Men's and Women's luxury clothing, shoes, and leather. Selected CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award Winner in 2010 as well by GQ for 2010 best new menswear designer in America.
Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson [right] and his husband Justin Mikita, co-founders of the nonprofit Tie The Knot, at home in L.A. Photos by Amy Dickerson
Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, star of Modern Family, and his husband Justin Mikita founded the nonprofit organization Tie The Knot in 2012 to raise money and support for LGBT equality. Each season’s collection features a single guest designer’s bowtie alongside Jesse and Justin’s designs. For the Fall 2015 collection, Billy designed a signature bowtie which will be revealed tomorrow, September 30, at our D.C. store, with seasonal drinks and food by Chef Spike Gjerde of Woodberry Kitchen. The event will run from 6 pm to 8 pm at Billy Reid on 3211 M Street NW.
Billy’s design is our Camellia print (seen here on Justin). Ties will be available for purchase at the event for $25 with $20 of every purchase donated to Tie The Knot. After the event, Billy’s design will be available at The Tie Bar.
The Journal was able to catch up with Jesse and Justin for a brief phone interview about the foundation’s goals, bowties and how best to wear Billy’s signature design.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Journal: Since we started talking with you guys over a year ago about this project, the Supreme Court made a pivotal decision and we’ve had a huge victory for marriage equality. What’s the focus now for the foundation?
Jesse Tyler Ferguson: When we started the foundation for marriage equality nationally, I think it happened a little faster than we actually anticipated. We love our foundation and we love designing the bowties so much and we are so inspired by how much money we’re raising for marriage equality, that we’ve sort of shifted our mission statement and we’re going to continue on and raise money for LGBT outreach and also focus on marriage equality globally. There’s still so much work to be done and we’re thrilled to be able to raise money for that.
J: How many bowties have you designed to date?
Justin Mikita: We started in the fall of 2012 and we’ve done approximately three collections of 20 ties since then per year, so a couple hundred at least of individual designs.
J: You do a lot of the designing yourselves. Where do you get your ideas?
JTF: When we’re traveling, we’ll decide, Let’s make this trip into an inspiration trip for our next bowtie line and we’ll just take photos of whatever we think could be used as some sort of inspiration. It’s sort of a jumping off place for more of a cohesive design. We work really closely with The Tie Bar and they know what’s trending right now and they also help guide us, which is really helpful.
J: Humor is clearly central in a lot of your designs as well as in your work and your personal lives. Do you have a philosophy behind that?
JTF: I always feel that you can get a lot more done with a light touch, and it certainly is what feels organic for us. We’re not trying to change the world here, we’re making bowties and raising money for something that’s obviously very important, but still, it’s bowties and it’s meant to be lighthearted. We’re not the type of people to get on a soap box in front of the Supreme Court with a bullhorn, it’s just not in our nature. We’re doing what we do in our own way and in a way that makes us feel comfortable.
JM: When we started it, I’d actually worked for the Prop 8 case so I’m a bit more of the politically active bullhorn type, but when we started Tie the Knot it was meant to be in Jesse’s voice. We felt like there’s a time and place for all types of activism, and the lawsuit out of California went to the Supreme Court and we ended up getting marriage in California because of it, as a result, so there was obviously a time and place for that, but at the same time, the message for Tie the Knot was also valuable because it was a way for Jesse to go on every morning talk show and talk about these bowties in a way that didn’t frighten what was at one point a media not so keen on talking about marriage. It was a really smooth way for us to enlighten and educate and continue to move the needle.
J: Why bowties?
JTF: I’d wanted to sort of get involved in the fashion world for awhile and we’d talked about designing some sort of clothing element that I could put my name on and bowties seemed like a very easy in. It’s a small piece of clothing that doesn’t take up a lot of real estate on the body and it’s something that sort of had a template already and you could add your own flare and touch to it and your own personality. We also wanted to do something nonprofit and Justin had this idea to merge these two desires into one project and thus Tie the Knot was born. I love bowties, I wear them often when we have to go to award shows and red carpet events. I had a very limited collection of bowties I would only buy when I had to go to these events, so it was fun to expand our own collection as well. That’s sort of the geneses of how it all happened.
J: Did you wear bowties to the Emmy’s?
JTF: We don’t often wear our own bowties to red carpet events. We did design bowties for the Tony awards, which are always a black tie event, but in recent collections we focused more on color and patterns so it’s not necessarily appropriate for a black tie event. We actually have a black tie wedding bowtie that we designed for such events.
J: Billy’s design is a classic camouflage print in silk with a luxe finish. Where would you wear this bowtie?
JTF: Well, I literally just wore it on James Corden’s [The Late Late Show] show, so you could wear it to a late late night appearance, if you want to. [LAUGHTER] Justin just wore it for the photo shoot that we did.
JM: It has great color in it; you can dress it up, you can dress it down.
JTF: I feel like it has a more casual air about it but you could certainly wear a suit or black tux and it would still look very chic.
Nick Pihakis of Jim ‘N Nicks in Birmingham, Alabama. Photos by C.W. Newell
Our ongoing series The Dish features chefs and culinary leaders in the Billy Reid family, those who’ve cooked for various events and gatherings, dined alongside us, and included our shops on their cookbook tours. Today, our very good friend Nick Pihakis of Jim ’N Nicks Bar-B-Q shares with us a Southern classic that’s close to his heart (and to the hearts of many Jim ’N Nicks fans).
Nick and his father, Jim, started the business in 1985 in Birmingham, Alabama, offering a menu derived from family recipes and their signature hog cooking technique, “low and slow.” The business has since expanded into seven states with 34 restaurants. They are active members of the Southern Foodways Alliance and Nick is a co-founder of the Fatback Collective and Fatback Pig Project initiatives to pasture-raise high quality heritage breed hogs. Community is not a word the Jim ’N Nick’s team takes lightly; their ongoing efforts to support non-profits, schools, churches and local farmers as well as the No Kid Hungry campaign are a cornerstone of the business.
We are proud to call the Jim ’N Nick’s family part of our own. They’ve been a warm presence at countless Billy Reid celebrations, especially Shindig, for which they’ve been generous supporters and great friends to break bread with for the past several years, and counting.
Read Nick’s thoughts on the importance of a simple potato salad and get the family recipe below.
I love the recipe. It’s an old family recipe that’s been around for generations. When I think of bar-b-q, I don’t think it’s really complete without a good old bowl of potato salad. Typically in our family, the man of the house would always guard the grill and the ladies would prepare all the trimmings for the meal. It was always a get-together and the potato salad was always there. It’s a huge part of what we do in the bbq business and it’s a staple on our menu.
A good friend of mine - God rest his soul - John Egerton once told me that in a small community people are very close and when somebody would pass away, people would always take the family something. He said sometimes a pan of potato salad could say I’m sorry more than words could ever describe. That’s always stuck with me.
It goes both ways. To me, it’s a reflection of celebration, good times, family get-togethers, and it’s also something that can be meaningful when people are hurting.
Homemade Potato Salad
2 lb. small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 ounces celery, minced
4 ounces red onion, minced
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. sweet pickle relish
2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
2 tsp. kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
Put potatoes in a 6-qt. pot and cover with salted water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat; cook until just tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl along with celery and onions. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, relish, parsley, mustard, salt, and pepper; add to potatoes along with eggs and toss. Chill.
