About Us

A Legacy of Friendship in Music

Have you ever spent time around someone who made you feel truly seen, unique, important, and loved? My grandfather, Papaw Odell Suits, had that gift. He saw the goodness in everyone he met.

Papaw was a talented bluegrass musician living in the Appalachian foothills of Cleveland, Tennessee. People would approach him at festivals and ask him to show them a few licks. That's actually how I came to be; my dad Roger approached Odell at a festival looking for advice on a banjo lick, spotted Odell's daughter Jeanna, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Folks from all over would make their way to Papaw's little house just to spend time with the local legend. He had a picking room at the back, nothing elaborate, but one of the warmest places I've ever known. Love, joy, and music filled that room every single day. It didn't matter if you were rich or poor, a brand new player or Tony Rice himself. Papaw sat with you, picked with you, and had a way of making you feel like the most important person in the room. He had very little money and more friends than you could count. When he passed, his funeral visitation lasted multiple days as people came from all over to pay their respects to a man who had simply made time for them.

My own musical journey started in that same spirit. Papaw taught me my first three-finger banjo rolls in the fifth grade, and family gatherings in those Appalachian foothills were filled with picking sessions and songs passed down through generations. In middle school I joined the jazz band on upright bass. That same year I heard Nickel Creek's first album, Chris Thile's mandolin on "Ode to a Butterfly," and something clicked permanently. I've been playing bass and mandolin passionately ever since. I went on to earn a B.A. in Music from Lee University, where I studied upright bass and wrote my senior thesis on Earl Scruggs' revolutionary influence on banjo music. That combination of family tradition and formal study shapes everything we do at this store.

My wife Stephanie and I created Papaw Odell's to honor his legacy. We actually met the day before classes started at ETSU and have been best friends ever since. She was there for every band practice, every gig, every late night of music major chaos, and when it came time to open this store she poured herself into it completely. Stephanie runs the front of the house, manages our inventory, keeps us alive on social media, and somehow also homeschools our kids, Elizabeth and Oliver, who you'll likely find here at the store with us on any given day. Together we've built a place we hope feels a little like that picking room, welcoming to everyone, regardless of where they are on their musical journey. We specialize in high-quality acoustic instruments, guitars, mandolins, violins (fiddles), banjos, and more, along with expert luthier service, and honest guidance from people who genuinely love this music.

We're a family business rooted in real Appalachian heritage and the same simple belief Papaw lived by: that music is better when you share it, and that everyone who walks through the door deserves to feel special and loved.

So whether you're picking up your first instrument or you've been playing for fifty years, come on in and introduce yourself. We'd love to meet you.

Welcome to the family.

Drew & Stephanie Walden
Papaw Odell's, Cleveland, Tennessee