The good reads continue

The new year has started with some great issues of some of my favorite magazines.  The latest issue of Garden and Gun is full of things I love - music, food, great photography, profiles of craftsmen and artists, and great writing.

I have always felt a little like an imposture as a subscriber to this magazine.  Though I don't live in the South, there is something about this magazine that really hits home.  I originally bought an issue because it caught my eye and since that first issue, I have fallen in love with it month after month.

This version brought me a lot of inspiration - new music to download, restaurants to try in Chicago (since this isn't a Southern city, that might be my biggest surprise), and a heartwarming article about a family and their dog.

Meet Holly Williams, daughter of Hank Williams, Jr.  She is from country music royalty with a great voice.   You can sample her music here.

 Connie Britton is the star of one of my new favorite shows, Nashville.  I love her in her role as Rayna James and was excited to read her interview in this issue.  Isn't she's gorgeous at 45? An inspiration! 

 I knew nothing about the giant wooden trays used to serve a barbecued whole hog.  The story of this barber who crafts these trays on the side is really neat.  I love these.  I have absolutely no use for one because I have no future plans to barbecue a whole hog, but if I did, I would want to serve it on one of these beautiful trays.

 I want to tell all my friends in DC to seek out this couple, become their friends, and then invite me for a visit.    That's not weird, right?  The article is about their renovation of an old carriage house.  Their passion for preserving history and creating a great space for entertaining is inspiring.

Eight pages on Chicago!  I can't wait to seek out some of their recommendations from Chicago's Southern Soul.

What a beautiful issue!  Pick up your copy.

Garden and Gun magazine - a favorite!

Garden and Gun has moved into the top spot for my favorite magazines.  I have posted about my affinity for the photography, subject matter and writing.  I am just a little deeper in love.

Last night, I read the most recent issue (April/May 2012) and found myself reading some passages out loud to my husband and even laughing out loud at a couple of articles.  The photography still blows me away.

In every issue, I always learn so much.  For example, I didn't know that the actress Sissy Spacek was so beautiful and cool.  She was featured in an interview by Allison Glock and here are a couple of quotes.

"You become who you are and you realize, I'll never be a ballerina or a great chef.  We are, as my mother said, a product of our choices.  The world would be better if we taught our children those types of things.  Not how to wipe your mouth with a napkin so much as how to become someone worthwhile."

"My roots allow me to let go of the fear of failure."

Reading her interview makes me want to be her friend and go hang out at her Virginia farm.  The article presents her as wise and cool and inspiring.

I am also a huge fan of the music Garden and Gun profiles.  One of my new favorite groups, Alabama Shakes is featured in this awesome article by Matt Hendrickson.  I am really bad at describing music, so you can go to the Garden and Gun website and listen.

Band member Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes said this in the article about their recent success, "We're just normal folks doing something as fun as s___."  I love, love, love the spunk and passion and seeing people do something really well and having fun at the same time.

Matt Jones, ceramist from the Appalachian foothills, was the subject of an article by Charlie Geer.  Love the photography of Matt at work and also seeing the finished art - very cool stuff!  He had some great quotes, too.

"The onslaught of industry has put cheap, largely impersonal objects into our hands.  I want something ragged and soulful."

"I look at the objects people once surrounded themselves with.  All of it was handmade and useful, sometimes humble, but deeply beautiful and real.  I want my pots to honor that - the spirit of those who preceded us."

And, you can't help but feel a little emotional tug when you read about Bob Timberlake's collection of canoes.  He is a North Carolina artist and furniture designer with this amazing collection and he's profiled by T. Edward Nickens.  While I am not that into water or boats, I was really moved by his passion for collecting and the story.  Enjoy this quote about the "realness" of his boats.

"Let me tell you what I love about these old boats.  I look for character, and a sense of worn-ness and used-ness in an old canoe.  I don't like the one's that look perfect.  The flaking paint and yellowed varnish - all of that is just part of a canoe's story, and I guess I like the stories as much as I love the boats themselves."

Some of my reading on creativity has promoted the practice of buying magazines that are different that your usual tastes.  When I first subscribed to Garden and Gun  I really thought that it could go either way - hit or miss.  It would very likely be something that was just outside of my usually reading and might have an idea or two or a little piece of inspiration.  I am so pleasantly surprised to find that there is more that just a little that inspires me in every issue.