From left: Esquire’s Nick Sullivan; John Legend; designers Afriyie Poku, Ryan Barr and Stanley Cheung; Billy Reid; and designer Savannah Yarborough, photographed at the AXE White Label Collective party on Thursday, September 10 at the nightlife venue POP14 in New York City. Photos by Francisco Bravo
Last Thursday, Billy celebrated the first day of New York Fashion Week in style, by co-hosting an event with Grammy winning-musician John Legend and Esquire’s executive fashion director Nick Sullivan to honor the five fashion designers who were chosen to take part in the AXE White Label Collective. The five young American menswear designers were part of a mentorship program that saw them receive feedback and advice on their work from the three hosts; additionally, they were featured in a write up that appeared in the all-important September issue of Esquire, who sponsored the contest with AXE.
The event, held at the Meatpacking District nightlife venue POP14, featured interactive displays of the work of the designers, who included Afriyie Poku (designer of Oberima Afriyie), Ryan Barr ( Whipping Post), Stanley Cheung ( Eysom), Savannah Yarborough ( Atelier Savas) and Kristopher Haigh (1K). The guest list included U.S. women’s soccer star Alex Morgan and fashion media icons like Nick Wooster and Esquire editor in chief David Granger.
Enjoy more photos from the event after the jump.
From left: Esquire fashion director Nick Sullivan, Billy Reid, John Legend, Esquire editor in chief David Granger, and a friend.
Billy and Atelier Savas designer and AXE White Label Collective participant Savannah Yarborough.
Billy greets fashion world stalwart Nick Wooster.
Designer and AXE White Label Collective participant Kristopher Haigh straightens the display featuring his collection, 1K.
Models wear clothes by Oberima Afriyie, designed by AXE White Label Collective participant Afriyie Poku.
Last weekend, Billy Reid celebrated another incredible gathering around fashion, food, music, art and friendship at our annual Shindig revelry. Hundreds of guests descended on The Shoals for Shindig 7, which kicked off on Friday afternoon with music in Florence’s Wilson Park, featuring Daniel Elias + Exotic Dangers, Mike Floss, Langhorne Slim, Rayland Baxter, Billy D. Allen and Jessie Baylin. Legendary Donnie Fritts and John Paul White opened the Friday night show at the Shoals Community Theater with a short set that followed the premiere of the documentary Undeniably Donnie. Surprise Headliner Alabama Shakes rocked the sold out 700-seat venue with an epic performance.
Saturday morning started with what’s become a Shindig tradition of hearty, cajun-inspired breakfast by our friend Chef John Currence of Big Bad Breakfast, hosted by our good friends at Odette, and followed by a fashion education panel with celebrity stylists Kemal Harris and Jenny Ricker, supermodel, singer-songwriter and activist Karen Elson, designer Marcia Patmos and Billy, moderated by Megan Maguire Steele. On Saturday evening, photographer Steven Perilloux participated in a Q&A with Oxford Americanabout his series of Mardi Gras images, “Toward a Southern Sky,” which was on display at 116 Mobile all weekend.
Barbecue by Jim ‘N Nicks fed hungry guests at the lake party Saturday afternoon at the lovely home of the very generous Allan Rappuhn. After-parties on Friday and Saturday evenings welcomed the electronic duo BoomBox, Deer Tick’s frontman John McCauley and, closing out the festivities, Karen Elson. Additional culinary highlights throughout the weekend included dishes by Chef Frank Stitt, Chef Josh Quick of Odette, John Cartwright of Rivertown Coffee Company, Adam Evans, Rob McDaniel, Teresa Mason, Johnny Fisher & Bill Briand, Lisa Marie Donovan, Sarah & Karl Worley, and Morgan Weber.
Highlights from Shindig No. 7 are captured in this short film by our Court Street neighbor Armosa Studios, directed by Justin Argo.
A special thank you to our sponsors:
Jim N’ Nicks Bar-B-Q
Tito’s Handmade Vodka
Good People Brewing Company
K-Swiss
Sweet Home Alabama
Southern Accents Architectural Antiques
Topo Chico Mineral Water
Blackberry Farm Brewery
Bank Independent
FAME Studios
Overflo Productions
Florence-Lauderdale Tourism
Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa
Florence-Lauderdale Utilities
Union Wine Company
Muscle Shoals Music Foundation
Bullwhip
Southern Foodways Alliance
Finally, major thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us last weekend. Shindig wouldn’t have been the same without you!
Alabama Shakes leader Brittany Howard at the Shoals Community Theatre in downtown Florence, Alabama, for Shindig 7. Photos by Andrea Behrends
The highlight of Shindig 7 last weekend was arguably our Surprise Headliner on Friday evening at the Shoals Community Theatre. The sold-out 700-seat venue welcomed a brief and stellar set by Donnie Fritts and John Paul White, which followed the premier showing of the 20-minute film Undeniably Donnie, featuring timeless legends Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, John Prine and others.
Then the Alabama Shakes took the stage. Three years ago, the band played Shindig 4 while promoting their debut album Boys & Girls and rocked the crowd with a memorable performance. Since then, they’ve played sold-out venues across the US, Europe and beyond, with additional touring band members and a sharpened execution on the Sound & Color tour.
We don’t want to make grand proclamations, but Alabama Shakes leader, Brittany Howard, may be the performer of her generation. Every note belted was all Brittany, full emotion, nothing held back. Some of us felt the chill bumps down our arms. It was the rare, spectacular performance we’ll be talking about for years in I was there terms.
All gushing aside, the Journal got wind of the surprise beforehand, and was able to sit with Brittany, a native of nearby Athens, Alabama, backstage for a quick pre-show chat about coming home, Instagram videos and her collaborative side project, Thunderbitch, an elusive group with a sense of humor, pure rock sound and punk undercurrent, and a long-awaited album that dropped last week.
Check back here later this week for more Shindig coverage and special thanks to our partners and sponsors.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Journal: This is the second time Alabama Shakes has played The Shoals theatre; the first was three years ago, for Shindig 4. You’re on Donnie Fritts’ album and Dylan LeBlanc’s album, both artists on Florence’s Single Lock Records label. Does this show feel like coming home?
Brittany Howard: Oh, totally. I’m as good as home. It’s relaxed, it’s loose. All of our crew gets to see where we live. Usually they’re only with us when we tour around the country, they never get to come here. I’m excited for that. It’s a nice day, the weather is good and my family gets to come out here. It’s easy and I get to go home after, which is, like, my dream.
J: You guys have been touring a lot.
BH: Yeah, tell me about it.
J: Any plans to slow down soon?
BH: Maybe in January. I’m in the writing type of mood, I want to write, and that’s kind of impossible to do on the road. I just don’t work like that. It’d be nice to take the winter, put a heater in the basement, just stay down there, see what happens. Maybe nothing but maybe something. You never know.
J: Your touring band includes an additional five people. Does having that expanded group on the road change the band chemistry? Or is it a natural extension?
BH: It’s pretty natural. The background singers are amazing. And they learned the material super quick and super thoroughly and they’re always practicing and making sure it’s right. They’re super professional. And they all knew each other, so it was really divine getting them. And then Paul [Horton, one of two auxiliary keyboard players], I grew up across the street from Paul. We were baptized together in Tanner, Alabama, so that’s really cool, bringing him on the road. He played on our first record, too. It’s completely natural. Everybody really enjoys each other.
J: You can feel that when you guys are on stage.
BH: Oh yeah, and there’s more people to talk to. I don’t have to talk to the same three people.
J: On the Single Lock Records website, there are several Polaroids of people “in the family” and their roles. Yours says you’re an Instagram Video Specialist.
BH: I am, I am an Instagram Video Specialist.
J: Your videos are hilarious.
