On Pocketknives: Jay from Red Clay Soul

As an addendum to my original post on pocketknives, I've asked some others to share their own knives and the stories behind them.

If you read this blog, chances are that you're familiar with Red Clay Soul. Jay and I have known each other in real life for over a year a now, so he was an obvious candidate for this post. Here is his contribution to the pocketknife series.

I grew up in a pocket knife carrying family, so having one has never been an issue. In fact, I experience multiple panic-stricken moments on the days that I forget to bring it with me. “Did it fall out of my pocket? Oh Lord – where did I leave it…” until I remember that it’s waiting for me at home. My Granddad was never without his pocket knife. I remember him teaching me how to sharpen a knife with a stone and spit. He carried a Buck for as long as I can remember. We’d give him a new one every few years, but it took him about ten years to trade it out. After his passing, Mom got his last knife and keeps it in her jewelry box.

This Buck Gent has been with me for about twenty years. I bought it at Beaver Creek Landing on Lake Wateree in South Carolina. I’ve ‘lost’ it numerous times, only to have it returned by good friends who found it on the floorboard of their truck, or by my in-laws, who found it beneath their couch cushions.



The size of the Gent is very pocket appropriate, and its weight is just enough to let you know it’s there. It’s not fancy, but it’s not junk. It holds an edge well, and is made in the USA. While it is only a single blade, it has been used for so much more than cutting. I would put it up against any of its Swiss Army cousins.

The value of the $25 I spent on the knife has been more than realized, and I’m sure it’ll eventually make its escape. Until then, here’s to my sharp companion.

Oakleaf & Acorn

Back in May I went to a launch party for Warhorse Workshop that was sponsored by Bearings Guide, Billy Reid, and a store called Oakleaf & Acorn. Oakleaf & Acorn is a store located in Braselton, GA, and the store's owner, John Rich, brought most of his merchandise down to the party and was there to talk about his store and its goods. John was a great guy and spent a while chatting with me and showing me some of the pieces he brought.

Back in June, I had to run up to the outlet mall in Commerce, GA, and stopped by John's store on my way back to the city.

Now, let me stop right now and say something. I think that most people in the know would agree that Sid Mashburn is probably the best, most interesting men's clothing store in Atlanta. However, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Oakleaf & Acorn is probably the best non-clothing men's store in the Atlanta area (though they do also have clothing).

The store is located in downtown Braselton, which is just one exit north of Chateau Elan. Without traffic, it probably takes about 40 minutes to get up there from downtown Atlanta. The store itself used to be the town post office and barber shop. Since then, the dividing wall has been torn down so the shop is basically just one big room. However, it densely packed with all kinds of treasures. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let the images below speak for themselves.







It should be noted that John is constantly rotating the stock and decorations, and I was up there last week and things had been changed around a bit from two months ago.

Currently, Oakleaf & Acorn has offerings by the final companies:

• A S Batle Co.
• Baxter of California
• Beekman 1802
• Beetle & Flor
• Billykirk
• Brothers Galleon
• Cause and Effect
• CB I Hate Perfume
• CXXVI
• Farm Tactics
• Filson
• Lonesome Pine Game Calls
• Himilayan Trading Post
• Hitsman
• Marvin D. Poole Knives
• Olaria Studio
• Otis James
• Raleigh Denim
• Sebago
• Southern Proper
• Shuron Eyewear
• Stripling's Beef Jerky
• Warhorse Workshop
• YMYL

If you live in Atlanta, or are traveling down I-85, a trip to the store is a necessity. John is a great guy and will be glad to offer you a bourbon, a cold beer, or Coca Cola and spend sometime showing you around the shop. He's a teacher, so when the fall rolls around, be sure to drop him an email to see if he's going to be in the store during the week, though he's usually there on the weekends.

If you can't make it to the store, John has an online shop which is two years old now and can be found here. He's currently offering a 20% discount on everything in the store, so if something on the site piques your interest, now may be a good time to grab it.

