Michael Outlaw’s love affair with reclaimed wood began in 2006, when he salvaged timber from a plantation house that had recently been torn down. The house was built in the 1880s by Charles Edward Wilder. Wilder received a land grant as payment for his services during the war, and built his family’s home using the virgin long leaf pine trees that had been growing on the property. In 1880 some of these trees were over 200 years old, making the wood well over 300 years old when Michael gave it a second life as Outlaw Drums.

I recently spoke with Michael for our new 4OnTheFloor podcast series, and he told me about his affinity for this wood.

“I came across heart pine and fell in love with that old wood. Because it has a story…some of it was from old mills that were torn down, and some of the wood actually had a machine on top of it and the oil would spill down into the wood and stain the wood. And then you would start cutting the wood; the aroma would come up and you could smell it and you can’t help but wonder…”