BH: Thank you. I’m working on my own You Tube Channel. I have my own show, it’s called May I Have Some More? and it’s about life. I got a pretty sweet clip of something that’s going to be featured.
[PULLS UP INSTAGRAM VIDEO OF HER SCOOPING CAT LITTER WITH THE HASHTAG #BRITTANYHOWARDEXPERIENCE. LAUGHTER ENSUES]
Scooping the litter box is a huge part of my day.
J: You’ve been Instagraming about Thunderbitch this week.
BH: Yeah, it’s coming out tomorrow. Thunderbitch, that’s my world right now.
J: Are you going to tour with that? Or is that kind of a pet project?
BH: I don’t think it’s possible to tour with Thunderbitch. We definitely will probably do one more show and it’s probably going to be quite a production and I think everyone should come to it. It will be in Nashville but I’m not sure when. Maybe this October? And that might be it. We might make a DVD of that concert and that’s it, And then I’ll do something else.
The reason Thunderbitch can’t tour is because it’s three different bands, which is Fly Golden Eagle and Clear Plastic Masks [And herself]. I had some songs I had written and they just wiped them and performed them excellently and it became this whole thing that we thought was funny.
J: Must be awesome to have the freedom to dive into a project like that and just have fun with it.
BH: Yeah, you’re really lucky, because I never talk about Thunderbitch.
J: Should we change the subject?
BH: No, you’re fine. I’m just really stoked because it’s coming out tomorrow and before then I never allowed anyone to talk about Thunderbitch, because Thunderbitch has certain rules. If you’re in a different band, you can’t talk about Thunderbitch. You have to be Thunderbitch to talk about Thunderbitch, which requires a lot of work, because I have to dress up in the makeup and everything like that. And that does not come off easy. I’m talking Dawn dish detergent.
J: So it’s a little like Fight Club.
BH: Yeah, it is. Burning skin. [LAUGHTER] Thunderbitch comes out tomorrow. Buy the record.
As part of the fashion focus during Shindig 7 this weekend, we asked three award-winning female designers to each create a limited edition Shindig T-shirt. We are thrilled and honored to have CFDA members Ryan Roche, Eva Zuckerman of Eva Fehren and Marcia Patmos of M.Patmos contribute to the weekend-long annual celebration. We are also pleased to have Marcia Patmos join us in Florence to participate in the fashion panel Saturday morning with supermodel Karen Elson, celebrity stylists Kemal Harris and Jenny Ricker, and Billy.
The shirts went on sale earlier this week on our website and in our Florence store, and debuted exclusively on Vogue. To find out more about the shirts, the Journal asked each designer to share her inspiration behind the project, her all-time favorite graphic tee, and her preferred way to wear them.
Proceeds from the sales will benefit Muscle Shoals community development.
Ryan Roche creates highly covetable cashmere knits that are nostalgic yet modern reinventions of classic silhouettes. She is committed to supporting responsible manufacturing via sustainable, low-impact production, and has worked with a women’s cooperative in Nepal for the last decade, as well as supporting American manufacturing. Ryan was a runner up for the prestigious CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund 2014 and was shortlisted for the 2015 LVMH Prize in Paris. She was nominated for the 2015 CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear.
Journal: Tell us about your Shindig T-shirt design. What was your inspiration?
Ryan Roche: My tee was inspired by my favorite color, pink, which is spelled out in different languages on the shirt.
1. French
2. Italian
3. Urdu
4. Dutch
5. English
6. Japanese
7. Korean
8. Greek
9. Romanian
10. Ryan Roche Pink (which my brand is known for! )
J: So many beloved graphic Tees have great stories behind them. What is your all-time favorite shirt and why?
RR: I had an amazing T-shirt my mom bought both my sister and I in the early 80s. It had our names on them and were super sparkly, super 80s. Mine was blue and my sister’s was pink and I remember being jealous of her color! It was still very cool and I loved it even in blue!
When I was a teenager I found it in a box and, at that time, I was really into Courtney Love and the baby doll 90s style. I wore that baby T-shirt of mine until it had holes in it. I’m sure my mom still has it because she saves everything!
J: What is your favorite way to wear a T-shirt?
RR: At the moment, the more worn-in the better! Super soft, light-weight and a bit over-sized. I’m kinda digging a classic white v-neck.
Eva Zuckerman’s fine jewelry collection, sold under the name Eva Fehren, marries precious metals like 18k gold with unusual materials such as opaque sapphires, moonstone, and grey diamonds. The result is a collection with a feminine aesthetic and modern, sharp edge. Each piece of Eva Fehren jewelry is hand-crafted by artisanal jewelers in the designer's native New York City. Eva joined the CDFA in 2014 and was named runner-up in the 2014 CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund competition.
Journal: Tell us about your Shindig T-shirt design. What was your inspiration?
Eva Zuckerman: The main idea I had when approaching this collaboration came from hometown pride. My love of NY inspires a lot of my creativity, and the iconic “I LOVE NY” T-Shirt has represented that pride for decades. I’m a big Milton Glaser fan (plus he’s a Cooper Union graduate like me). I felt like there was no better way to show support and love to the people of Alabama than to put a Southern spin on a classic New York graphic.
J: So many beloved graphic Tees have great stories behind them. What is your all-time favorite shirt and why?
EZ: Growing up, I would always steal my dad’s old tees to wear. That perfectly worn-in quality is something I still look for when picking out shirts. By now, most people know me as “the torn up tee girl.” I like my clothes to feel lived in.
J: What is your favorite way to wear a T-shirt?
EZ: Oversized and thrown over a pair of black jeans with Converse. It's comfortable, easy and authentic to my style. Throw a pile of jewelry on and I am ready to go…
Marcia Patmos designs easy, modern, understated and beautifully crafted clothing under her label M. Patmos. She combines modern manufactured items with handmade ones, employing socially conscious and eco-friendly production practices when possible. In 2011, she was awarded both the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award, and the Lexus Eco-Challenge for her environmentally friendly design practices.
Journal: Tell us about your Shindig T-shirt design. What was your inspiration?
Marcia Patmos: I was thinking about concert and tourist tees and how usually they are a slightly bad mens T-shirt that can be made cuter if you shorten the sleeves, open up the neck, etc… I like to design styles that are multifunctional and it seemed like a cute idea to make it customizable by the person who buys it.
I looked at Billy’s past and present Shindig posters, and designed something I felt would sit well with his brand, but I also wanted to have a little fun with the project.
J: So many beloved graphic Tees have great stories behind them. What is your all-time favorite shirt and why?
MP: My favorite graphic tee is sadly gone by the wayside. it was a boy’s Philadelphia Phillies T-shirt that I bought at Domsey’s warehouse in Williamsburg, back in the days when the walk from the Bedford L train to Kent Avenue was a deserted strip. There was one Polish diner on Bedford, and then you passed warehouses and the rows of small houses that are still there on the side streets. I bought it for the color and fit, and it had a good authentic vintage logo. It was vintage when I bought it, and I wore it until it had to be discarded. I tried to replace it with a Red Sox tee that has almost the same feel. It’s funny, because I am not a baseball fan in the first place, but somehow wearing a Phillies tee in NYC feels different than wearing a Red Sox tee.
J: What is your favorite way to wear a T-shirt?
MP: Every day, all the time, in every situation; as my only shirt, under a sweater or jacket, snazzed-up a bit with jewelry, shoes if I need to go somewhere, to the gym or yoga, and to sleep in.
Supermodel and singer-songwriter Karen Elson. Photos by Andrea Behrends
Among the special musical guests at this year’s Shindig celebration is Karen Elson, the British-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter and long-time modeling world fixture.
