Today we’d like to introduce you to Mitch Herrick
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m fortunate to have come from a pretty musical and artistic family. My mother’s whole side of the family played piano and sang, most of my holidays were filled with family sitting around the piano, singing big band standards and dancing. My father was a painter who apprenticed with Norman Rockwell, and a country music lover. Those days in Chicago were cool, because you had all of the blues influences of the city, and then you could drive an hour and a half south to a juke joint in a corn field, where everyone had southern accents and listened to Alabama and Hank Williams. It was a great musical education. I started playing guitar and singing in my own band when I was six, and I studied saxophone and voice in high school, making me the only hockey player that would get made fun of for singing in the choir. By the time I got out of college, I came to Fort Lauderdale and ended up playing in a more serious band that had the opportunity to tour with and share the stage with about fifty international acts including, but not limited to Alice In Chains, Jason Isbel, Blues Traveler, Sister Hazel, The Doobie Brothers, and The Goo Goo Dolls. During the time that we were on the road, I realized very quickly that great guitar techs were hard to come by. Every time a new tech would touch one of my guitars, it seemed as though it would come back with some adjacent problem. One of my father’s hobbies when I was a kid was furniture building, and he imparted that skill set on to me, so fixing guitars just seemed to come naturally to me. It literally started out with me working on guitars on hotel room beds while on tour, and has now evolved into me owning a 600 square foot shop on the back of our property in Jupiter where I not only build guitars from scratch, but have been blessed enough to be able to work on the guitars of some of the most talented players, and heroes of mine in the industry. So in addition to playing music about 275 nights a year, I get to live out my other dream of making really pretty things and helping astonishingly great players to sound better and feel better while doing what they love. There’s no greater gift.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s taking me a long time to figure this one out, but I truly believe today, that the difference between between success and failure is just sticking it out for one more day, sometimes one more hour, or minute. I don’t think any road that someone has been on for a long time was ever smooth the whole way. At least not mine. But those bumps are some of the best parts for me now, because they are the things that I use to give myself strength when the next challenge comes my way. Sixteen years ago I realized that alcohol and drugs were going to either ruin or end my life. I made a decision, and I did everything that it took in order to get well, and then protect my recovery up to this very day. It will always be the best decision I’ve ever made, not only for myself, but for the people that I love, and that love me. It was hard, but everything worth something comes with fangs. The other big challenge was my son’s diagnosis with autism. It was like an atom bomb that hit our family when he was a year and a half old. It was literally like watching your child get kidnapped right in front of you. Also though, when I look at it retrospectively, it too became a decision. A decision to recommit to my family, and to myself … about who I wanted to be as a father and a husband, and a man. It galvanized our family. My wife and I love each other more everyday because of it, and we cherish our son to no end. There is nothing that we wouldn’t do for him and his future. Covid obviously was difficult for everybody, and there was a rebuilding period after that. And then the most recent challenge, I’m going through as we speak. About 3 months ago, I tore my bicep off the forearm bone while trying to stop a little boy from coming down a water slide headed at another little boy at my son’s 7th birthday party. I had to have the bicep reattached 2 months ago. When surgery was over, I couldn’t even hold a playing card between my fingers. I’ve had to completely relearn how to use my right hand. But I love what I do so much, and I have overcome so many other challenges, that I knew it was possible with hard work and faith. Today, I’m back to playing music four nights a week, and I’m working fairly seamlessly and painlessly on guitars without a problem. I’m very grateful.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have two businesses, one by day, and one by night. During the day, I build custom guitars from scratch, and do repairs and restorations on everything from old vintage instruments to brand new instruments. At night, I play music in my band “Mitch Herrick and The Homegrown Sinners,” spanning from full band to ensemble work of all types, stripped all the way down to solo work, typically five nights a week, all throughout Florida and travelling. My schedule has consistently seen between 250-275 shows per year for the past twenty years. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the biggest acts in the world, some of my heroes from my childhood, and some of the most staggeringly talented people that I could have ever dreamed of. I think if you were to ask people in the industry about me, either is a musician or a guitar builder/tech, they would most likely tell you that I am honest, that I am incredibly passionate about what I do, to the point of obsession, and that I work tirelessly to get things right, under all circumstances, no matter what. I absolutely love what I do. I think a lot of my fellow artists would probably also tell you I’m a pretty good businessman, when it comes to understanding the complexities of the music business.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Relationships. Everything is about relationships. Without them, I have nothing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mitchherrick.com
- Instagram: mitchherrick
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MitchHerrick2?mibextid=kFxxJD
Image Credits
Chris Schmitt