The contact info for Oakleaf & Acorn is as follows:
5117 Hwy 53
Braselton, GA 30517
678-780-9977
john at oakleafandacorn.com

Volunteer Traditions

You may remember my post back in December about the Southern state flag belts being sold Traditional State/Volunteer Traditions. While I recommended the products back then, I hadn't actually put my hands on any of them. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Mason, the founder of the company, offered to send me a few of their products to check out for myself. While they had previously been selling their products under both the names "Volunteer Traditions" and "Traditional State," they recently decided to consolidate things and sell them all under the (original) name "Volunteer Traditions." While there is always the threat of isolating potential non-Tennessee SEC, as I told Mason, I think that it was wise move and that "Volunteer Traditions" is a solid name. The products for states other than Tennessee are sold under their new "Heritage Line."

Mason sent me one of their new Georgia flag hats, an Alabama belt (I went to school in Alabama), as well as a pair of Croakies and a koozie (that's a whole nother post, though). I know that Daryl from Southern Gent and Jay from Red Clay Soul recently talked about how good their products are, but really, once I got my hands on them, I was impressed.

The belts are made by Leather Man Ltd., who, in my opinion, make the best emblematic belts on the market, and these are certainly no exception. The backing is khaki-colored, and looks really good with khakis. Also, the flags are slightly bigger than the flags on another flag belt I have, and I think this makes them look even better. The hat is probably where I was most impressed. While I am not a big "hat guy," I do own my fair share and wear them from time to time. While Jay noted on his post that the hats are not too shallow, I would like to point out, that the hat is not too deep either (that being my number one complaint about a lot of hats). In fact, I would say that the hat is the Goldilocks of hats, and is basically just right. The koozie and Croakies are both solid as well, and I've got to say that I really like the dog logo on the koozie.

If you haven't looked at the Volunteer Tradition website in a while, be sure to pay it a visit. They have expanded their offerings, and from what I have tried out, they are solid. Also, their prices are still very good. While Mason didn't indicate whether they have any other states in the works, here's to hoping.

The State of Georgia--Music Capital of the World

In case you weren't aware, the two biggest songs to come out in the past two weeks have both come from Georgia. Please enjoy.

4th Annual Day After Thanksgiving Sporting Clay Shoot

This is a little late, but if you've been reading here for a while, you may remember last year's post on our family's 3rd Annual Day After Thanksgiving Sporting Clay Shoot. Well, this year, we added a few more family members and went back to Brush Creek Sporting Club for the 4th Annual Shoot. Here's a picture of our whole crew:

Here is last year's picture of my brother and I

and the one from this year. If Barbour is looking to endorse us, we're open to discussions.

Oh, and I won for the fourth year in a row. Hopefully I'll be able to hang on again next year as the competition is getting stiff.

Southern States Flag Belts

Are you a Southern who's jealous of your South Carolina friends always sporting their South Carolina flag belts? Well, it's finally your turn.

A hat tip to Greg at Manifold Destiny for this one, Tennesee-based company Traditional State makes belts, dog collars, and other products featuring the state flags of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. These are definitely going on my Christmas list. Check them out below.

Alabama

Georgia

Mississippi

Tennessee

Texas

The 'Hooch

I stopped and took this picture of Georgia's most famous river on my way home from work a couple of weeks ago. It happened to be one of the few days in the past several months where it actually wasn't raining.

While walking over to the river, I took this shot in honor of Foster.

A trip to Kudzu Antiques Mart

Sunday after church, I went with some friends to Kudzu Antiques Mart in Decatur. I had heard great things about it, so I wanted to check it out.

