Livin': Sweet Tee: Southern Brand Launches with “Lil’ Ones” Line
The hillbillies are headin' to the big city. New York, that is.
We're takin' our wares up to the ENK Children's Club show in NYC, October 5-7. We'll be launchin' some sweet southern tees for them lil' boll weevils, followed by Southern Belle and Southern Man lines for grown folks in the next month or so.
We figured there weren't enough people out there makin' the kinda shirts we were always lookin' for. The kinda tees that feel like they been washed a thousand times with love by your mama, then hung to dry on the clothesline out back, just swayin' in the fresh summer breeze. T-shirts that are simple, bold, and uniquely southern. Not all that crazy, over the top printing on every inch including the armpit of the too-tight fashion tee. And not all that rebel flag, south's-gonna-do-it-again-southern that somehow seems to be all ya get when you google "southern t-shirts". We wanted to create a line for the Southern that we know. Small town America. Life through amber-tinted glasses. The sweet, smoky taste of some real pit BBQ. The steely sound of a slide guitar. The rumble of an old pick-up truck down a muddy dirt road. Sittin' on the front porch sippin' sweet tea, spittin' watermelon seeds and pickin' a tune. A brand built on truth, integrity and pride. Built on fillin' a need. By makin' the clothes we want to wear ourselves. Clothes we believe in. Premium quality. Classic American design. An honest product at an honest price.
We hope you enjoy wearing them as much as we do making them.
And if for some reason you don't, send 'em back, we'll wear 'em.
The skinny on Southern Brand Tees:
These T-shirts are made from sweet, soft cotton. From the dirt. Up outta the earth. They got some sun in 'em too. And some soul. We put 'em through an extensive vintage wash process which produces distinctive weathering and classic color resulting in a true vintage look and a super soft feel. They feel like your favorite shirt that you been wearing for years or one that's been passed down through all the kids in the family. 'Cept it's new outta the box. The new and improved hand-me-down, ya'll.
We're launchin' three "collections" (tryin' to bone-up on our fashion speak.) You can check 'em out by clicking the banner ad to your left. There's "Woodtype", that pays tribute to the old letter press show posters that musicians used for promoting their shows throughout the south. There's "Animal Farm", an homage to those noble critters a whole bunch of us grew up with. And there's Highway 61, full-up with sayings and imagery from the Mississippi Delta and on up the "Blues Highway". Just wholesale right now, ask your neighborhood general store to carry 'em. Retail comin' soon.
The Blues and good ol' southern music is what fuels us 'round here at Southern Brand, so we're trying to do our share to keep that great American tradition alive. We've teamed up with the fine folks at the Music Maker Foundation , and we're donating a part of our proceeds to 'em so they can do the great work that they do, gettin' Blues artists food to eat, medical care and help with the daily grind - while spreading the news of the blues and educating people in this special and poetic American art form.
It's more about where your head's at than where your feet are at.
We figure it don't matter if you live south of the Mason-Dixon line, or have never set foot near the muddy banks of the Mississippi, long as you have and appreciation for some of this stuff, you're a friend of ours. Welcome friends.
Posted in Livin'
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Music/Eatin'/Travelin': Road Trip: Blues & BBQ
Last year my brother and I lit out from Austin to follow the Black Keys to New Orleans and then on up Highway 61 to Memphis. Just a couple of knuckleheads in a pick-up truck trying to capture a picture that had been in both of our minds for as long as either could remember. A southern-borne, bourbon fueled meandering through the deep south. Belly's full of brisket after a quick stop outside of Austin, we were on the road. Some Willie on the radio and some Levi Garrett in the cheek. Bliss I tell ya. Big, open sky, rolling Texas hills, the clack of the highway slabs and the warm sun through the windshield. We hadn't seen each other in a while, with him livin' outside Austin and me settled down in Florida. And these kinda trips never seem to match what was in your head pushin' you to do it in the first place. After some small talk, we both sat silently leaving the weight of our respective existences behind like each curving mile. After about an hour or so, I look over and my brother's smilin' like when we were kids. A big toothy grin, with a little chew stuck in his teeth. 'Whiskey river take my mind....' 'it don't get any better-n-this' he says. The Old Milwaukee tagline that became a half-funny, half-serious battle cry when we were growin' up. Usually right before someone did something really stupid...To be continued.
Posted in Music, Eatin', Travelin'
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Music/Film: 10 Days Out - Blues From The Backroads
This is on heavy rotation over here. The included DVD that Kenny Wayne Shepherd put together with Jerry Harrison (of Talking Heads fame), documents the making of this album and is phenomenal.
Here's a review from artistdirect.com
10 Days Out may well be Kenny Wayne Shepherd's most important and intriguing album, even though the guitarist is hardly the featured artist on any of these tracks, working instead more as a sideman and facilitator for the impressive cast of venerable blues players who get a chance to shine here. Make no mistake about it, this recording belongs to such senior citizens as Henry Townsend, Etta Baker, Pinetop Perkins, and Henry Gray, and Shepherd's presence (and the presence of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble rhythm section of bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton) simply helps to focus the attention on these veteran blues players. Shepherd embarked on a ten-day journey into the American South in 2004 with a documentary film crew, a portable recording studio, and Double Trouble as a house band in an effort to catch the blues in its natural habitat of living rooms, kitchens, porches, back yards, and local watering holes, and the performances that resulted are priceless. Here is one-armed harp player Neal Pattman and blind guitarist Cootie Stark turning in a joyous, ramshackle version of "Prison Blues." Continue Reading...
Check this out:
10 Days Out - Blues from the Backroads - Kenny Wayne Shepherd (CD/DVD)
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