is absolute insanity. So Why don't you tell us about you as a in your background in drumming? Sure. Sure. Um, I start I mean, I've been playing drums since I was probably 12 years old I was homeschooled all the way up to high school So I just spent every hour of every day kind of playing and it became my biggest passion really quickly I grew up in a pretty small town. So honestly, there wasn't just really a lot to do So that kind of became like my my love and a lot of ways But so I started playing then and then when I was 17 years old I got asked to do my very first tour Which was a really bizarre thing because being in a small town there just wasn't a lot of opportunity And this call just kind of magically happened it was actually through my uncle which knew a musician in LA and He needed a drummer And so this this gig wasn't a great paying gig or anything But it was like my first opportunity that got me to move About a year later to Orange County, San Diego, LA area. We kind of lived all over All over that place. But anyway, so yeah, I started touring when I was like 17 and that was my full-time job up until I started the shop and The shop wasn't really a super intentional thing for me. I wasn't trying to start a drum shop To be honest, I never thought about doing retail. I never had any dreams of doing retail I loved a shop in Portland called Revival Drum Shop, and they've always been my Like I've loved those people. They've always been very kind to me And I just loved the way I felt when I would go there But even then I never wanted a drum shop. There wasn't something I was trying to do I just I loved how that place made me feel and it was always a great spot for me when I was on tour But my dream was always to be a studio musician I I I definitely am I love people more than anything on the planet, but I'm very much a hermit I I like I kind of you know do my little things or whatever. So I never really hustled the music thing very strong I just like when I got work, I would take it and it somehow just always paid my bills Which I felt very thankful that I could do that But it was never anything crazy. I never was on like You know crazy amount of tours or massive tours or anything like that It was a pretty modest career people. I played for a very kind, but Anyway, so that that kind of led into The shop organically I just all my favorite drummers played old gear like them, you know all my all the classics like Elvin or Papa Joe or whoever or J Bella Rose or any of these guys I looked up to they all played old vintage gear and I thought it was really cool So I I started just buying stuff because I loved it for different records You know every once when I get a studio session and it was always the time I would try to buy another piece of gear just to Feel creative or feel like I'm giving me some type of inspiration to play differently or you know try something out. So and it's just fun to buy gear. Oh, totally. Totally. Yeah So anyway, that kind of just turned into a I piled up of this whole big collection of gear Whenever I got a paycheck from a gig I would like go out and buy another piece to inspire me to play something new or whatever And and then when I moved to Tennessee, I this was I think when I was 25 I moved 24 I Did about nine ten years touring at that point and I really I really wanted to get off the road and pursue my studio thing But I definitely and this is not me just trying to be humble necessarily But I'm definitely not a great enough drummer to be a full-time studio drummer by any means But I was like all that I'll just do my best and get as much work as I can and maybe I'll Have a side hustle to kind of support that because that's really what I wanted to do Yeah, so I moved here. I just had all these drums with me and I just started selling stuff On the side to I gave it a name at the time It was Nelson Drumco and it was just out of my garage and Franklin, Tennessee I lived there for like two years and And I was just selling stuff to buy more stuff for studio and it was also a way for me I really love community and friendship and so I mean more way more than the drums you know, but so it was just another really an honest way for me to make friends and And try to build some type of community around this little place And that was that was way before retail I was you know, two years of doing that in my house or three years before I went in the retail Would that just be like Craigslist and Facebook and stuff like that at that point I made a little Instagram page. It's the same one I use now. It was just very modest I wasn't like trying to push a shop. It was just very much. I was just trying to connect musicians and and honestly make friends and Through that kind of sheer gate gear with each other for whatever worked to inspire us and that Slowly organically turned more and more into a shop and other people were telling me like, oh, you need you need to start a shop We need to do a retail shop, you know, like you have all this cool stuff and it's a cool vibe And I was like, no, no, it's just that's not really me Like I'm not a salesy business guy at all good. I don't have that like one bone in my body that is that way You know, and I've always been a little bit more of a I guess more of an artistic thinker in that sense We're like running a business like there's no way I thought I'd be able to do something like that You know, like the way that I thought you needed to look to run a business. I'm a guch. That's not me There's no way I could pull that off. Yeah So anyway, it just kind of slowly organically turned into it And after that like two years of kind of doing it in Franklin It became more and more in my full-time gig where selling these drums was really paying my mortgage You know, it wasn't gigs as much anymore and and that point like when I moved to Tennessee I really wanted to get off the road Me my wife were pretty newly married and I just realized I didn't like to be away from her that long Yeah, and I love touring. I it's never been a thing that I didn't like I've always loved touring But I think most of my tours were like six to eight weeks long, which was