Community Highlights: Meet James Varner of Fork’s Drum Closet

Today we’d like to introduce you to James Varner.

Hi James, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Fork’s Drum Closet was founded in 1982 by the one and only, Gary Forkum. He started off with one drum set in a literal closet of a local music store, Corner Music. Over the next few years, the location changed twice, until Gary bought the 12th Ave S location right next to Corner Music’s new location. That’s where it stayed for the next 30 years while Gary built the store into a 5-star, destination drum shop, visited by not only drummers, but by musicians from all over the world. After 35+ years, Gary made the decision to retire from the industry in 2018. The business was sold to Steve Maxwell, a well known vintage drums dealer out of Chicago, and later that summer we moved to our new location at 308 Chestnut St., just south of downtown Nashville. Since then, we have sought to continue the legacy that Fork’s stand for. We aim to not only supply drummers locally and nationally with the gear they need, but also with the knowledge and expertise of decades of combined experience that our staff possesses.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not always been a smooth road. From the legendary 2010 Nashville flood, a change in ownership, moving to a new location, and then a global pandemic 2 years later, it’s been a wild ride. The thing that has always gotten us through is the belief in what we do and our love of the craft and the people we serve.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a full service drum store. We offer in house lessons with a staff of experienced teachers. We are able to provide a variety of repair services for drums, hardware, cases and everything in between. If you have a dream rig that you want to build, we love to collab with you to custom order your dream drum set along with anything else you’d need to put together the perfect set up for you. We offer custom drum head logos, sticks and heads from every brand, cymbals galore, and entire room full of snare drums to choose from. We host clinics every month or so that are free and open to the public whether you’re a drummer or not. Here at the shop, if you can see, it you can play it. We all subscribe to the “try before you buy” mentality, because that’s the only way to find exactly what you’re looking for. We are also always happy to walk anyone through the process of tuning their drums and we’ll even change your heads with you to ensure you know how to do it yourself in the future. We are probably most proud of being able to cater to drummers from every walk of life. Whether you’re a touring pro drummer needing to stock up for a summer festival tour or a beginner looking for your first practice pad, we’re happy to find you what you need to get out there and get playing. From studio musicians, hobbyists, band directors, and lost moms looking to make theirs 6 year old son’s drum set a little quieter, anything you’re looking for, we can assist.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Most people are shocked to find out that they can try anything in the store. If you can see it, you can try it. Any kit, snare, cymbal, or drum stick in the building is available to anyone that walks in.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.forksdrumcloset.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forksdrumcloset
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forksdrumcloset
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ForksDrumCloset
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@forksdrumcloset?lang=en