Hot Pour | Rockin’ Hard Saloon’s barkeep rocks hard on air guitar (and the real guitar, too)
Bartender
▪ Brandon Leigh Collins, 32
Bar
▪ Rockin’ Hard Saloon
How long have you been bartending? “About 2 years.”
How long have you been a guitarist? “16 years.”
Are there any similarities between playing guitar and bartending? “Yeah, you have to be a people person to a certain degree. You have to have confidence in order to gain the patrons’ confidence. You have to play to the crowd, to be real, to be their friend.”
In a band, just like a marriage, it’s all or nothing.
Brandon Collins
What do you like most about bartending? “I like keeping the spirits up and helping people take their minds off their everyday worries.”
What do you like least about bartending? “The closing duties, but I do them anyway.”
How often do you find yourself playing air guitar while you’re bartending? “About 30 percent less than I play air drums. I play air drums a lot more.”
Are you better at playing air drums or air guitar? “Since I’m a guitar player, I probably play air guitar a little better.”
What’s your favorite genre of music to play while you’re tending bar to and why? “I like ska. It gets people in the mood to drink. It’s makes people happy, and it gets me in a good groove.”
You were in a band named The Classic Struggle. What’s your classic struggle? “I want to wake up every day being a better person than I was the day before. That’s something I’ve lived by for a long time.”
Are you single? “Yes, I am.”
Is being in a band like being married? “Yeah.”
Do you want to elaborate? “No, not really. (Collins laughs.) In a band, just like marriage, it’s all or nothing.”
By Derrick Bracey, For The Surge
If you drink
Where | Rockin’ Hard Saloon, 3140 U.S.17, Murrells Inlet
Hours | 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily
Info | 843-299-0319
This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 1:56 AM with the headline "Hot Pour | Rockin’ Hard Saloon’s barkeep rocks hard on air guitar (and the real guitar, too)."