just hard I would just start to miss my wife a lot. So Yeah, so that was that was a part of me kind of stepping away from tours when I moved to to Tennessee and That slowly organically just kind of turned into a shop with me flipping drums and trying to do studio stuff I never tried to push the studio thing very strong and I Just loved to play. I never really even wanted to like be a super successful Studio drummer or whatever. I just I just really loved playing on record. So if I do this twice a year It's so fulfilling to me. I just loved a great Music. Yeah, that's a tough market there because that's so saturated with unbelievable drummers that You know, it's it's kind of makes sense that you Just for the love of drums do some session stuff But to keep in the world of drums it just makes sense to have a shop and work on Sharing that love of gear as well. Yeah, it fits together Yeah, totally. I think over time and this was several years ago over this last several years It's became way more my passion Even more than playing and the part that I loved about playing was always Was always the people I'm like to to a fault. I just I Live my whole life around people. So I mean, that's probably the good and the bad Thing about me. I guess but anyway So with the shop, I started realized man, this is cool People are coming in and they're they're making friends and it's a place that people feel like welcome and People feel accepted here and that to me was extremely fulfilling And so I think over time my passion grew more and more like I do want to have a retail shop Like I actually like this way more than I liked playing on records, you know, the very few records I did play on This was something I even enjoyed more so and I just did not see that coming at all so it was very organic and Peer to me in a lot of ways because I didn't really have any motives to start a a Drum shop, you know, like even when I think about it, sometimes it still feels funny to me because I'm like, I Shouldn't I'm not the guy to run a business Yeah, that's interesting too because I almost think it's like I Think maybe other people think this too where it's like from a guy who doesn't I'm like I I mean I started a sole proprietorship for like video and audio stuff before I worked at a studio and like even that was like It's just confused like business stuff can be very daunting and I mean, I can't even imagine starting a brick-and-mortar shop and I mean, I'm talking like taxes and payroll for because you have employees and all this stuff I mean when it started Was it were you kind of freaking out or was it more just like this is, you know, let's take it a day at a time and Figure it out as you go Did you make any and and and on that note, did you make any like fumbles that you kind of wish that you would have known early on about? certain like oh Electric is expensive for these businesses. You know what? I mean anything that you learned along the way. Oh, totally That's a good question Yeah, when I went into it. I was I was pretty scared. I mean my rent was so cheap I I approached another shop in town. They weren't retail at the time But there's a shop called drum supply and I met him through another friend and I thought he was a really nice guy So I approached him as a kayak this train to open up a little shop And I just want to give it a try like this is a new dream of mine I this is kind of my vision for it blah blah blah and he's never done retail at the time. He was a more of like a warehouse Repair he had a repair guy that works for me. He would offer repairs the community which is a really cool service So anyway, when I approached him, he really liked the idea and we kind of went for it and at the time My rent looked so scary to me. It was very cheap. It was like 800 bucks a month Yeah, you know just for this tiny tiny little space in his shop just a corner really And so I started out that and it was really freaking me I had no employees at all it was just me working 24-7 and I mean like literally 24-7 you know I'll get there three hours before we opened and I would stay like three four hours after We close every day Just to like fulfill shipments, you know, I was in all that myself So if there's something I was ordered online, which I that's kind of how I started my shop was through that More honestly through like our Instagram page Yeah, my house I just started bringing friends in to do videos and it was just a way to like make friends and build community and that kind of Slowly turned into this so I had a little bit not a big online audience But I had a little bit of an online audience that was already buying So I feel like going into this I have a little bit of supplementary income That could that could help but uh, but it was still very scary Like I was just doing everything possible completely by myself and I had no no room for employees or no budget for employees And so I did that for You know, probably like a year and a half and my very first employee His name's lucas aldridge. He still works for me That was probably a year a year and a half into it and before that the whole time He was kind of helping out on off days from work Just as a friend would just kind of come over and and Help on whatever he'll package things help clean up drums or whatever it was. Yeah, and that's john's that's john's son, right? Yeah, that's john aldridge's son So he grew up restoring a lot of john's drums when he was young and he was just always around it So he he he was helping me run the retail thing for a whole year just him And he didn't really like working with the customers as much. He's he's uh Lucas is one of the most kindest people we ever meet but he very much Preferred kind of working solo with just restoring drums and not really Doing the whole checkout and the hustle of retail. So he became like my full my full-time Restoration guy and still is and like in that time It was very like a job here a job there and now he's like, you know, every single day He's working on another drum. It's just crazy backed up all the time Which is great. So he's really kind of made it out to be a fun job for himself and and he's a Vintage