Matt and I were very honored to be asked to join the team of judges for this year’s Garden & Gun “Made In The South” awards.

This contest, rich in southern craft, design and ingenuity, is a very special project for artisans who enter, and a real big treat for the spectators that get to read about the winners later this fall.

Matt and I, along with Nashville, are proud as peacocks that two grass root brands from our community – Otis James and Emil Erwin – were winners last year.

It has been such a pleasure watching these guys grow their now-globally recognized brands, partly because of the opportunity that Garden & Gun provides with this project.

It’s true. Believe it. If you have a craft and a dream, then you can make it. For a little boost, enter this contest. It helps!

Love,

C

P.S. If you don’t already subscribe to G&G Magazine, do it now!

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For someone who more or less detests large crowds, isn’t terribly fond of super-loud music, and prefers to be entertained in enclosed settings (or at least those that don’t require standing in line for a Port-a-Pottie when you need to do your business), I love a good music festival.

Back in the live music-filled salad days of my early twenties, I braved the original Lollapalooza, hit H.O.R.D.E. (warning: latent hippie tendencies may surface from time to time), and even five or six Grateful Dead shows (see: previous warning). When I lived in New York, I’d hit the Siren Music Festival in Coney Island each summer (Superchunk + the Wonder Wheel + Nathan’s hot dogs = major fun in the scorching sun) and stood in the dirt to watch Pavement, Sonic Youth and Guided By Voices play the SummerStage at Central Park (not on the same bill… pity).

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