Andy Pitts loves music. He adores wood. And he treasures friends and family. In each grouping, he is like that character actor on that show you love — you know, an in-demand nomad, beloved by castmates wherever he goes, a consistent scene stealer but never the lead and rarely in the spotlight.
“I use the skills I have to work with. I’m never the best at anything, but I try to maximize my strong points,” said the 43-year-old founder of Lowcountry Handcrafted. “I come with an honest approach, I dig kind of deep, I give what I have in me. I’m simple that way. And I guess with the ‘never the best’ comment, it’s pretty clear I’m not the best at promoting myself.”
Whether it’s as a valued member of an array of local bands or a trusted member of the Lynes Construction team, Pitts’ work ethic and results speak as loudly as the myriad supporters who sing his praises.
Friends and family members have all seen his passion for woodworking and encouraged him to make a business out of his stunning creations. Now, it seems Pitts is finally ready to inch toward center stage.
“I’m not much for praise, much more comfortable with critiques, but I will say I’m very proud of my work, and I would love for it to pay enough bills to become a primary focus,” he said. “I’m like a raccoon around these trees; I have this heightened sense of touch. Seeing a project through from cutting the tree to crafting the furniture piece, it’s incredibly rewarding, and that thrill is addictive.”
Pitts’ grandmother grew up in Ridgeland, his great-grandfather was a caretaker for Bee’s Creek Plantation. His parents, Joe and Trudie, are both Bluffton High School grads.
Both his uncles and his grandfather were in the construction business, so the Pitts kids were always around the shop. “I was always tinkering, always absorbing knowledge,” Andy said of being a shop rat.
He was equally into music, a passion he got from listening to his musician mom, Trudie. She died after a years-long cancer battle in 1991 when Andy was 13. When not in school, he spent most of the next couple of years shadowing his father Joe, a general manager for the Hilton Head Public Service District.
“I was digging ditches, painting fire hydrants, whatever was needed. I was a grunt,” Pitts said of his teen years. After graduating from Camden Academy, he went to work for Trudy’s brother and his uncle, Mikie Lynes.
“I remember framing a house at Sea Pines and thinking, ‘Man, I’m not very good at this.’ But I kept getting better,” Pitts said. “Construction is a weird business; you get hired when you can and then the work runs out and you move on. But I’ve had some great teachers, guys that have been willing to teach me.”
He specifically points to his time with Noonan Contracting and the generosity of Greg White and Donny Glutsch, now two long-time friends. “Guys like Greg and Donny, they showed me how it’s done, let me learn,” Pitts said. “They showed me that how you treat clients matters, taking the time to make it perfect, that matters.”
Pitts said that he feels the same way about his music, which he immersed himself in as a teen to stay connected to his mom. “She was everything to me, and when she died, it hit me hard. It took a long time to think of myself standing on stage and playing music,” he said. “I lost a light there. I have two older sisters who are very studious. I was not. I’m not much of a self-starter. I think once that light was out, I just lost that intangible something that sets you up for that part of adult life.”
Slowly, as he let more people hear his music, his skills were undeniable. Pitts became known for his guitar riffs and his collaborative reliability, which has landed him spots in the island’s most iconic bands like Lowcountry Boil, Silicone Sister, Shakey Bones and JoJo Squirrel.
“Jevon [Daley] and I grew up together, so I’m in just about every band he wants to concoct,” Pitts said. “He’s the promoter though. I’m the worker bee. I play bass, guitar, some vocals, some banjo.”
Pitts’ musical and carpentry careers evolved parallel to each other. He went on to work with Joe Wood Construction in 2004, where he upped his craftsmanship game.
“Joe was a respected framer who became a general constructor and took me on. He earned high-paying clients. It’s the nicest work I’ve ever done,” Pitts said. “The work with Joe taught me about high-end work, that there’s a right way to do things. It was great financially but very demanding. It was cool to see big tough dudes that cared about design, cared about how it looked.”