drum on instagram, which great name cuts right to the point That's cool. I yeah, that's that's great to have a guy. I mean, so you're you're like I don't know. It seems like pretty quickly you learn that like you can't do everything yourself and You have to partner up with people, you know Yeah, yeah, I like I just like it that way more too. I really like working with people. Um, It's just everything is more fun that way. So at this point, like, I mean, this is now like I'm moving into my third location The second location I moved into was a pretty big dramatic Increase and rent to like I went from like 700 a month and I got a little bit more space from him Sorry to answer this question from earlier a little bit more space from him Where it was $1,200 a month and then it went from that to my next location Which was like 3000 a month and for me that that was that was definitely the scariest Leap I've had going from Andy's spot with a tiny little space like this much bigger retail space That was like six times the size Or even more than that probably And then to have that much overhead and at that point I had I think three employees when I moved into that one of them That which was full-time his name is ace lane. He he was the manager of my shop for A couple years really wonderful human being but anyway, he He worked it and I had a limiolk which now is the manager of my shop and he's fantastic He he runs that place way better than I ever could he's just so on top of it and logistically He's really quite incredible But anyway, so them and then Lucas they they moved with me to that spot So I had then paid their paycheck and then also this new rent which was a which was scary That was very scary and then I'm kind of now. I know this is I tend to over explain. No, I love it man It's it's real. This is real stuff. Oh good. Good. Um, and then from there So like now I'm going into a another new change and this is my my dream building the one that we landed and it was just my personal mechanic and I was friends with him We like threw me bringing in his car. We just became friends. He's a really Honest man. It was a really good mechanic um, and he he kind of talked about slowly retiring for like that three years that I Was bringing my car there and then I brought up to him like towards the animal you kept talking about like, oh, you know I think I'm coming up to being done here soon. I'm like, well, this is like my I told him before that That time I've told him uh, it was my dream spot over that couple years and how much love his space and how pooled is and um, and when he talked more seriously about retiring I I was like, man, I would really love to rent this. Um, if possible or see if I could try to buy it And he's like, oh, okay. Okay. And then he called me several months later. He's like, okay I think I'll do it like I would be happy to rent this to you or if you could afford to buy it And so he put it up for sale and I I just I was so unaware He put it up for a I thought it'd be like, you know, maybe five six hundred thousand dollars, which is a lot of money Um, but I was thinking to be like that and he put it up and his 1.4 million dollars For this building and he needed everything done in the books Like it doesn't have installation doesn't have ac like it needed a bunch of work It's just like this old rundown gas station. That's really really cool And has this nice parking lot but east Nashville has just grown so fast so quickly that like it's Anything here is just a fortune now. It's crazy. But so he put it up and I was like, oh man I can't afford it. So I called him back and he's like, I you know, it's my dream spot But I just there's no way in the world I can afford that Um, and so he put it up for sale. He got three offers for full price And you know over like a month of having it up, he called me back to the end of it He's like, hey, turn down all these offers Um, he's like, I don't think I'm ready to get rid of it was his dad's building So he's like, I don't think I'm really ready to get rid of this building yet So I think I'll I'll rent it to you for five years, you know Just and then also prices are going up so much So in five years from now if somebody fixes up the building for him, he'll be able to sell it for even more So it's kind of win-win Man And so anyway, he he told me he'd rent it to me and at the time it was $4,000 a month And I was like, oh my gosh, it's an incredible deal for this building Like that's that's unreal for this location and this amount of parking like that that type of deal doesn't happen East national even though it's a lot of money. That's like for east national specifically building like that It should be double or more, you know And so I felt so lucky and then he had There's a really famous coffee shop in town that got a hold that he was you know running I don't know how they found out but they found out that he was open running the place and they offered him 7.5 Uh 1,000 a month wow and they're like and we'll put in like $250,000 $300,000 and renovate in this place and make a new parking lot all this stuff And I was like, oh gosh, I can't compete with that like that's that's so money I'll never see you know, and it's just like and it's also like just very different types of businesses There's just like a big profit business mine is more My business I even the word business for me is is tough But I like mine. I just wanted to be a community space. I'm like fans to pay that type of rent How am I gonna do something like that off these low margin? uh, thanks, but anyway, so uh It was quite amazing. He he told me that this guy gave him this offer He's like, you know what? But I didn't I just didn't really Get the best read on what he wanted to do with the business. So he's like, I'm gonna run it to you He's like, I can't run it for four Because of this offer, but he's like if you could come up and do 5.5 And then it'll bounce up to six basically over that five years. Wow. Yeah, he's like then it's yours um And so that was really scary to me because I've never gone into an investment like that with the shop And at this point I have several full-time