Like Billy, Karen is one of a rare breed of fashion professionals who live in the South; a world-renowned supermodel, she’s made her home below the Mason-Dixon line since 2006. Not that she’s there much: Karen’s modeling career keeps her busy, traveling the world for photo shoots and fashion show appearances. When she’s not on the road, these days the redheaded beauty is holed up in Nashville, hard at work on her second album, the follow up to The Ghost Who Walks, released in 2010 by Third Man Records.
In advance of this week’s festivities, at which her Saturday night performance closes the show, Karen and Billy engaged in an email Q&A, covering the early days of her career, her iPod’s greatest hits, and star sightings at New York City’s Bowery Hotel. To accompany her answers, Nashville-based contributor Andrea Behrends photographed Karen at home, wearing some of her favorite Billy Reid pieces, including the magnolia print Stevie dress from our upcoming FW15 collection.
Billy: What was your childhood like during your high school years?
Karen: In a word, awful! Ha! I was a nerd. Super-skinny, tall, pale and a wild mane of strawberry blonde red hair. It was tough. But it made me believe in myself later in life. I found my people in NYC age 17, and that was my education ultimately. I always knew I was more than what the bullies said I was, and I hope other kids going through this now know that it gets better, as we grow into our skin and become who we need to become. Being bullied gave me strength and compassion and also resilience
BR: At what point did you decide to enter fashion and modeling? And what was the major breakthrough?
KE: I was scouted when I was 15 in Manchester and my breakthrough was my 18th birthday working with Steven Meisel, who’s gone on to become a dear friend. We did an Italian Vogue cover together that changed my career entirely, so I have him to thank.
BR: Tell us a little about your upcoming album? Are you working with anyone in particular?
KE: I’m so excited to get working on record number two. You know what they say, it’s takes a lifetime to write the first and then you have to collect a lifetime of memories again for the next one in little time. So I decided to take my time and work at the new one slowly. I have a producer in mind called Jonathan Wilson; he’s worked with Father John Misty, and I like what he’s done with Jenny O, too.
BR: What are some of your music influences?
KE: Too many. Modern-day people. Father John Misty is the Leonard Cohen of our generation. Lana del Ray’s last record, Ultra Violence, was incredible - such longing in that record. I love First Aid Kit; those harmonies crush me. I love the Cocteau Twins, and all things on the label 4AD. Mazzy Star is a huge influence and also Leonard Cohen, Dylan, Emmy Lou, the Stones… all that good time rock and roll.
BR: What’s your ideal vacation?
KE: In Iceland, in a geothermal river, tucked away in the mountains with my kids and the people I love the most.
BR: You have three meals of your choosing. What would they be?
KE: Bar Pitti’s rigatoni Pitti; Nobu’s blackened cod; and at Adele’s in Nashville, the JW potatoes I could eat by the bucket-load.
BR: You and I spend much time at the Bowery Hotel. I’ve seen so many interesting folks there… Angelica Houston was one of most random. How ‘bout you?
KE: Bowery hangs are the best. I’ve had so much fun at the hotel and caused lots of trouble. So I couldn’t tell you the most random, as its a closely-guarded secret. However, the Bowery Hotel is my home in NYC. I adore the people who work there!
BR: Tell me the five most played songs in your iTunes. No cheating…
KE: Oh, god!
Silver Lining by First Aid Kit
Cruel World by Lana Del Ray
California by Mazzy Star
Freak Like Me by Santigold
Blank Space by Taylor Swift (yup!)
Chef Frank Stitt at his award-winning flagship restaurant, Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Alabama. Photos by C.W. Newell
We have tremendous respect and admiration for Chef Frank Stitt, for his warmth and character, as well for his import in the culinary world. He was among the first to blend his Alabama roots with French technique and, as a result, has become a paradigm of elevated cuisine created from locally sourced produce and Southern traditions. He’s an anchor in his Birmingham community, with three stellar restaurants - Highlands Bar and Grill, Chez Fon Fon, and Bottega - two successful cookbooks, and several James Beard recognitions. He’s a fellow SFA member and a friend. This will be his first official attendance at our annual summer gathering, and we are truly honored to welcome Frank and his wife, Pardis, to Shindig 7.
Frank was featured in the Journal’s very first post, a much-loved Fan Club with Duquette Johnston, and he returns today as part of our ongoing coverage of creators attending the festivities next weekend. For a Shindig special edition of our recurring series The Dish, he shared with us a yellow squash & onions recipe and some insight on a favorite summer harvest.
Freshly picked summer squash and onions is one of mine and Pardis’ favorite summertime dishes. I have made this the last two nights in a row because when you have the perfect small, just-picked yellow squash and sweet, small, local onions, this is a dish you cannot have too often.
Most people may not appreciate the simplicity and purity of this dish because we have all had watery, mushy, average stewed squash—but, when the ingredients are at their summertime peak, if you use a super heavy enameled cast-iron Dutch oven and promise to never add water—this recipe will make you happy.
Butter, sweet onions, yellow squash, salt, freshly ground pepper and freshly picked basil—you could substitute fresh savory, or chives, tarragon or parsley from your garden—however, young, tender basil torn over at the last moment is hard to beat—a back yard herb garden really helps!
Sautéed Summer Squash & Onions
2 ½ lbs small to medium-size, very fresh, just-picked yellow squash from a local farmer’s market, or your back yard; slice the necks into small ¼ inch thick, cut the bottom half in half lengthwise and slice into ¼ inch slices (the squash should not be so large that seeds have developed)
½ lb small, sweet, just-cured onions, peeled and halved, or quartered, and sliced into thin slices
2 tablespoons sweet butter, unsalted
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small handful of fresh basil, torn at the last moment
Heat a heavy enameled cast-iron Dutch oven, such as a Le Creuset, over medium heat. Add 1 ½ tablespoons of butter and when melted, add the onion and adjust heat to allow the onion to cook slowly. Add the squash and stir thoroughly. Place the tight-fitting lid on and cook for about 4-6 minutes. Stir, add a good pinch of salt and continue cooking until the onions and squash are just wilted and begin to soften—they should not be cooking so fast that they become brown.
This slow, gentle cooking brings out the subtle, sweet flavor and the onions and squash meld together. Add the remaining ½ tablespoon of butter, and then grind pepper over top. Stir well and taste to adjust seasonings.
Serve with fresh basil torn over and a little more freshly ground black pepper.
Celebrity stylist Jenny Ricker in her Los Angeles studio. Photos by Brendan Pattengale
As part of the Journal’s ongoing Shindig 7 coverage throughout the month of August, we’re profiling some of the visiting creatives who make our annual celebration in the Shoals so unique. Los Angeles-based celebrity stylist Jenny Ricker will be making her first trip to Florence next week, as one of the two revered fashion stylists who will create custom looks from the FW15 collection for mannequins in all of our stores.
Jenny was working as an agent at Ford Models when she first became interested in styling. She started by assisting top fashion stylists in Los Angeles, working her way up to become one of the most sought after men’s celebrity stylists in Hollywood. Zac Efron, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aaron Paul, Will Peltz, Adrien Brody, Kellan Lutz – Jenny has dressed them all. Also, she recently outfitted actor Nat Wolff in Billy Reid to do press for his new film, Paper Towns, co-starring supermodel Cara Delevigne.
Jenny is known for a distinctive style that finds her mixing one-of-a-kind vintage finds with modern clothing with unique results that have gotten her plenty of national attention. Her work has been featured on the covers of GQ, BlackBook, Rolling Stone and Men’s Health.
