What’s the difference between a beer…and a cowboy beer? A sort of weather-beaten, leathery manliness, perhaps? Well, craft beer’s got you covered there—have you seen some of the beards people lining the Crux bar are sporting these days? Ignoring the fact that real cowboys would likely prefer cheap whiskey, a good cowboy beer should involve […]
Made in Central Oregon
Bacon, Eggs and Coffee!
The scene is bucolic as I arrive at Gunpowder Roasting Ranch. The sun is warm, the air is fresh; goat and pigs are in pasture. At 10 acres, Gunpowder Ranch is modest and easily missed when driving along Marsh Road just a few miles northeast of Tumalo, but it is not soon forgotten. Started just […]
From the Forest to the Stage
The guitar. It’s iconic. Even as children, we’re not raised playing “air piano” or “air oboe.” It’s air guitar. No offense to those other instruments, but the guitar just has a certain coolness that’s both unmeasurable and unmatched by any other musical device. It seems only natural that the most beautiful guitars, both visually and […]
The Hat Makes The Woman
Cate Havstad believes in signs. While a student at University of California-Santa Cruz, she was struggling with whether formal education was the right path for her. A friend, musician Willy Tea Taylor, invited her to join on a road trip and film project—and to sweeten the deal, he offered her a vintage cowboy hat. “That […]
Yee-haw!
Over the past five decades, the demographics in America have dramatically shifted from rural to urban. In 1950, some half of Americans lived in rural areas, with lifestyles closer to the sensibility and demands of land than their urban counterparts. But by 2000, that balance had shifted to only one out of five Americans still […]

