Check Out Wesley Baertsch & Ryan Poole’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wesley Baertsch & Ryan Poole.

Hi Wesley & Ryan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Ryan: Hmmm… I don’t know Wesley, what is our story?

Wesley: Well, Ryan & I own & operate a Photo/Video/Recording Studio on Music Row and we call it “The Hideout”.

Ryan: That’s not a story, that’s just a fact. You have to start from the beginning!

Wesley: fine…

Ryan: I moved from San Diego to Nashville in 2012 to pursue a career as a Producer/Engineer. I decided to make a road trip out of it and invited my best friends to help me drive across the country to start my new life. One of those guys flaked, so I invited this kid Wesley along.

Wesley: because you wanted me to take a free video of your road trip…

Ryan: yeah kinda… I was making a documentary… it’s complicated… anyway, we ended up becoming friends, and since 2012 we’ve done loads of creative work together –from music videos for my band “Nite Tides” to live concert videography for Danny Gokey & Tauren Wells, and everything in between.

Wesley: My wife and I both grew up in San Diego, and in 2021 we decided to make the move ourselves. After ten years of visiting Ryan in Nashville, we knew that the city had exactly the kind of creative community we were looking for.

Ryan: In 2018, I took over a historic recording studio on Music Row. Over the past four year we’ve had the privilege of working with clients such as David Archuleta, Dawson Hollow, Justin Biltonen (3 Doors Down), Breland, and many more.

Wesley: When I would come to visit Nashville I’d hang out in the studio, and occasionally offer photo shoots to Ryan’s clients.

Ryan: so when he moved here, it just seemed natural to bring Wesley on as a partner. We started converting the studio lounge into a photo studio earlier this year.

Wesley: I was looking to have a portrait studio for my clients, but as we started building we realized that it would be a great side-hustle to rent the studio out on Peerspace. As it turns out, there aren’t really any-other spaces doing what we’re doing on the row, so we’ve quickly built up a loyal clientele.

We’ve had clients ranging from local photographers shooting Mother’s day portraits, to major celebrities such as Bobby Bones, Jimmie Allen & Lindsay Ell.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Wesley: Back in San Diego, I worked as a photographer & social media manager for Taproom Beer Co.

Ryan: Guess what they did…

Wesley: Shut up, Ryan. Anyway, I loved my time there, it combined two of my passions, photography & beer haha. I was there for just a little over a year when COVID hit. Obviously, it wasn’t the best time for restaurants & breweries and unfortunately, many employees like myself had to be let go.

It was a tough time for everybody. I started looking for other opportunities in photography, and in May 2021 my wife and I decided that Nashville would be the perfect place for us. I love my hometown, but Nashville is unparalleled in its creative community and we knew right away that it was the place for us.

We started the photo studio this year. It’s been so rewarding to help create a space for creative collaboration.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Wesley: “The Hideout” is constantly evolving. We just finished converting an old office into a dressing room/photo space.

Ryan: Next month, we’ll be building a podcast studio. It’s going to be a turn-key production space where you can walk in and start recording with little to no set-up. We’ll have SM7b microphones on boom arms with an interface and desktop computer.

Eventually, we hope to have built-in cameras for no-hassle live streams and video podcast recording.

Wesley: Plus, Ryan will have no excuse but to start his podcast back-up again!

Ryan: Haha, true. Look for new episodes of “Music Row Hideout”… maybe this summer?

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Ryan: Our studio is in the basement of a 122-year-old house. At one point, it was owned by Waylon Jennings, which is always fun to tell people.

Over the years, the studio has hosted all sorts of country royalty including Maren Morris, The Brothers Osborne, Brett Young, Vince Gill, Ian Fitchuck, and of course, Waylon.

Pricing:

• Photo/Video Studio: $50/hr
• Recording Studio: $60/hr

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.peerspace.com/profiles/61f888049c36c1001d01ef31
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/hideoutphotostudio/
• Other: musicrowhideout.com

Image Credits
Wesley Bear Co.