He went back to work for Lynes Construction 10 years ago when Mike put in a call for his help. Ever since, he’s done all aspects of carpentry, but creating furniture has slowly but steadily become his signature.
“I do armoires, tables, bunk beds, cabinets, whatever is needed. We’ve had a lot of repeat clients through the years. Relationships matter, and they know they’re going to get my absolute best effort,” Pitts said. “Trying to make a piece perfect matters. I love that right or wrong, when you’re woodworking, that piece, it still stands there in someone’s house. To see it after, know you did right by folks, it doesn’t get any better.”
Pitts said he’s always been drawn to trees. From climbing them as a kid to working with reclaimed wood as a carpenter, he’s been drawn to lumber. The more carpentry he did, the more he discovered a passion for cutting wood and wielding chainsaws.
“Around the time of Hurricane Matthew is when I first started getting serious about milling wood myself,” he said. “Saved some money and bought some equipment to give it a go.”
He credits the follow-through there to supporters like his aunt, interior designer Debi Lynes, and her design firm partner, Pat Jackson.
“Debi is a big supporter. I help her with her installations, hang artwork, serve as handyman on site when needed. She and Pat invested. They believed in me; they sell my tables. It’s awesome to have folks like them in your corner,” he said. “Debi and I, we’re both Virgos. She gets me.”
He knows his operation is minuscule compared to other local outfits but prefers it that way.
“I have an Alaskan mill. It’s not the most efficient, not particularly fast, but it’s mobile,” he said. “I can show up with my tools wherever a tree is down, mill the lumber right there. So, I scrounge logs wherever I can find them. During Matthew, they were everywhere.”
One thing that the sawmills have that Pitts doesn’t is a kiln to dry out the wood to prepare it for milling. “I’ve got big piles of wood everywhere, all kinds of logs in various stage of dryness,” he said. “There’s wood at the house, wood at the shop. People think I’m a log hoarder or something, but I know I’ll use every last one of them. A neighbor two doors down, he cut down four or five trees and gave them to me. That was four years ago, and I’m just now running out of that milled batch of cherry and oak.”
A fire at a neighbor’s house next door destroyed some of his stack but gave what was salvaged a unique burnt char. “Bluffton Fire was amazing; everyone was okay, and they kept my house intact. And the tables I made from that stack have a very unique story and markings on one side.”
Pitts is revered across multiple island social circles and, pre-COVID, was always around new crowds of people playing music. He has had plenty of custom requests from construction clients or from friends. But it’s only recently that he’s begun posting photos of his tables, cabinets, chairs, mantles and floating shelves on social media, on Instagram @lowcountry_handcrafted. There are plenty of selfies with his favorite cuts of wood, as well as the stamp of his woodworking alter ego he brands into each of his creations, “Handcrafted by J. Anderson Pitts.”
“I know it’s part of growing the business. I have to get better at telling my story. I’m infatuated and engrossed in the trees and being able to tell their full story,” Pitts said. “I love the aspect of the hard work on the front end. Some of the work can be tedious later, but man, when you hit it with that finish, an oil or a poly, seeing that wood come to life is so very cool.
“It’s like opening up a prize, it’s always a surprise. Picking out just the right logs is a blast. You can’t foresee all the neat quirks in the grain, so opening up the log is the same thrill. These babies, they go from so raw to oh so sweet.”
His rescue dogs and his logs are his babies. His workday with Lynes is far from traditional, so he finds time to tackle projects before and after both his Lynes jobs and his music gigs.
“I’m a late-blooming adult, I guess. Sure, I’d love for the business to take off. Who doesn’t want more money? And I certainly need more of my own shop space. I’m awful at pricing my own work and time. I still forget to factor in the milling, but I’ll get there. But most of all, I just want to keep growing, always backing up my promises in the end results.”
Check out Andy’s work on Instagram @lowcountry_handcrafted or call him at (843) 683-0922. Just don’t Google “Andy Pitts Woodworker.” He’s a retired Navy officer turned woodworker, a whole other story.