In advance of her trip to Shindig 7 next week, Jenny recently took the time to answer a few of the Journal’s questions, and to sit for photographer Brendan Pattengale, who shot the stylist in her Los Angeles studio.
(Text has been slightly edited from it’s original form.)
Journal: As a stylist, what’s your signature?
Jenny Ricker: For a men’s red carpet suit look, I love to focus on unique fabrics and accessories. I strive to incorporate components that are or feel one-of-a-kind - a pocket square, a dress shoe or a tie bar. Playing with unexpected fabric combinations, mixing bold patterns with subtle (i.e. pronounced polka dots with a subtle herringbone) will for sure give your client a unique red carpet look. I also love making small nods to the mood of the film my client is promoting. For instance, Joseph Gordon Levitt wore a knit “flasher” tie to do press for his directorial debut, Don Jon.
J: What is your most memorable creation and where was it worn?
JR: Perhaps my most favorite to date was dressing Adrien Brody for the 2015 Golden Globes. We selected an all black tuxedo look that reminded me of the silent film era - dramatic and very elegant.
J: You recently dressed Nat Wolff for the press he did around Paper Towns. How is styling a press tour different from other styling jobs?
JR: When styling a press tour, taking into consideration the client’s personal preferences is paramount. Does the client like to be formally dressed for all press and premieres or wear a mix of casual and dressy? Some clients try to pack on the lighter side (when they are traveling on tour) and want to focus on pieces that can easily be repurposed for more than one appearance. I also insist upon packing my client with casual but stylish off-duty pieces, keeping their appearance polished for something even as unglamorous as the airport.
J: What are three things that every man should have in his closet?
JR: 1. A shoehorn and shoetrees. If you buy a nice pair of shoes, it’s best to take good care of them! I hate when I see men pile shoes in the back of their closet. Give your shoes a fighting chance!
2. A versatile, high-quality leather belt - either vintage or something current like Tanner Goods. I like simple belts and think that ornate ones look dated and costume-y.
3. A medium thickness cashmere or cashmere-blend sweater. Men often have the right outerwear but forget the proper underpinnings. Shawl collar or crew necks make great layering pieces that you can wear through most seasons.
J: You’re a former modeling agent. How did that job help inform your decision to become a stylist?
JR: I was told by one of my senior co-workers that I should pursue styling. That opened my eyes to considering the career change.
J: You often incorporate vintage finds into your looks. Can you give us some vintage shopping tips?
JR: Have no agenda! I shop with an open mind when I go vintage shopping. Murphy’s law prevents you from ever locating a great find if you are being too specific. I browse through everything. I went vintage shopping in Copenhagen this June and was shopping for myself but ended up leaving with a great Hermes bow tie for a client.
J: What is your favorite part of your job? What is your least favorite part of your job?
JR: My favorite and least favorite parts of the job are the same thing - no two days are alike.
J: Attending fashion shows: Fun or stressful?
JR: I have only attended men’s fashion week shows, mostly Europe. I have also attended women’s couture. Both experiences were fabulous. Men’s fashion week and couture don’t have the same crowds as women’s RTW. They offer an intimate, chic experience. The best!
Donnie Fritts and John Paul White in the Single Lock Records studios in Florence, Alabama. Photos by Robert Rausch
Legendary Donnie Fritts is one of the greatest songwriters to emerge from The Shoals’ deep musical well, having penned some of the most memorable lyrics in the American songbook, including “We Had it All” and “You’re Gonna Love Yourself in the Morning.” He played keyboards with Kris Kristofferson’s band for over two decades, and as an actor, holds a handful of Hollywood movie credits to his name. Two years ago, Donnie teamed up with another Shoals talent, John Paul White, singer-songwriter formerly of The Civil Wars and co-founder of of the Florence-based Single Lock Records, to produce Donnie’s fourth studio album. Oh My Goodness, titled for the eponymous track Donnie co-wrote with Spooner Oldham, will be released October 9.
Donnie and John Paul will play a brief set at Shoals Community Theatre on Friday night of Shindig 7, immediately following the premiere showing of Undeniably Donnie, a documentary made in tandem with the album release, and preceding our special surprise headliner of the evening. (Tickets to the show are still available.)
As part of our ongoing coverage leading up to Shindig 7 the weekend of August 28-29, The Journal sat down with Donnie and John Paul at the Single Lock recording studio in Florence, Alabama, to talk about the album, the documentary, and who gave Donnie his famous nicknames. Frequent Journal collaborator Robert Rausch documented the hour.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Journal: How did you two start playing together?
John Paul White: Donnie and I were supposed to write years ago. Walt Aldridge was hooking us up. I don’t think we even met, but Donnie got really sick, like right after we had put a date in the books or something. I just assumed it was too good to be true anyways, and I felt like he probably was doing it because Walt wanted him to. Years passed, then the Muscle Shoals documentary was made and I reached out to him because I had the unenviable task of putting together the show for the premiere, and I wanted Donnie to play.
Donnie Fritts: You were the only one who wanted that. [LAUGHTER]
JPW: That may be true. I was the only one dumb enough to ask you. I knew he wasn’t crazy about the movie. The movie did not focus on songwriters and he’s a big part of that and his friends are all a big part of that, but I told him, that’s all the more reason you should be there, so that people know you were a big part of this and you still are. Somehow I convinced him.
DF: I couldn’t say no to the guy. I wouldn’t have done it for anybody else.
JP: He said, You gotta come over to the house and we’ll write a song or talk. I said, Okay. I had absolutely no intention of doing anything but meeting him and writing that song and getting the hell outta there. I was so burnt out, it had nothing to do with him, I just wasn’t ready to work.
He sat down and we were talking about songs and songwriters. I thought I knew the American songbook, but I knew really quickly that I knew nothing. He referenced so many people I’d never heard of. He made a comment about a song in particular called “Errol Flynn.” I’d never heard it. I vaguely knew who the songwriter was because of something else she had written. He said, Do you mind if I play it for you? He sat down at his Wurly, set up in front of his living room window so he can see out in the front yard while he’s playing. It was a beautiful day, the windows were open, and I stood behind him as he started playing this song. As many times as I’d seen him play and heard him sing, I’d never heard this guy. It was like, Randy Newman meets Levon Helm, and very singer-songwriter. It was a ballad. What I’d always heard him do was the Funky Donnie Fritts thing, the more backbeat, the shuffle, the groove kind of stuff. I’d never heard this guy. And it was unbelievable.
As he was playing it, he had these moments where he’d get to these lines that were gold - he knew they were gold - and when he got to those lines, he’d lean back and look at me, like he wanted his head scratched. [LAUGHTER] But on top of that, he was tearing up, looking at me like, Are you feeling this?
He’s playing and I’m thinking, Come on, give me an out, give me a lull. There has to be a moment, you know, the old A&R trick of looking for a reason not to sign something, not to be a part of something. Then he’d have another moment, and then I was misty-eyed. And when he got done playing, I couldn’t hardly talk. I didn’t know what to say, so I said, Will you just play me something? He seemed kinda taken aback by it.
