I have been in the backline industry now for just over 12 years. Most are unfamiliar with the term but backline is the musical instruments used for concerts, tours, and festivals. Atlanta Backline Company rents instruments like guitars, drum kits, keyboards, DJ gear, a multitude of various percussion items, guitar and bass amplifiers as well as speaker cabinets and so on. It is quite niche but is a critical part in the music industry today. We supply these items for local small events as well as concerts, tours and festivals mostly in the southeast. After cutting my teeth with a production company, my business partner and I opened Atlanta Backline in 2014. There are many different areas of live event production like staging, lighting, live sound (PA), monitors, risers, playback and so on. It’s practically endless. The company I worked for had branched out into a multitude of industry areas. My partner and I wanted to do something different – to focus exclusively in one area: the actual musical instruments. Because it was standard practice for companies to handle multiple facets of live music, and not focus only on the musical instruments – the backline – it sounded pretty absurd to attempt to strip it all down. But, we wanted to provide the very best backline, with the best technicians and focusing exclusively in this way would allow us to excel in the great detail that is required. I will be the first to admit, I was nervous and just hoped the phone would ring. We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary and we have grown exponentially. Our first location was 1,750 square feet and in August we will be checking off our second year in our 11,000′ sq. ft. location. We have had a lot of ups and downs like any cottage industry including losing our co-founder Mark Brown last September but we keep growing, getting new toys weekly and most importantly having fun. - Bryan Akers @atlantabackline Learn more about Bryan’s incredible entrepreneurial journey on VoyageATL.com #entrepreneur #inspiringstories #inspiring #instagood #lovinlife #shootforthestars #followyourbliss #alwaysfindaway #inspiration #positivity #atlanta #atlantastories #madeinatlanta #story #storytellin