Today we’d like to introduce you to Trapper Haskins.
Hi Trapper, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I live outside Nashville now, but I was born and raised in Tennessee’s “other” Music City–Memphis. I’d like to be able to say I was hip to STAX Records and everything that came out of Sun Studio from an early age. However, like every kid growing up in the 80s I was glued to MTV. I was a teenager before I learned all that rock n’ roll I was listening to was actually a derivative of the music that came from my own city.
I started playing guitar around that time, a cheap nylon-string classical my parents bought years before for something like 80 bucks. I was obsessed–writing songs, learning solos. Once they saw I was serious about it they got me a few lessons and kicked in some to help me purchase what I really wanted, an electric guitar. I became sort of reclusive, playing for hours a day after school, so much so that I neglected studying and homework and started flunking classes. I didn’t care. I was 16, and I was going to be a professional musician.
Something changed though. By the time I was 21, I’d met the girl I wanted to marry, and I felt this pressing need to become more than a guitar player. I wanted to learn to actually do something, to make things. She and I moved to New England where I hung up my musical aspirations and spent my days learning the boatbuilding and custom woodworking trades.
It served me well, because now, back in my home state of Tennessee, not only do I have my own woodworking business, I build many of the guitars and even one of the amplifiers I play.
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?
We hit a rough patch during the Great Recession. I lost my woodshop and took an office job for a few years with an architecture firm. They were nice people, but I learned I am not suited for stationary work. It took a toll on me mentally. I started suffering from these debilitating panic attacks and had bouts of existential anxiety that really forced me to reexamine what I wanted out of life. And what I wanted was music and writing and creation of all kinds.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I was able to leave my office job behind and reopen my woodworking business. But more importantly, I have found a way to integrate those woodworking skills into my musical aspirations. I started building guitars and amplifiers. Now, my relationship to the music feels more holistic. To create not only the music but the tools used to create the music is satisfying.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
I perform regularly in Nashville and do regional tours throughout the year. I’m always looking to team up with other musicians and artists, especially people with a strong DIY ethic.
Contact Info:
- Email: trapper@trapperhaskins.com
- Website: TrapperHaskins.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trapperhaskins/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrapperHaskins/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/trapperhaskins
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9k2YZPfh9VafFfplK-M9Ag
- Other: HaskinsWoodworks.net
