Made in Central Oregon
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

From the Forest to the Stage

Jayson Bowerman builds one-of-a-kind custom acoustic guitars in Bend
Anne Pick

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 […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

The Hat Makes The Woman

Cate Havstad is refashioning the cowboy—er, girl—hat
Avatar photo Phil Busse

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 […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Yee-haw!

Made in Central Oregon
The Source Staff

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 […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

The Micro Brew of Salsa

Locally-sourced ingredients to complement every dippable, dressable dish
Hayley Jo Murphy

Six years ago, Perla and Bill Pearce packed up their life in Tuscon, Arizona, and moved north to Bend, Oregon. But they weren’t ready to leave the flavor of the southwest behind—and brought along with them their gourmet salsa company. With its now-somewhat geographically askew name, the Southwest Salsa Co. was created when the founders […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Sorry Partner, No Chaps

Nomad Leather crafts eclectic leather accessories
Avatar photo Erin Rook

More than a decade ago, brothers Damon and Nick Vracin were traveling down parallel paths in separate cities—Damon in San Diego, and Nick in Portland—gaining a foothold in their respective markets for their handcrafted leather accessories. But it wasn’t until the brothers moved to Central Oregon that Nomad Leather really started to take off. “We […]

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