HINDMAN, Ky. — Just upstream from the modest Hindman downtown is a two-story stone building where hard work and hands on experience are creating real change.
Since 2019, the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company has been hand crafting instruments that have been sold all across the country. Its workers and the wood used both come from Appalachia.
The factory, which is the first and only in Knott County, employs roughly a dozen people. Most are people who are in recovery, looking to better their own lives. That includes Nathan Smith, who’s glad to be spending his days working above ground.
“I worked underground for 10 years roughly, maybe a little over,” Smith said at this workbench.
Smith’s life story mirrors that of many across eastern Kentucky. After working in the coal mines, he got hooked on drugs and fell into trouble.
“It was kind of hard to go elsewhere and find other kind of employment because they had never done anything else but coal,” Smith said.
But a drug court program led him here five years ago. Today Smith and others create works of art like dulcimers, mandolins and acoustic guitars.
“This is definitely, definitely a lot safer. You know, I don’t worry near as much. Even with the saws and stuff, they don’t bother me near as much,” Smith said.
Coal jobs in eastern Kentucky now employ a fraction of what they did just a few decades ago. State data shows close to 30,000 people were employed in the industry in 1990.
As of last year, it’s fallen to fewer than 4,000 statewide. A loss of roughly 85%.
Doug Naselroad runs the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company. He has been in the instrument building business since 1969. His passion has transformed into a pathway toward success for hundreds who have come through the doors here.
“A band of brothers and sisters, they have one another’s backs,” he said of those who’ve come through the various programs they offer.
“If you get a decent paying job, that’s really, really cool, at home in the mountains, that’s the best of both worlds really,” Naselroad said.
Despite major hurdles in recent years, like the pandemic and the 2022 floods that ruined most of the shop, the work and the music continue on. And for good reason, for success stories like this.
“I battled addiction for 25 years and this program was probably one of the best thing that ever happened to me. It changed my life completely,” Smith said.
Since its founding, The Troublesome Creek Instrument Company has trained around 250 people in the specialized craft.