Nate Pugh spent nearly 20 years waiting tables at local restaurants.
But after a decade away, he returned to the city two weeks ago as the Del Rendon Foundation’s first artist in residence. Now, instead of waiting tables, he is building them, along with shelves, hammers, guitars, and a new invention: a guitar case with a built-in amplifier, an “amplicase.”
“You can literally open it up, have your amplifier right there, and have your suitcase open for people to throw change in, and then plug right in,” Pugh told The Dispatch during an art reception at the Del Rendon Foundation’s headquarters Friday night.
While Pugh grew up in Ypsilanti, Michigan, he visited Mississippi often as a child, coming to see his grandparents in Philadelphia. That was enough to convince him to attend Mississippi State University.
“When it came time for school, my grandparents were still alive, and it was like ‘yeah, let’s go down and go to school,” Pugh said. “I met Martin Rendon, and that was my connection. And being so far away from everybody, that was my family.”
Pugh became fast friends with brothers Martin and Del Rendon at MSU. Though Del passed away in 2005, he left a lasting impact on the city’s art and music scene.
By 2006, Del’s family members and friends formed the Del Rendon Foundation, with a mission to embrace his passion for art and music and to continue his legacy.
Since then, the foundation has established a $100,000 endowed scholarship at the university, financially supported local art events, hosted the Del Rendon Music and Art Festival every year, and more.
Del also left a personal impact on Pugh.
“I didn’t really get into music and playing guitar until I got into college. I’d watch people play guitar – I’d watch Del hang out, play guitar and stuff,” Pugh said. “And I was like, ‘I want to do that.’”
Pugh learned to play guitar, and only a few years later, he learned to build his own furniture, enjoying working with his hands. Not long after, he was building his first guitar with his brother – a steel lap guitar.
The artist kept building furniture and guitars as his “side hustle” during his two decades in restaurants. He kept it up even after he moved to Woodland in 2014, where he lives on a 60-acre permaculture farm.
There, he gained access to the live edge lumber that is now a staple in nearly everything he builds, including the furniture and guitars. Pugh also works with reclaimed wood.
“It’s all stuff that’s been given to me,” Pugh said. “God gave it to me. It fell one day. And out there, if you’re around big enough trees, some big pieces of wood come flying down.”
Around the Del Rendon headquarters Friday night, guitars with three and four strings hung on the walls, each shaped a little differently. One’s body was in the shape of the state of Mississippi, while others were more abstract angular bodies.
While Pugh still plays guitar for fun, he said the thing that attracted him the most to creating the guitars was making functional art, pushing the idea of what a beautiful guitar can be.
“When you’re a painter, you have a palette that you draw from,” Pugh said. “Colors, you’ll see colors and things like that pop out. With my woodworking, for some reason, there’s like a Stonehenge theme with the way they’re built. I’m not a curvy kind of person. I like straight furniture.”
Also displayed around the headquarters were four newly made amplicases, which Pugh designed from scratch over the past few weeks. From the rectangular shells to the upholstery to the soldering inside of the amplifiers, Pugh’s hands touched every component of their construction.
While the Del Rendon Foundation typically facilitates grant money and funding for the MacGown Art Retreat and Studio’s artist in residence program, Pugh’s residency was the first directly through the foundation, providing him with the space, supplies and opportunity to complete the project.
Foundation board member Martin Rendon said he was happy the organization could support a long-time friend, artist and the Golden Triangle’s art community all at the same time. Martin was also excited to watch Pugh create something brand new.
“It’s the first of its kind,” Martin said. “Nathan Pugh designed it, and we just helped him to create his vision.”
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