employees that bring up a really large bill as well And they they're amazing. They're you know worth every penny and more but um, so yeah that that was definitely pretty Scary, but I'm just going for it, you know, like I Yeah, I'm just it doesn't really make a lot of sense financially. Um, our business is doing great It's not that I don't think the business can necessarily handle it No, but you're a smart guy where you are you don't want to over Reach and put yourself in a bad position where you're then stressing it you want to have comfortable margins, but um, but like I don't know. It I think having a cool location like that and those garage kind of like, uh, You know with the doors are so cool. There's there's a lot of them here in northern Kentucky I'm in Cincinnati, but across the river, you know, 20 minutes away is northern Kentucky and there's um A lot of them there and I used to work as a photo assistant and we were in Tennessee I believe right outside of Nashville um at for a guy who made like, you know, kind of custom Uh bespoke jeans like high-end, uh, Raw denim jeans or whatever and while we were there. I remember we went to Imogene and willy Which is a gene place where I looked at it. I was like, oh my god. These are $200. I'll order leave eyes off macy's.com Or something but um, they was similar where it was like, wow, this is cool It was like a it was like, you know, a garage and it opened And I think part of the draw of like wanting to go there is because it's such an awesome location. So I think Oh, thank you. You know, I think you're on the right Move because I think um People want to go to this cool location and that's part of the community. So you gotta You gotta spend money to make money, you know Yeah, yeah, it's I mean it definitely I would be lying if I said it wasn't scary But it's um, but I but I do think it'll work out and this community has been really unbelievably supportive to us. Um It's been really quite amazing But anyway, um, no, we're we're all very excited about it And I do think it'll it'll work out quite great. It's just um, it is a leap for sure What's the timeline because you know, this will come out and then be up forever. So what's the timeline? Um Of the move because right now today it's september 27th 2021. What's your timeline? Oh, it's it's coming around the corner very quick. Um, So it's we just decided I I have until october 15th in my current lease um, and That that that timeline was honestly too quick with how much we need to get done with this building Like I I still have to be still to put in an ac h vac unit. Um, I still have to build out two rooms Um And then I have to do a bunch of yard work and different things to kind of make it look nice But the amount of set that is there to do like especially at the I'm working like me and a couple friends It's it's a it's quite a bit of stuff for such a small window But yeah, um, but we're just doing our best and crossing our fingers and we're we're pushing for october 18th Um, so we're gonna just originally I was going to do like this big opening and ask a bunch of close friends Um, I was going to fly a couple drummers out from LA that I'm close buds with and a couple buddies in town That we're gonna play and a couple singer songwriters and make this really big grand opening event And I think just with how much I need to do with the build out it I was like, I really need to condense this just for my stress level. Like I I can't I can't do all this, you know I tend to like I tend to over dream in that way too, which which is good but I I tend to like have this big dream and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna reach out to all these friends and Figure out a way to do this and I think just with how much there was I've been really a You know factor that in that gosh, like there's there's a lot to do at this building I I need to kind of shape some of this off. So anyway, I've kind of condensed it down And now one of my closest friends And I feel so very thankful for this. He's just been really An amazing help with my business but my friend Jay Bellarose is flying out the day after so the The 18th were opening was just doing a soft opening will do things kind of as normal and then the following day Jay's flying out with molly miller and his wife jen And the three then do like a little trio Which is which is great and jay was like jay was my favorite drummer. That was Um still living, you know, yeah, since I was a kid, you know, so and he's became a very Very dear friend. We talk every week and he's been amazing, but uh Anyway, um, so he's coming out really just to help and jay, you know He's he's pretty amazing. He's trying to refuse not let me Pay him for this event or anything the last time we did a event about two years ago and he ended up I raised all this money for and I tried to give it to him at the end of the show and and he's like, no, man I want you to keep that. He's I'm paying all the musicians here. Like I just really believe in what you're doing And so he's that type of man, which is like it's been pretty incredible to like To meet friends like that that are just Yeah, that's pretty mad type of influence is really the beautiful thing. That's what you want to hear You don't want to hear um bad things about I mean that's for someone who's such a great drummer and and and all that It's just really cool to hear that and one thing that I I'm thinking in the back of my head too though is like um And I kind of I run into this with the podcast where I'm like, okay I need to do this and I want to keep expanding and getting different advertising to do this But it's like in in your world all this stuff you're doing but the flow of drums your sole purpose as a business really is a drum shop I mean be on that community. You know what? I mean, but the core of that is to literally buy sell fix You know everything drums accessories all this so you need to keep that going as well. So that's Totally that's that's a thing. You know, you're you're spinning plates here. So um Is that something that you typically you know as your you know boots on the ground you're out there hunting for