Then he played “If It’s Really Gotta Be This Way,” which he wrote with Arthur Alexander. He didn’t give any preface, he just played. And the whole time he’s playing, it sounds like a standard I should know and I’m thinking, Okay, what do I do here? Do I pretend I know this song? [LAUGHTER] But I tell him I don’t know the song and asked, Should I know it? He said, No not really. We didn’t write it until the ’90s and it came out on a thing that Arthur did. I said, Didn’t somebody else cut it? I feel like I should know it. He said, Well, no, not really. One guy, he put his voice on the demo, a guy named Robert Plant. [LAUGHTER]
T Bone Burnett was supposed to be making a record with him, they’d been kind of flirting with that idea. Then Donnie called me one day and said, I just got through talking to T Bone about you. T Bone thinks you need to produce my record. [LAUGHTER] And I do, too. I said, Well, you’re both idiots, because I have never produced a record in my life. Donnie said, I don’t care. You’re the guy.
J: When you started the project, did you have a complete vision?
JPW: Yeah, honestly, the complete vision was mapped out in Donnie’s living room, that day. In one fell swoop, we knew what the record was going to be. It was going to be Donnie, and the Wurly, playing live, and then we’d add stuff to that, if need be. Some of the record, there’s nothing added. For the first time, it’s Donnie front and center, not Donnie’s songs, not Donnie’s friends front and center. I really wanted it to be about his vocals. I’ve always felt like they’ve never gotten their due. I don’t think he ever considered himself a singer. He would just put the vocals on and he’d say, Okay, that’s who I am, that’s what I do. The instrument is so intriguing and so powerful and needed to be captured in the correct way, so we took great lengths to make sure that he was comfortable, and he could hear what he needed to hear. And Donnie can’t hear shit. [LAUGHTER]
We figured out, Why put headphones on him? Why change everything about the way he normally hears? Why don’t we just put microphones in there? We had no hear-back system at all. He just played. He was sitting right there [POINTING TO ADJACENT ROOM], so all we had to do was holler in there and say, One more! [LAUGHTER]
That was how we made the entire record, and we knew that from the beginning. The only tough thing was deciding which songs because there are so many great songs from his own discography but also from all his friends.
DF: He did give me a window to look out. You know what I was looking at that day? Kids, going to the UNA game. It was on a Saturday, but it was Halloween weekend or something, kids were dressed up.
JPW: It probably doesn’t hurt that we have this sorority dorm right outside our door.
DF: Yeah, I like that.
J: Donnie, is this the first record you’ve recorded in The Shoals?
DF: No. The first album I did, I wanted to do it in Muscle Shoals, and it was through my friendship with Jerry Wexler, the Great Jerry Wexler, who produced thousands of hit records. He and I had been very close for years and, you know, I can’t remember the exact time, but after awhile Jerry said, Why don’t we do a record? I said, Well I can give you a few reasons why we shouldn’t. One, I can’t sing worth a damn. Here was a guy who cut Aretha, and Ray Charles and Wilson, all my favorite singers, and he wants to do an album with Donnie Fritts. But he was willing and I was more than happy to do it. Kris [Kristofferson] came in and co-produced it with Jerry, and on that particular album we used half of Muscle Shoals Sound guys, Jimmy [Johnson] and all those guys - Roger [Hawkins], Barry [Beckett], David [Hood] - and then the other half was Kris’ band that I spent all my time with on the road. They were brilliant musicians.
JPW: Tony Joe [White] was there.
Donnie: John Prine, and Gerry McGee came in one day - not the Jerry McGee from here, but this great, great guitar player. He’s one of the best. He played with the Ventures. He played on the first Delaney & Bonnie album... He and Eric Clapton did the guitars, so that kind of shows you he was in good company. He could play, man.
JPW: And Eddie Hinton played.
DF Yeah, Eddie, too.
JPW: I know of at least one song Eddie co-wrote with you on that record. Was there more than one?
DF: On that one, I did one of Eddie’s songs, “Jesse Cauley Sings the Blues,” and then we did “I’ve Got to Feel It.” We were writing a lot of R&B, Funk stuff.
JPW: Wasn’t “Three Hundred Pounds of Hongry” on that record?
DF: Yeah.
JPW: He writes a lot of songs about food. [LAUGHTER] I think they’re about food. I’m going to pretend they’re about food.
DF: “Breakfast in Bed”… Oh yeah, they are about food. “Cook with Me Momma.”
J: Which album was this?
DF: Prone to Lean. Kris wrote that and started the whole -
JPW: The whole “Leaning Man” thing
DF: Actually, Wexler, in an article he’d written about Swamp music, he’d called me the “Alabama Leaning Man” and that kinda stuck.
JPW: Then John Prine said it on one of his live records, that’s where I first heard it.
DF: Yeah, and then Kris gave me my other nickname, when we cut “The Pilgrim” on Silver Tongued Devil, Funky Donnie Fritts.
JPW: Was that the first time that’d ever been mentioned?
DF: That was the first time. He just said it.
J: There’s a documentary to go along with the release of the new record, which we’ll be showing Friday night at Shindig before you guys play.
JPW: Yeah, it’s called Undeniably Donnie. We don’t have anything to do with it.
DF: That’s one thing we’ve got nothing to do with.
JPW: Thankfully. Mark Slagle and Tyler Jones, with 1504 Pictures, they’re heading it up. I’ve worked with Mark and Tyler in the past and they always were very tasteful and respectful and able to be inconspicuous in the room when documenting stuff, so I knew they’d be the right guys for this. One by one we started picking off a bunch of Donnie’s friends, his padres, and they were all more than willing to speak about Donnie.
DF: Kris is on there, he did the voiceover for it, and Billy Bob’s [Thornton] on it, Tony Joe [White].
JPW: T Bone [Burnett], John Prine, Billy Swann, Dan [Penn], Spooner [Oldham].
DF: Somebody else is on that.
JPW: Me.
DF: You should’ve been number one. Should’ve thought of you first.
J: Are you in the film?
DF: There’s some scenes, but mostly all the interviews, I wasn’t in that.
JPW: He was there for almost every one of the interviews, which had to be strange.
DF: Extremely uncomfortable.
JPW: It has to be a little like you’re listening to your eulogy.
DF: You know what? It didn’t hit me until right before the first one, and I thought, It’s uncomfortable for me, it’s gotta be for him. Of course, it was Billy Bob, and he didn’t care.
Red carpet stylist and costume designer Kemal Harris, wearing a Billy Reid jacket and shirt, at home in Brooklyn. Photos by Chad Davis
As part of the Journal’s ongoing Shindig 7 coverage throughout the month of August, we’re profiling some of the visiting creatives who make our annual celebration in the Shoals so unique. Among that crew this year is Kemal Harris, who will be making her Shindig debut as one of two esteemed fashion stylists who will create custom looks from the FW15 collection on mannequins in all of our stores.
Kemal’s career began in New York City in 2005, where she moved from her native Canada to begin working on editorial shoots for well-respected magazines like Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle. She became part of the fashion industry’s first bi-coastal styling teams in 2008, when she joined forces with Los Angeles-based stylist Karla Welch. Together, the pair have more or less dominated celebrity awards show red carpets, creating unique looks for clients including Robin Wright, Olivia Wilde, Felicity Jones, Hailee Steinfeld and Zooey Deschanel. Additionally, they’ve created touring stage wardrobes for Justin Bieber, Pink, St Vincent and Idina Menzel.
The women have received major kudos for their hard work – and not just from the Fashion Police. In 2014, the Hollywood Reporter ranked them fourth on the very competitive list of “Top Hollywood Power Stylists,” and in 2015 they jumped up to third on the list.
Last year, Kemal added another very prominent notch in her professional belt when she was hired to design a custom wardrobe for actress Robin Wright’s character Claire Underwood on Season 3 of the Netflix series House of Cards.
In advance of the Shindig festivities, Kemal graciously took time out from her busy schedule to answer a few of our questions and to sit for a photo session in her light-filled Brooklyn home with frequent Journal contributor Chad Davis.
