The prairie swings long arcs across the sky. Double yellow lines divide and rejoin like a beautifully timed pirouette. In the rear view I catch a glimpse of long straight hair, carefree and wild, whipping back and forth in the wind.  It covers her eyes for a moment, and all I can see is her smile.  My willing accomplice.

Written by Benji Peck

Photography: stevenvisneauphotography

Creative Direction: Benji Peck for PDA

Models: Madi Kutz, Danielle Kress, Kendall Word, Benji Peck

My memory wanders over fire roads, through the scrub, past heifers and prairie dogs. Somewhere out there my childhood was lost, roaming in and out of the mesas and canyons. The road ahead drops off at the edge of the horizon, but my mind drives on, restlessness riding shotgun. My life lived fast, hard, a little reckless, and as wide open as the suicide doors in this drop-top Lincoln.

In an instant I’m 8 years old again, chasing the long steps of my grandad, his gait tripling mine. It was always a hustle just to keep up. The sky threatens, its towering rain clouds dwarfing the landscape—the unkept promises of a Texas sky, dry as a bone with twice the bite. Kneeling beside me my grandad takes off his hat so I can see his eyes, that hardened gaze made strong by years in the rice field, cracked like the drought-ridden ground we stand on. And though I’ve seen him remove his hat a dozen times before, this time he puts it on my head. In the next moment, he is gone forever.

There’s nothing more personal than a well-worn hat. A hat wears with you. It breaks and bends and shapes to you. I can still see the finger stains on the crown of my grandad’s hat, stains that tell a thousand stories, most of which I’ll never get to hear. The curve of the brim, that ever-so-subtle crease that shows up in only a certain light, the tilt that just feels right when you put it on.

I steal another glance in the mirror, and this time there’s a different eight year-old in the back seat. Riding high on life, the world a playground of possibility and endless roads to roam. Someday we’ll take that trip like one I took so long ago.

We’ll park the car and walk hand-in-hand across dry riverbeds a million years gone. That day another hat will get passed on. But this time I’ll take it off my own head and put it on my daughter’s—my memory, my blessing, my legacy. Remembered or forgotten, blown this way or that. I hope she takes with her the good and the bad. I hope she’ll see the creases and the stains of experience. Most of all, I hope she’ll see that open minds open roads.

God made daughters to give men perspective. My son will always have my love, but my daughter will have my heart—and my hat.

Event Information: Keep Shop Nashville x Stetson Pop Up Event

Open Minds Open Roads
March 22, 2019, 7-9pm
Featuring Live Music by Kirby Brown

RSVP@thecallaway.com

This is the story of Jessie Allen, Ranch Manager of Allen’s Diamond 4 Ranch located in the rugged Wind River Mountain Range.
Photography by Joe Haeberle.

“My family has been in this part of Wyoming for six generations. I’ve worked on my family’s wilderness guest ranch all my life and now I’m taking it over. We spend each Summer and Fall in the mountains guiding pack trips and Winter is a quiet time on the homeplace in the valley. Like most ranchers, my lifestyle changes with each season but one thing remains the same, our animals must always come first. Wyoming Winters can be harsh, demanding and strenuous yet equally peaceful and pristine. Each morning I go through the herd. Acutely tuned in, I monitor the health and behavior of each horse. This lifestyle instills a deep sense of connection working quietly and consistently for no audience other than the eyes of our animals. It’s the kind of connection built through the language of feel. No words are needed.”

Jessie wears a Shasta 10X Premier cowboy hat.

Jim Allen carried on the family tradition of hosting visitors in the spectacular Wind River Mountain Range like his grandfather did here in the 1920’s.

“Born and raised in central Florida, I made my way to Texas half a decade ago and haven’t looked back. Fueled by the pursuit of music, I finally found my inner style by way of my first Stetson after a visit to the factory. Show after show and countless tips thrown into my crown, I’ve found myself rarely without a hat while a guitar is in my hands. Hats are memory keepers and Stetson has made for some great ones for me.”

Jenna Clark is playing a sold-out show on Saturday, February 2nd at The Kessler Theater in Dallas, Texas. Not bad for a debut record! Follow her work here.

Photography by Darko Jones Media and styling by Brandy Michele Adams.

Since moving to Nashville three years ago, Stylist and photographer Loren Maring has been constantly intrigued by the women who were brave enough to leave their rural roots to pursue their dreams in Music City. These women are a blend of strength and beauty–fierceness and femininity; each made her way from their open-aired family ranches to Nashville carrying a dream and a Stetson.

As a photographer, Loren’s desire was to capture the true essence of what makes each woman unique yet relatable by highlighting the people and places that built and shaped them. Here are their stories.

Grab a cup of steaming hot coffee and let’s go on a road trip with photographers Jenny McClary and Allie Leepson of The 1909  to their cozy cabin tucked away in Vermont.

The morning begins with mapping out a scenic route to their destination with the help of newly adopted German Shepherd, Bryce. Jenny wears the 1865 Distressed Open Road in Walnut.

Morning light. Allie wears the 1865 Distressed Stratoliner in Silverbelly.

Time to hit the road and explore.

Stetson embodies the spirit of the American West wherever your journey takes you.

We tapped Briana Malmquist and Kelly Thompson to share with us their story of turning a passion for ranching into a life of purpose.

Finding your passion isn’t just about careers and money. It’s about finding your authentic self, feeding your soul, and nurturing your heart.

When your hobbies become your passion and purpose in life, it’s neat to share that with the person you’re closest to. Not everyone is interested in sleeping in the nose of a horse trailer, waking up early and hitting the trail for 13 miles and calling it “vacation”, but together that’s what we most enjoy.

Kelly grew up in Ione, Oregon population 329. His Dad has been a hired hand on working ranches Kelly’s entire life, so he was involved in the riding and ranching lifestyle from a young age. One of Kelly’s favorite childhood memories is his Dad riding to pick him up from pre-school, with Pokey the appaloosa for Kelly to ride back home.

I was raised at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Ronan, Montana on eighty acres my Dad put up in hay every year. Riding from before I could walk, my first paying job opportunity came along when I was ten years old, riding the neighbor’s mare for a dollar a day. Fast-forward to age 27 when I got my hands on my first camera and my love of photography, horses, and the western lifestyle collided.

And thanks to a little app called Instagram, our shared love of horses and the western lifestyle, a small-town Oregon boy and a small-town Montana girl met and now reside in Southeast Washington state.

Although we both work outside the home (Kelly is an electrician, I am in Human Resources), we nurture our ranching heritage every chance we get. We have begun dipping our toes in the world of breeding American Quarter Horses – out of the ten horses we own, one is a Hollywood Dun It bred stallion (Dunit With A Wiggle) and three are in the herd for broodmare purposes. We also spend a lot of our time either helping family friends with their cattle, or roaming the wilderness in search of adventure.

For Kelly’s birthday this past year, we loaded up our dogs and a few horses and hit the Pacific Crest Trail, with no other plans or obligations other than riding, exploring, and enjoying each other’s company.

On the back of a horse, with your best friend by your side, the rest of the world falls away. There’s something so basic and vital about trusting your life to a thousand-pound animal, to taking care of them and meeting their every need, to watching them come into the world, to thrive. And to share that passion and way of life with someone… well, that’s the definition of feeding your soul.