drums Or is that typically what you're you have employees and all this help doing with that as well? um So when I started I I definitely found every single drum that came into my shop and every once in a while we get the The you know one consignment here two consignments there just through the local community But originally when I started my shop, I literally was hunting down even when I started retail I was hunting down, you know 95 90 percent of everything that came in and I think the more Established the shop got in town and the more people that kind of found out about it Now 90 percent of everything that we get comes to us a lot of it is people emailing us, you know Through wherever like if they live in pennsylvania or california Or whatever and they'll say hey, I have this gear Is it something that you would be interested in buying and then we'll just kind of pick through and be like Oh, yeah, well, we would love to buy that and you know, maybe not this piece but And that's majority of how that's majority of our inventory now I I don't really buy a lot of individual drums anymore. Um, just with time. It's it's a lot of My job title has kind of changed a little bit over the Last year or two. I'm kind of more Overseeing and help with like creative vision and that kind of thing Which is really what I'm a little bit more passionate about than like the logistics of running a business But so my my employee is definitely they do a little bit of scouting. Um, but uh, but I do buy a lot of bulk as well like Every once in a while, you know, maybe every like two months. I'll buy a big bulk amount of drums for a certain collector and there's probably like Seven ten different collectors that I work with that I kind of in bulk from so every couple of weeks Like they'll they'll be texting me back and forth and say hey, I have all this stuff. Um What do you want to buy and we'll just go through it over texts and phone calls And then they'll schedule a time where they'll bring a big trailer full of stuff and they'll dump it off So I've kind of worked in those too Um, which has been a lot of fun. That's that again, I know that sounds silly But that's honestly kind of another way for me to Continue friendships with a lot of these people too. It's just a fun way of doing business versus The the scouting thing is is fun. I like the hunt of drums. Um, yeah, but you can't it just goes with what you said before about the the, uh I don't know the pressure of the business yet. You can't be like Out every day hunting to find one like Uh dynasonic or something. You know what I mean? Oh, totally. Yeah, we want to we want to be able to survive At this point in the beginning definitely But at this point we just we have to move so much a month to To really cover our expenses. So um, so yeah, we've I think we're and we're all learning like I'm not an expert at this By any means and my employees are learning too. Like we're just kind of learning Um with each step like of each step of growth with our business We're learning kind of how to figure out how to make it still work as a vintage drum shop, you know It's definitely not easy. Um, and there's only so many vintage drums You know, like it's we can't like go through a catalog and just pick this this this this and we are we are expanding over time like when I When I first started it was just only vintage drums. That's all we had We only had vintage symbols and then that kind of in some vintage percussion and so forth and that that turned into um More of a I don't want to say traditional shop. I mean our shop is still primarily a vintage drum shop Um, you know 80% of it probably is but then we're starting to branch out and carry normal things like sticks and heads and Said that we never really ever carried before. Yeah, but it's why not? Yes, we're starting to branch out a bit more and we we carry quite a few different boutiquey stuff We've done that since the beginning too. I forgot to mention that like beef. There is a handful of Modern things that we do carry but a lot of it is more like small builders and boutique makers and craftsmen Um, and we've we've carried that stuff since the beginning, you know We're just as passionate about kind of that field of work. So yeah, like I see like on you guys like C and C and brands like that where um, I feel like there's certain things where that's the reason you don't go to Like a guitar center or something. It's because you find stuff that um, you might not find um anywhere else, but so have you found that uh Shop Nashville is a pretty, you know, it's a music city. There are other drum shops Um One big one that I'm thinking of right off the bat that's been there for a long time Have you found that the shop to shop community is pretty? Um Friendly and tight or is there some competition because I mean I'm on I and a lot of the listeners are on the outside of the the shop um You know community like owners Is is it really competitive or are you guys ball pretty friendly? Um, that's that's a really good question. I am I am probably the least competitive person who'll ever meet So I uh, I was like for instance like when I was young my mom tried to put me in sports And this is silly and cheesy, but I was the kid that was like Running and picking her flowers versus uh versus actually trying to play. Yeah, it was like a baseball glove on your head Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um, or you know, we're just like doing whatever like cartwheels or you know I just I just didn't care like who won and um, and I think that that's kind of stayed with me my whole life I I have a very different vision like I said for my shop So competing to me has never felt like oh i'm competing to sell the most drums or i'm competing to have like the biggest Name in town that that type of stuff just didn't feel Genuine to why I started my shop. So for my thing, it's like man, how many people feel Accepted here. How many people feel? Uh, like they can meet friends here or they feel inspired by Uh different pieces of Music you're here that like helps them with whatever record or inspires them in some way or bring some type of joy to their