Journal: What is your most memorable creation and where was it worn?
Kemal Harris: My most recent memorable creation on the red carpet was the custom Ralph Lauren pantsuit that I styled Robin Wright in for the 2015 Golden Globes. It was an exquisite blend of tailoring and femininity. I’m also very proud of all the custom-designed pieces I made for Claire Underwood in Season 3 of House of Cards.
J: Truly, you created one of TV’s most enviable wardrobes of 2015. Claire Underwood always looked impeccable. How is creating a look for a fictional character different from working with a “real” client.
KH: On the red carpet, I’m styling the actual person, not the character they play, so it’s a chance for them to allow their true style to shine through. Have some fun with it. Try something different.
When I’m creating a look for a fictional character, there are many other factors to consider that are based on the script - What era is it? What action is the character doing in that scene? What type of camera is it being shot on? Some fabrics and patterns don’t look great when filmed by today’s high definition cameras.
J: What are the things that every man and every woman should have in his or her closet?
KH: I really like to think of fashion in unisex silhouettes so I think both men and women should definitely have these staples in their closets:
1. A black leather motorcycle jacket
2. A tailored black suit
3. A heather grey crewneck cashmere sweater
4. A slip-on black leather boot
5. A great pair of jeans
6. One extravagant splurge that makes you happy, i.e a vintage Rolex, a Chanel bag, etc.
J: What is your favorite part of your job? What is your least favorite part of your job?
KH: My favorite part of my job is that every single day is different! And that I get to be as creative as my imagination will allow. It’s what drew me to fashion in the first place - the pace of it and the seemingly endless opportunities for inspiration. I really value the relationships I’ve formed with my clients and designers over the years.
My least favorite part of my job is the logistics of transporting around garment bags, wardrobe trunks and chasing down the FedEx driver every morning! It’s endless!
J: Attending fashion shows: Fun or stressful?
KH: Both! Inspiring and invigorating to witness all that talent, but hard to juggle with my fittings schedule, especially when Fashion Week happens during awards season!
From Steven Perilloux’s photography installation “Toward a Southern Sky.”
In anticipation of Shindig No. 7 this August 28 and 29, over the next three weeks, the Journal will be catching up with some of the talented chefs, musicians, stylists and designers who will be participating in the weekend-long celebration. Today, we are pleased to introduce Los Angeles-based photographer Steven Perilloux, whose installation “Toward a Southern Sky” will be on display at 116 Mobile. Steven is also the photographer behind our Fall-Winter 2015 image shoot that will soon appear on our website.
Steven has spent the past few years documenting a dwindling subculture of Mardi Gras traditions in Cajun Country. “It’s very different from what most people know as the New Orleans Mardi Gras,” Steven says. "It’s rituals and traditions in these small towns - Church Point is one of the towns and another location is Le Jeune Cove.” For guests attending Shindig this year, Steven will sit with Oxford American magazine on Saturday evening for a Q&A about this body of work. Here we share the backstory on how the installation came to be, as told by Steven himself. (The text has been slightly edited from its original form.)
From the installation “Toward a Southern Sky” by Steven Perilloux, on display at 116 Moblie during Shindig No. 7.
I grew up in Louisiana in a town called Norco, which stands for New Orleans Refinery Company. The reason the town is there is because of the Shell oil refineries at each end of the town. My dad worked at one of those. I grew up there, playing in the swamps. I moved out to Los Angeles, no intention of being a photographer, but I was actually always an artist. I was a silk screener and a painter and various forms of art like that. I got a job in a camera store and eventually started assisting photographers; I worked for some of the big ones in the popular photography world. And I slowly started picking up a camera and shooting.
I grew up around the traditional New Orleans Mardi Gras, but I had known about this one [the particular Mardi Gras he photographed in Cajun Country] since I was young. It was kind of mysterious, especially when you see the costumes; they can be off-putting. It was kind of a thing where, I don’t know how safe it would be for us to go out there. Really small town, those cone-shaped hats... The costumes are fantastic. They’re really amazing. As a young child, during that celebration I saw a couple kids, when one of the costumed riders went up to them, start crying right away. They were terrified, because of those costumes. So that’s how I felt when I was young. We never went out there.
This particular culture seems to be disappearing. And so I started (documenting it) four years ago and that’s how this body of work came to be. I did it one year, I didn’t have a concrete plan. It went well and I was asked back, and it went all the way until last year when I was asked to ride in the ceremony. I became one of them, so to speak, riding in costume on a horse. And I photographed it from the horse. It’s added another layer to the project.
The annual Shindig celebration in Florence, Alabama, is upon us. This is the seventh year we’ve hosted friends, family and fans for a weekend-long gathering of amazing food, music, photography and fashion, held this year August 28-29. This year’s roster of award-winning chefs and talented singer-songwriters is one of our most impressive to date.
Tickets for the Shindig No. 7 main event at the Shoals Theatre are now available. We are excited and honored to have the legendary Donnie Fritts open on Friday evening accompanied by John Paul White, following the premiere screening of the documentary Undeniably Donnie. We have a surprise headliner this year you don’t want to miss.
Find the complete agenda, lineup of talent and a glimpse at Shindigs past and grab your tickets. As always, they will go fast.
Craft brewer Roy Milner among the hops grown and used at Blackberry Farm Brewery in Walland, Tennessee. Photos by Heather Anne Thomas
Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee, is an inspiration to Southern-made authenticity and we’ve long admired their dedication to a vision in which we’ve found a deep kinship. When the opportunity to collaborate with Blackberry Farm Brewery to celebrate the release of their new Classic Saison beer came up, we knew it was a perfect fit.
Chief Fermentation Officer, Roy Milner, kicked off a program we’re calling The Road to Shindig last week in our New Orleans store, where friends and customers convened to experience the farm-made brew. The seven-city tour will visit a number of our stores and conclude on August 28 at our annual Shindig celebration in Florence, Alabama.
We hope that you are able to attend one of these special tastings. To shed some light on just how special they are, the Journal caught up with Roy to learn more about Blackberry Farm’s brewing philosophy and the delicious Classic Saison. Heather Anne Thomas captured Roy and the farm for this interview.
This interview has been edited from the original.
Journal: The beers you make at Blackberry Farm are particularly unique with a unique approach. What sets them apart?
Roy Milner: Really everything about our beer is different. The inspiration - we take it from the Old World. I wouldn’t say that inherently is different, but the way we went about sourcing our brewing equipment, the ingredients that we use, our process, our fermentation temperatures, our packaging methods; everything about our beer is pretty different from the way even a typical craft brewery would do it. We are very small production, we have no intrest in scaling a lot of these recipes to put them in every nook and cranny of the craft beer universe. They’re very food-driven beers, so where you’ll find a lot of craft beers on the market right now being one dimensional in the fact that they’re very hoppy or sweet, heavy or bitter, we strive for more balance in our beers. We want our beers to be on the table, to be paired with food.
We try to use some discipline and restraint in the way that we craft our recipes, and you can follow that literally all the way back to our equipment selection and the equipment we had custom made for us. We use one grain supplier, a small independent family-owned company in Bamberg, Germany. We built our brewery so we can use an Old World methodology called step-mashing, which takes a long time. We ferment in very warm temperatures versus cooler, like a lot of craft breweries would do. A typical ale from another brewery would ferment out in five days, be forced carbonated, filtered, packaged and out the door in a week. Our fermentations take three to four weeks. It’s just a different way to make beer. It’s all about honoring process.
