Our Story
A band of bros bound together by music: sharing positive vibrations and ideas through our designs...
We strive to bring a higher conscious of love, kindness, joy and generosity...
...being in the moment.
Why Bloody Toe
“Sometimes in life you get knocked down, banged up, even a little bloody…. just keep on dancing! This attitude has served me well with relationships, in business, on the rugby pitch, with my kids and pretty much all phases of life. No matter what challenges lie ahead, just keep on dancing and everything will work itself out."
- Scott Herman | Founder, BloodyToe.co
The Inspiration
The idea behind BloodyToe.co first hatched the summer of 2013 at the 1st Lockn’ Music Festival in Arrington, Virginia. There with 5 buddies, some I’ve known my whole life, some I met for the very first time, the vision for BloodyToe.co took flight.
It was an amazing 4 days with some of the best collaborations we had ever seen; Trey played with Phil and Bobby; Zac Brown played with SCI; late night shows with the cast that makes up Joe Russo’s Almost Dead; Warren Haynes bringing down the house with Susan Tedeschi; Chris Robinson; and so many others. But as impressive as the shows were on stage, it was our band of 6 working together, playing together and taking care of each other that first inspired the concept behind BloodyToe.co.
The Team
Everybody played a part: Keith, music lover/universe protector, art connoisseur and just an easy going, great guy who happens to be my best friend from childhood. Keith was the glue that brought us all together; Magic hands Ian, full of energy, wisdom and tons of love for everyone he meets, and he meets and loves everyone; Music man Glen, the magnificent chef, know-er of all music related things, collector of music art, and the Jam Cruise fixture; Cool cat Alan, the wise one, loved by all with a heart of gold and camping gear for all, especially myself; My best bud in Denver Todd aka Tommy: he’s a poker playing, x-rugby jumping builder, who was the first to introduce me to the dead and take me on some of my first music adventures. Then there’s me, Denver Scott. I’m a dreamer, drummer, energy bunny with a creative flare and a few bloody toes. But bigger than the music, or our band of 6, was the community of like minded grateful music lovers sharing moments in time together that inspired me to do more.
Soon after returning home from that first Lockn’ Festival, I decided to create a design for Lockn’ 2 (2014) and surprise the band of 6 with custom show hats and shirts. We also printed about (150) stickers to share with our like minded grateful friends and family.
I recruited the help of artists, and over the next (4) years, with a little vision from myself, and a lot of creative from our artists, we brought BloodyToe.co to life. Everyone seemed to love the designs, and the quantities kept increasing. I continued to love surprising the band of 6 with the new look each year, and I could never explain how rewarding it was to share the love with everyone at the show through our custom show stickers.
Things Come Together
After returning home from Lockn’ 5 at the end of August 2017, I booked a trip to the Riviera Maya in Cancun, Mexico for 4 nights of Playing in the Sand with Dead and Company. Keith, Tommy and Ian booked as well and off we went. We decided to create a custom design for the show and we shipped our largest run of shirts to date, along with a small batch of hats, and of course a whole bunch of stickers. We are proud and humbled to say that we sold out of shirts and hats within the first couple of hours of day 1, and our stickers were everywhere. It was at that moment in Mexico when we decided to step up our game and bring even more love through our designs to like minded music lovers everywhere.
The Story of Our Name & Logo, and Life Lessons (okay, so we'll attempt to show some wisdom here.)
In case you were wondering, “why BloodyToe.co?”, here’s the skinny: On the first day in Mexico after selling our shirts and hats we headed to the beach. We were hanging out when Keith threw a beauty of a Frisbee toss, nice and deep, right where the waves hit the final break along the sand. I tracked that Frisbee and headed off in hot pursuit.
At the exact moment of reaching out to grab it, things got a little messy, dicey, and bloody to be more exact. Bam, I slammed into a huge rock, which I somehow managed to miss seeing, and the next thing I knew I was doing a Mercury Morris twirl to avoid a bunch more rocks. It wasn’t a pretty picture; my left foot big toe and toe nail was destroyed. After finally getting the bleeding to stop with the help of a lifeguard (love those guys), talking him into not calling for medical attention, and buying enough gauze and supplies for the days ahead, I was ready for the first night of music.
I danced my ass off that night like I love to do.
Well, the next morning Tommy took one look at me, then down at my wrapped up bloody big left toe, and said, “The name should be BloodyToe.co. Is it me, or does Scott always manage to bang himself up right before or during festivals?” Well, as much as I hate to admit it, he had a point and we all got a good laugh and said, “BloodyToe.co it is.”
But the real message here is in our logo. It’s not about falling down or getting bloody. It’s about getting up and dancing no matter what challenges you face in life. Sometimes in life you get knocked down, pushed around, maybe even a little bloody … the key is to keep on dancing.
Well, the story would not be complete without introducing you to one more BloodyToe.co partner, my younger brother Bob aka. Bo. Bo is a kind, generous soul who truly cares about everyone he touches whether it’s his clients, family or friends. Bo also happens to be our IT Director, Finance Director, Technology Marketer, Fulfillment Center Coordinator, Inventory Hawk and the man behind the curtains.
Find us on Instagram and Facebook, and share your music adventures, pictures and Bloody Toe stories with our community.
Have fun and keep on dancing!