life Like that's way more important than me than just like trying to you know flatter my own ego Like oh, we sell more drums than anybody in town Um, I just don't think that's important. Um, but sorry that that might be no, that's hopefully not a harsh opinion But that's exactly right. Yeah, I I do think when we first opened Gary Forkham was the owner of forks And I heard a lot of things, you know, I've I've met Gary a few times I heard a lot of things like Gary's Very kind very helpful very relationship built built business, which I think is fantastic That's why I started my business And so I think I already had a lot of similarities to Gary So I never felt like oh this guy's gonna be after me or try to shut me down So when we opened he definitely came over and he checked this out And he's like, oh you you do mainly vintage drums. I'm like, yeah, that's that's why I'm really passionate about He's like, oh me too. I love vintage drums and but his shop like forks was always It's always it was known for like, you know any and every modern piece of gear you can get Like they had everything. It's really a beautiful shop. Um And where my shop was way more of a niche type of thing, especially at the time when I was very small Um out of Andy's thing and uh through that. Yeah, he was super cool and then it was it was great There was never anything ever that popped up. That was slightly weird or uncomfortable Um, I think he knew I was staying in my lane and that that's the lane that I wanted to stay I didn't really have any interest in trying to like become a DW dealer or any of these things not to say that they're bad. These are all great drums It's just like what I really care about. Um, that's your thing. Yeah, exactly. So Um, so no, he he was amazing. He was very supportive and we talked over that couple years a couple different times on the phone And Gary was just he's I couldn't say anything nicer about that man He's really built his business in a really beautiful way. I think um, but anyway, he he retired and he sold his business to Steve Maxwell And when Steve started running it, uh, we we became friends pretty quickly And I didn't really know Steve. I obviously knew Steve's name and I've met him once or twice, but you know, he was big legendary vintage guy forever And so we became friends just through after he bought forks He started coming over and we kind of bonded just through Having the same passion. Yeah, I've met Steve a few times. Um at different drum shows and he's just Extremely knowledgeable and passionate like you said and and I hope to have him on the show at some point soon but um So I also wanted to talk about um, you had some social media posts recently that were kind of a break from You know drums and you were really opening up about some stuff that had been happening in your personal life Including your um, your health, which I think was really cool that you did that But uh, yeah, what's talk about that a little bit when when my health issues started kicking up I started to see a counselor for it just like just to mentally be on top of it You know, because I was my like really quickly my When I mean when you're this young you feel a little bit indestructible, you know So I never thought I would have serious health issues And so for this step to when this was unraveling It was kind of like a year and a half two years of me my wife trying to figure out what was going on and Long story short, I've had a lot of breathing issues with my with my lungs. Um And it turns out it's like it's connected to my Heart when I was young I had heart surgeries when I was young and I didn't think anything other because I was totally fine All up until this last like two years And I guess from that specific surgery I had it's somewhat common to like develop Lung issues later in life because your heart is still overworking Which is kind of like it was just wearing out my lungs. So anyway with that they've they were trying to figure out What was causing it and they couldn't figure it out. So it's kind of a stressful time So I was seeing a counselor through this to kind of just like mentally be on top of this And um, and it's it's been great. They found out what it is and and things are actually working really great, which For a season it did kind of feel a little bit hopeless Like man, my health is getting worse and worse and they were talking about like a lung transplant If you got even worse and so I was like, oh my gosh, this is so scary You know, um, yeah, I was I was more so even just afraid for my child and my wife as a man I I like I I need to take care of these people like what am I gonna do if something were to happen to me and Anyway, things have kind of changed like, okay, we got a solution. This is working Everything has been uphill, which has been beautiful this last, you know, six months or so They they figured out how to work on this and it's been great I think that you know, having a young kid sometimes when you're in these tough positions and it kind of sounds like you were kind of pushed I don't know. It's different too when you've got you got a lot of stress I mean to be honest like rent and new businesses and and you have a kid and it's just like sometimes that There's a it's different than being a 24 year old or whatever and you're just kind of like, you know Floating through you got responsibilities, man. Totally man. It's it's it's crazy I mean, I it is the most beautiful gift on the planet. Like I love I love my child the best gift ever really like and my wife's incredible and the strum community I love this drum community. So it's all things that I I love. It's like I'm I'm Uh burdened at all by like, oh man, there's so much to do and there's so much stress from all this stuff and my health going bad Like it was just that It was just that it was a lot, you know, it's all good things. Um, yeah You have a lot more exciting stuff on the horizon, you know, obviously with your new shop and everything Um, so you can you can put it behind you. Hopefully Yeah, yeah, I mean that was the original whole idea that was to kind of me letting go even like Every one of those things