FAIRVIEW, Tenn. (WKRN) – In a tucked away six string shop in Fairview, a man sits patiently, fingers sore, yet sanding.
Dan Blom is a workman who never seems to stop working. But he does for this.
“I always think ‘I wish you were here… I wish you were sitting here putting on this decal,’ but it didn’t work out that way,” Dan said through tears.
When that decal hits the headstock, it reminds him why he started and it follows a tragic end.
“The last day of his life was tumultuous.”
E.B Rooster Guitars is named after Erik Blom, Dan’s son. He was 29 when he died in 2014 when he died from drugs.
“When you hear your kid is putting heroin into his veins that’s a few letters on his death water that signature it’s just hard to get through that and come back out,” said Blom.
Erik is one of the millions, but he is not a statistic.
“Part of why we share our story is to educate, we couldn’t just sit there and do nothing,” said Dan’s wife Cindy Blom.
So, they’re helping, using a portion of the money they make off of guitars to pay for therapy, gas, and whatever someone needs that insurance doesn’t cover.
They also give back to organizations that help with addiction and mental health.
“They’ve already beat themselves up. They need to be told they can do this wife,” said Cindy Blom. ” They need a community, they need help.”
And what the Blom’s want is to stop the stigma, using dan’s craftsmanship as a vehicle to give back.
“I think we need to reign it in we need to stop and start looking at people as humans,” said Cindy Blom.
“Losing a kid at 29, that all of the sudden you’ve had more hope for than you’ve ever had, to have it snatched away and you’re standing there looking at his body it’s something I can’t put words to,” said Dan Blom.
So he pours his words into playing and rests the guitar against his heart, feeling vibrations and his son.
To view the guitars, you can visit E.B Rooster Guitars’ website by clicking here.