In Eastern Kentucky, the heritage of folk and traditional music from instruments like guitars, mandolins, and dulcimers is deeply seated.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown reports on an effort to capitalize on this rich culture while offering some residents a fresh start in the process.

It's part of our ongoing coverage of the intersection of health

and arts, part of our Canvas series.

When I first started, I had never really worked when you can't any kind of find

them working.

Jeremy Haney hand makes mandolins for the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company.

It's been a learning experience. It's been a challenge.

Big learning curve for me as far as, like, paying attention to detail and have my eyes

open to what to look for.

He's proud of his craftsmanship, making instruments that will retail for about $2,000.

But even more so, he says, the work has given him purpose.

I destroyed myself with drugs and alcohol and just wrong decisions. And the work that I found

gave me something to plug my mind into, to keep my hands busy. I love it.

Nearly every one of the more than dozen workers at Troulesome Creek is in recovery from substance

abuse.

That's really pretty.

Doug Nasal Road heads Troulesome Creek.

A master Luthier or stringed instrument maker himself, he came to Heinemann here in the mountains

of eastern Kentucky to teach the craft about 14 years ago and found people struggling.

We began to realize that there was more dire need in the community because the opioid

epidemic and the damage that it had compounded with the downturn of coal. So you came to fill one need in a sense, and then you found another one.

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