it was away from me, you know Like my health and all these things was away from me to like release some of this out to the world and and For whatever reason, I feel like I owed it to people to tell them where I was Um, because I did I had a sense of guilt that I was away from my shop for so long, you know And nobody really knew why and I like with my health and everything going on. I just felt like I was Um, I was like, man, if this this whole thing is really honestly about community Then I need to open up to these people that have been my friends They're like, they're not just customers. These people are my friends. They're my family So I feel like I need to let them know what's going on. I know it sounds so weird This is not like the typical business talk, which is why I know it's it's different for everyone and honestly I think I like hopefully people listening to this. I think it's cool to have a um Just a different talk Um, that's that's more about like you said the community which man, you've you've over the the run of your shop um I think you've made some really good friends With very big popular drummers and drum makers and I think that's pretty that's pretty cool It's just like a uh I don't know I I've had something Similar with a lot of these old like, you know collectors who are twice more than twice my age where we still like We just all share this love of drums and we talk on the phone and stuff like that and just and it's global It's not just like, you know come into the shop and talk. I'm sure Um, that's the beauty of all this is just putting yourself out there and being friends with people and making friends and talking um, but uh, yeah, you've you you seem to have uh Really found yourself to be good friends with a lot of you know, erin sterling and these these famous drummers It's that's got to be pretty cool. Yeah, it's very cool And I mean all those people just so you know, I think I had a different you have a different idea before meeting a lot of your Drum heroes, you know, like what they might be like and and the ones i'm very close with I mean they are just such wonderful people. I mean really like erin erin is Really really an incredible person and really funny very intentional You know all the things that you kind of hope your heroes will be Um and j i mean j is the most like intentional person you you would ever meet just like It's just kind of it's kind of surreal feeling like man. These people are just real people You know, you just you have a different idea before on your head like, oh, you know, they're probably just so busy They probably like get people coming up to him all the time with different things, which is true Yeah, um, but just cool to see and be like real people, you know Yeah, totally now. Um, all right, so We should throw in a little bit of talk about drums here because uh, why not, you know, it's a drum podcast So uh in your experience here in your background and your hunting and all this stuff, um I mean, I like i've seen mike johnston talk about, you know, he's gotten some awesome snares from you and stuff And just just all sorts of stuff. Maybe You know a couple of your favorite, um Personal or whatever you didn't have to find it personally But in your shop some of your top like this is like holy gray old drums that have come through or like really cool barn finds Where it was buried under something and it's new old stock. Yeah, what what's some cool stuff like that? man, I um There's been quite a few that have that have been really special to me, you know, um Usually that the drums I've kept have been Smaller things that were gifts that that felt sentimental from some drummer that you get to me with some like tambourine Or most of those are the things I've kept because they feel like there's a more sentimental aspect to me I've I've never been too tied to gear I do like when something's new and get really excited about it since I think I walk into my shop And I'll see a drum I didn't see before that an employee pulled in or something I'm like, oh man, that's very cool. It's super exciting But I don't have too much of an attachment to it. So like I don't usually feel like, okay I need to put the money in the bring this home Yeah, but the the ones that like were a gift from other people those ones really mean a lot to me. Um Uh, so most of the drums I have are like that but they're with that said there is um, I I didn't have a place to play drums for Three years outside the shop. So me and my wife were in a one bedroom apartment and then we lived in a tiny home Uh, after that for like a year. So we did the two years in apartment than a year there So I didn't have a place to have drums at home and playing drums at work always seemed Uh, it was always tough for me because I I feel like one there was always like an employee there or somebody there Yeah, I get it. Um, and if it's before hours, I had to like help set up whatever or get things ready So I never felt like it was easy to play drums at work. But anyway, I've always wanted A conical trixon kit for whatever reason those have just always been so appealing to me Totally I was a huge or I am a huge James Brown fan and not that they always used conical drums But that's kind of how I figured out about box and tricks on drums when I was younger And for whatever reason those those conical drums really spoke to me. So I I got one A couple years ago and I bought it for myself And this is when I had when I was living in the apartment And it was just staying at the drum shop It was just in the corner of the drum shop and had a little not for sale sign and then Um matt chamberlain was hanging out at my shop one day. We're just hanging out and catching up And he's like man. He's like is there any way I could buy that conical kit and matt's been a really Uh, really generous and kind friend. Um, and so I I just wanted him to have it after that I was like, well, you know, it's I could find another one like I'll be able to find another one So I I sold it to matt Which he left in the studio and national hymn and this guy named eric massy That's a really great engineer producer out here And it says at