Kelly and Donna Mulhollan perform music all around the country, raising awareness about environmental issues.
However, they don’t play on your average Fender guitar.
“Bayard has the rare personality traits to make a living as a guitar maker…is just almost impossible,” Mulhollan said.
They received the guitar from long time friends, and they bring it along on every tour.
“The song writer community, from all over the country is embracing what Bayard is doing. We’ve got countless friends coast to coast that own these instruments,” Mulhollan said.
Bayard Blain has been in the woodworks of making guitars and mandolins for over eight years.
With the support and publicity he has been able to distribute handmade instruments all over the country.
“The first few instruments took a while, because I had to buy tools and different things like that, and it just started flowing. Ya know, now they’re easy to put out,” Blain said.
Blain’s inspiration to create his own instruments came along when he was playing in a band at a young age.
He cuts, crafts and carves all the wood, right here in his shop.
Over time he has collected woods from all over the world, from Hawaii, Brazil, Africa, China and more.
He uses these unique materials to create some of his best works.
“I can put my works up against 5, 6, 7, 8 thousand dollar guitars and nobody can ever tell the difference. That’s what you need to do,” he said.
Blain plans to continue making instruments locally and hopes to expand his business in the future.
“People are just embracing what he is doing, and I don’t know where it is going to go…but it’s definitely going up,” Mulhollan said.
Story by UATV Reporter Brooke Earhart