Chris Brinson knew the old stage at New Brookland Tavern well. He grew up in Lexington and spent time playing in area bands. And, like pretty much every local musician who came up in the Midlands while the longstanding rock dive was still in residence on State Street in West Columbia, he went to New Brookland a lot and played there more than a few times.
Last year, , finding a new home in the college-adjacent Five Points neighborhood. But Brinson isn’t done with that old West Columbia stage just yet. Now a master luthier making electric guitars in Landrum, he was approached by a customer who had acquired wood from New Brookland’s former stage, requesting that he fashion a guitar out of it.
Brinson completed that guitar, and he also sent his dad down to West Columbia to get more wood from the stage, enough to build another three or four guitars, Brinson said, adding that he can probably get more if more people are into the idea of shredding on a piece of local music history. “It’s crazy, man,” Brinson said, reflecting on building guitars out of a stage he once played on. “There’s just so much history.
People have literally sweat and cried on that stage. To make a guitar out of a piece of it is just awesome because it’s gonna be around forever.” Brinson said he and New Brookland Tavern owner Mike Lyons have talked about raffling off one of the guitars at the new club some time, which should help Brinson bring some attention to his relatively new business.
Brin.