Long ago, surnames came to be in order to provide a family’s place of origin or the patriarch’s trade, and in the case of Randy Wood, the surname has served as creator of destiny: Wood’s father was a carpenter and a woodworker. His dad, along with some of his uncles, also loved music; the family played and sang together, adding another element to Randy’s future course. Fast forward: by the early 1970s, Randy had built a mandolin for Bill Monroe, added inlay work to Johnny Cash’s and Elvis’ guitars, been 1/3 of the trio that started what eventually became the now-famous Gruhn Guitars, and opened the original Old Time Pickin’ Parlor in Nashville.
Wood sold the business in 1979 — and he and Irene moved back to Georgia. For 22 years, they lived on the Isle of Hope; Wood considered himself semi-retired, and ran a woodshop, and a small mail-order business, out of the garage (“As long as UPS can find me, I’ll be all right”).

As more and more people moved into the area, however, he began to yearn for something more “rural.” Ten years ago, he bought four acres on Highway 80, built a house, a workshop and a retail store.