Meet Mark Austin of Cloverlick Banjo Shop in Butterfly Alley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Austin.

Mark, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started modifying instruments in 2011 with a friend who took new telecasters and relicing them to look and sound very old. When I moved to CO in 2012, I immediately started building electric guitar bodies in my garage. With more interest in acoustic instruments forming, I took instruction with Edward “Victor” Dick in Denver and through his school, met fort collins builder Michael Bashkin (Bashkin Guitars). I worked with him for a few years and moved on to start my own story.

 I was losing interest in the custom acoustic guitar market, and had an extensive knowledge of banjo construction, plus am a sponsored artist of Gold Tone Banjos, so I decided to follow that road full steam. Upon doing research of custom banjo builders, I got in touch with Jeff Kramer (Founder of Cloverick Banjo Shop) in Burlington, WI in 2016 and started working on banjo building projects with him until he decided to retire and pass the business down to me. He loved my designs and community-driven spirit and knew it was in refined and able hands.

I then reached out to my friend BJ and the Kinney family, who I had daydreamed about building our own shop with, and formed a partnership. We built our dream shop, and began assembling our dream team and got to work. The crew consists of dear friends who are all accomplished musicians and artists: Matthew Wilburn Skinner (Tallgrass), Kaitlin Schramm, Tobias Bank (Whippoorwill), and Taylor Shuck (Wood Belly).

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We certainly faced a few hurtles in the beginning. We pretty much built the space from scratch. Fortunately, we are so dedicated to sustainability, that we repurposed almost everything, made skylights and LED low impact lighting, and eco-friendly climate control. We also had HUGE help from all walks of the community, often just having people pop in to lend a hand. We were able to build a phenomenal space in no time.

We then decided to make stewardship and community outreach a huge part of our game-plan, building solar structures at schools, hosting fundraisers for various charitable institutions/non-profits, and starting our “Butterfly Alley” project. We wanted everyone involved, so we could ALL feel like a part of this journey.

Please tell us about Cloverlick Banjo Shop. What should we know?
We are known for many things as a business. We have a quality to our work that has been acknowledged by some of our most respected heroes. We put heart and soul into every piece that comes out of the shop. Our clients are always stoked and have even commissioned multiple pieces.

We have a series of banjos called “the Peoples Banjo” made from repurposed wood from door and stair companies (no new trees were cut for these banjos) and have priced them to be affordable for musicians working hard on the road.

We noticed how polarized the banjo market is as well. Bluegrass banjos are one very specific thing, and Openback banjos are very specific on the other side of the fence. We honor both, BUT make hybrid concepts for the contemporary player and songwriters.

We also work with traveling artists and have a growing series of videos called “The Cloverlick Cache: Live from the HQ.” These music videos (kindred to Tiny Desk Concert) showcase songs from musicians all over the country (and world) and are released through our page and with (SALT) Magazine.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We have learned that it takes a team if people that have mutual respect and love to be successful. We nurture all interest beyond just building to help create well balanced and healthy creative lives. Always helping to provide inspiration, motivation, and resources to grow as artists and people. We honestly wouldn’t change a single thing!

Contact Info:

• Address: 1208 W Myrtle St. via “Butterfly Alley”
• Website: https://www.cloverlickbanjoshop.com/
• Phone: 8502847082
• Email: rooster@cloverlickbanjoshop.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roosterbuilt/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roosterbuilt/

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