his place here and then when matt comes to town he just plays in that kit um But when I sold that kit, I thought I'd be able to find one Fairly quickly it took me like another two years To find that kit. So I finally found it and I literally just set it up like three weeks ago. That's awesome. We just bought a house Um, I don't mean you know how many months ago that was maybe six seven months ago And there's a tiny tiny tiny like an oversized closet. It's not even really like a You couldn't really call it a room. Yeah, just like this Very small room oversight closet. Um, I put the kit in there and it's been the first time I've actually really sat down and played drums for years Like I I would play here and there at five minutes at a time at the shop or whatever But that has been amazing to be able to experience that again And my joy for drums again just have a place to play but anyway, this this is a whole about a gear question I'm tanging off once again I do think people relate to that though or and I'm sure industry people relate to it too Or it's like, yeah, you might work with drums and talk about drums all day But to physically sit down um, especially with a young kid is is uh not like a I don't know. It's not a guaranteed thing. Like sometimes it's not as easy as you think to like find the time or the space So I'm I get it Yeah, yeah, so that's been really great. But I mean that's as far as personal gear Um that and I had a rolling bomber snare that I had for a long time that That was him. I've had a few those sort of shop But this one just spoke to me So it was one I kept for a few years and then same thing I never really got played because I didn't really have a place to play but it Sat around and it brought its temporary happiness, you know That rush that we get and then we have to find something else. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, but there's definitely certain like there's definitely Drums that I love, you know, or I get really excited about like I I love like any of the wine ripple Finishes or like the fiesta pearls or like kind of the weird wacky stuff. I always get totally really into um, yeah, or if I like a certain size is like I Big like I love old jazz a lot. My all-time favorite artist is probably Billie Holiday um And I love that air of music quite a bit. So um that I mean not maybe not that air but Directly after that a lot of people were using smaller sized drums like elvin and elvin jones and a bunch of different drummers So I I love I get excited about like 12 14 18 Setups like just smaller little jazz setups. I feel more comfortable in those type of kits I definitely have more of a hat drummer really but it but uh, but those types of sizes I usually feel more comfortable on than you know, something else I watch like j play and j always has he's like cool Like bombastic cool old drums are like big and like, oh, I mean, I would love to play like that But then I'll I'll try to you know, do whatever it is and it just never feels right So I think I just feel smaller feel better on a smaller little kit So usually most of drums I have it if I keep something it is usually More like that 12 14 18 12 14 20 type of setup Yeah, which is cool and it's kind of pocket sized and they're still just uh, I like that too but there are days where I'm like I don't know man. I'd love to have like four toms and two floor toms and you know 24 inch bass drum or something and it's like but it's a lot of times in space and moving things. It's It's not practical, but I love And I'm jealous again. I'm having like and then there's like rows of crashes and two rides and there's like a side snare It's like totally it'd be awesome to have but it's it's just a different thing. Oh, it's a blast to play stuff like that That's for sure. Yeah Cool. Well, man, this has been awesome. So, um Bryson has been kind enough to join us on a bonus episode today, which which Bryson I would like to ask you about your overall aesthetic, I mean With social media, you have kind of like a very cohesive um Your your t-shirts just everything you have like a feel to you even with your uh, like seeing your booth at the music city drum show It's all very I think it seems like it comes naturally to you, but it seems very purposeful and cohesive and I think people can learn a lot from from hearing about that because You know that aesthetic can go Across your is it just genre like into into your music and just being purposeful So anyway, I'd love to hear about that if that's okay with you Yeah, yeah, definitely just again. Thank you so much for being here. Why don't you tell I think people Most people know you on social media and all that stuff, but why don't you just tell people where they can Uh find you and check out what you're what you're doing online. Yeah, sure Um, well, you could find like if you're online, you could find us on Nelson drum shop.com. That's our website. We put Uh a decent amount of inventory on there not not all of it but um But anything that we do kind of ship all over and anything we could ship out of you could reach us out by email Which is hello at Nelson drum shop.com or our instagram page, which is I think it's just Nelson drum shop. I believe Um, cool. Yeah, so that's that and then as far as if you're local We're on the east side of Nashville and east Nashville specifically. So Right off riverside drive 1102 riverside drive. Awesome. Cool. And I will um, you know as this comes out I'm sure you'll be posting about your new shop and I'll share some stuff online Just so if anyone's listening to this and then Um, can can get you know, check out your awesome new space, which it's cool to hear that story about it So, thank you. Anyway, I guess yeah, um, Bryson and I are gonna hop over now and do the bonus episode about the cool Look and vibe of uh, Nelson. So Um, yeah, Bryson, thanks for being on the show. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. Appreciate it If you like this podcast find me on social media at drum history And please share rate and leave a review and let me know topics that you would like to learn about the future Until next time keep on learning