We ask ourselves, Are we enhancing flavor? Are we creating products that are thoughtful? Are we creating products that are thought-provoking? We want people to experience our beers in a way that encourages discussion and sharing.
J: It sounds a lot like you have an approach that winemakers take.
RM: Yeah, we’ve been fortunate to have a lot of great friends in the wine industry that have been to our farm. I think we share sensibilities, in the way a lot of winemakers honor having a foot in the past but also pushing innovation and creativity somewhere into the future. We’re trying to do that same thing in the brewing industry and, quiet honestly, we also love the fact that this hasn’t really been done in the South. We have very deep roots in Tennessee and we care about a sense of place. We are using some ingredients from this region, from the farm. We’ve got recipes that incorporate sorghum and recipes that incorporate things foraged from our farm. We want to bring something to the narrative of a Southern-made product that’s refined and meant for enjoyment in a culinary sense.
J: It seems the beers are being made with clear intention, which is very much in line with the overall philosophy of Blackberry Farm.
RM: That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re not chasing high-digit, triple-digit growth numbers, it’s not about that. It’s about the quality of the experience, it’s about delivering something for our guests and for our friends and chefs and other artisans. It’s about delivering something that’s unique and helps to tell the story. For us, in turn, that’s going to be credibility we can feel comfortable with two decades into the future. It’s not that hard to tell someone what you do or how you’re doing it, but to tell someone why you’re doing it is, for us, a stronger part of the message.
J: Tell us about the Classic Saison, which is the beer you’re introducing on The Road to Shindig.
RM: The Classic Saison is a beer that I’ve had a love affair with - the saison style - for the better part of a decade. Number one, it’s made on a farm, so if you trace it back to its roots centuries ago, these beers would have been made in the Southern region of Belgium called Wallonia, right on the border of France. They were made in the cooler seasons because they didn’t have refrigeration, and they would be literally buried or put in cellars to be served during the summer or warmer months of harvest. Farmers would take whatever yeasts they had available, whatever grains they had available, and they would brew these styles. They became known as Saison, which means “season” in French. Now the style is made year-round and a lot of producers from the Belgium region make saisons that speak to the season at hand, which is very much what we’re doing.
If you ask a bunch of brewers, What is the most enigmatic, challenging, soulful, cerebral style on the planet? Saison seems to come up very often. Because it’s got great aromatics, a nice hops profile and hop backbone, great citrus flavors and good pepper. It’s very dry with high effervescence and beautiful in a glass. Everything that you want at the table, the saison style speaks to that.
J: What’s the story behind the label?
RM: Our master gardener, John Coykendall, is an iconic figure at our farm. Anyone who has been to our farm and visited the gardens or eaten in the barn has seen John’s influence on what we do at the farm. I can’t even begin to tell you the depth of his story. He’s a legendary seed saver and very integral in the guest experience at the farm. One of our first renditions of the label he drew in his hand, in his script, which is what you see now as the label. We fell in love with it. What better way to pay homage to one of our classics, our master gardener, and carry through this sensibility of an artisan product?
J: You created a font?
RM: We did, we created a font that will now live on as the Blackberry Classic Saison or saison family font. He’s such a neat man and he’s been very engaged in our beer program.
J: We’re super excited about The Road to Shindig.
RM: I am, too! We’ve been friends with Billy at the farm for years and everybody at the farm loves the team and everybody they’ve met at Billy Reid. We were thinking, How do we go into some of these cities and not offend all of our chef friends by picking one over the other? I thought, this is an easy solve. We’ve got this great friend in Billy who’s got these stores and these special events and it seemed to make sense that we could do something together and then culminate with this celebration at Shindig. And selfishly, it was a great way for me to get my ass back down to Shindig. [Laughter]
Please RSVP to join us at one of these Road to Shindig events.
Thursday, August 6, 6 - 8 PM, Atlanta
Friday, August 7, 6 - 8 PM, Charleston
Thursday, August 13, 6 - 8 PM, NYC Bond St.
Friday, August 14, 5 - 7 PM, Georgetown, DC
Thursday, August 20, 6 - 8 PM, Nashville
Friday, August 28 Shindig Dinner with Frank Stitt, Florence
Billy at the Newport Folk Fest in his MSL/NFF shirt to be released this fall. Photos by Josh Wool
Last weekend, Billy and his family attended the famed Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island - a summer getaway that’s become an annual pilgrimage for him. In years past, we’ve sponsored Newport Folk Fest after-parties, screening the Muscle Shoals documentary, and musical performances by Conor Oberst and Dawes and friends. This year we sponsored the Wildwood showcase on the Museum stage on Fort Adams with our friends Libby Rose and Joe Fletcher, who run the annual Wildwood Revival festival in Athens, Georgia. The showcase featured an impressive list of talented songwriters who played to an enthralled crowd on Friday afternoon.
The festival has been an inspiration to Billy, most recently fueling an exclusive collection of MSL/NFF shirts and a rain poncho (a soon-to-be Newport staple) that will launch this fall. The pieces will be available in select Billy Reid stores, at BillyReid.com and the Newport Folk Foundation’s website. A percentage of the proceeds from these sales will go to support the foundation.
The weekend was a chance for Billy to catch up with friends, including Jim James and My Morning Jacket, Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, and photographer Danny Clinch, a dear friend who exhibited his work at last year’s Shindig. He took a handful of the MSL/NFF shirts to the festival and shared them with friends and musicians, who kindly modeled them for photographer Josh Wool. We share some of our favorites here today.
Margo Price
JP Harris
Sammy Brue
Joe Fletcher
Aaron Lee Tasjan
Daniel Romano
Ian Fitzgerald
Above: photographer Josh Wool, shot by our own Shelly Colvin. Below: photographer Danny Clinch shot by Josh Wool.
Nashville singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter in New York City. Photo by Brett Warren.
Last Wednesday, Billy introduced his SS16 collection as part of the first standalone New York Fashion Week: Men’s in New York City. Models walked the runway in Chelsea’s ArtBeam studio while Nashville-based singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter played his song “Young Man” from his upcoming album Imaginary Man. His solo performance on electric guitar lent a moody, sultry tone both loose and refined to the atmosphere. “It was a perfect fit,” says Rayland. “The music, the vibe in the room, everything.”
Billy’s thoughtful matching of musician to collection has become as much an anticipated feature at his runway shows as the clothes themselves. Rayland’s edgy crooning accentuated the relaxed silhouettes and soft neutrals in the Spring-Summer 2016 collection, with a final raw jam that echoes the rebellious nature inherent to youth and hot summer days. “Just like a good song makes you feel really good,” Rayland says. “Which is what a song is supposed to do, and a good song makes you feel something over and over again even when you’re not listening, the same applies with fashion. When you’re in clothes that you’re comfortable in, it can change everything, it can change the way you walk, how you are as a person. You can walk into a bar a little bit more confident knowing you look good.”
Watch the SS16 runway show on our website and look for Rayland’s Imaginary Man album release next month from ATO Records.
Last Wednesday, during the inaugural New York Fashion Week: Men’s shows in New York City, Billy debuted his SS16 collection at Chelsea’s ArtBeam studio.
As always, the show featured a live musical performance, this season by acclaimed Nashville-based singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter, performing the song "Young Man" from his highly anticipated new album, Imaginary Man, to be released on ATO Records next month.
For the second season, Nashville-based photographer Brett Warren was on site at the show, taking in the action, both backstage and in the front of the house, as the models walked the runway. Brett was kind enough to share some of his favorite images with the Journal, seen here after the jump.