At 25,000 square feet, the sheer size of the place is overwhelming. It is basically like a flea market crossed with an antique store. They've got some really great antique furniture and accessories there, but they also have the flea marketesque knick-knacks and chachkas that some people love, and others (like me) typically hate. I needed to have some sort of mission while looking through this place since there is simply so much stuff, so I was on the lookout for some nice-looking crystal (or crystal-looking) liquor decanters. Here are some highlights that I saw while perusing:

Everything is organized into these "rooms." As you walk down the aisle, there is a room on either side of you. There are probably 50 or 60 of these rooms throughout the store, so hopefully this gives you a better idea of the sheer volume you're dealing with.

Good looking desk.

Fencing sabers. These would have looked nice on my wall (and only $35 for the pair).

This bell is actually cocktail shaker. You unscrew the handle and load everything in. You can see the screw-top spout which lets you pour your drink.

An artillery shell made into a lamp. Awesome.

An old English pub game.

I thought about buying the plaid one. $30 seemed a little steep, though.

Someone must have lifted these from Sterling Cooper...

Framed Civil War prints. For $10 a piece, these were really tempting.

Toy trains.

I bet Hollister would have picked this up. For better or worse, I exercised restraint.

And the pièce de résistance. A framed antique Alabama flag. If it wasn't $250, it would have been mine...

In the end, I left empty-handed, but that's OK. I get the impression that this place has pretty high turnover, so regular trips are probably warranted. They're open seven days a week from 11:00-7:00, so next time you're in Decatur, drop in.

Kudzu Antique Market
2928 East Ponce de Leon Ave.
Decatur, GA 30030
Phone: 404-373-6498

In the News: "From farm field to cotton mill: The making of America's denim"

A hat tip to my friend Dusty for this story. Glad to see that denim is still being made here in the great state of Georgia. If only it wasn't being shipped south of the border to make the jeans.

M. Ward for President!

Photo credit here. Unfortunately, photos were strictly prohibited last night, so I have none of my own.

Last night I headed up to the 40 Watt Club in Athens with both "R's" from the R&R Review to see M. Ward perform. While I have been a fan of his music for a while (OK, probably only a year and a half, but long enough), I had not seen him perform. As it turned out, the three of us, all the hipsters in the 40 Watt, were in for a treat.

Doors opened at 9:00 and after a delicious pizza dinner at Little Italy Pizzeria in downtown Athens ($1 for 12-oz. Terrapin Rye draught?? What??) we headed over to the 40 Watt. As we were walking, a small guy escorted by three girls started walking in front of us, and ever the astute observer, Chris Robinson pointed out to BA Roof and myself that the guy about 10 feet in front of us was, in fact, M. Ward himself. This seemed to be a good omen.

We got to the 40 Watt around 9:30, went in, and Chris Robinson armed all of us with 24 oz. cans of PBR and we waited for the opening band, the Moaners to go on. They finally started playing around 9:45 and was made up of just two girls in what might be considered an all-female White Stripes set up with just a guitar and drum kit. They were really pretty terrible, and were hopefully picked to serve as a foil for M. Ward and to make his performance seem even more incredible (not that he needed it).

M. Ward took the stage around 10:45 and opened with a solo performance of "Never Had Nobody Like You." I was immediately impressed by how fantastic his vocals were. They smooth and spot on, and sounded just like on the albums. Considering his stature, it was fairly impressive that that voice came from him. After the first song, his band joined him with nary a word and they got to work. They played a back-to-back-to-back set and only paused long enough between songs to switch/tune instruments before they started the next song. They only played until midnight (about an hour and 15 minutes), but managed to perform an impressive 19 songs. The setlist, obtained from this blog was as follows:

–Never Had Nobody Like You

–Fuel for Fire

–Post War

–Hold Time

–Poor Boy, Minor Key

–Poison Cup

–Stars of Leo

–To Save me

–One Hundred Million Years

–Fool Says

–Big Boat

–Guitar intro/Fisher of Men

–To Go Home

–Requiem

–Chinese Translation

–Rave On

–Roll Over Beethoven

–Magic Trick (encore)

–Vincent O’Brien (encore)

Aside from M. Ward's impressive vocals, I think I was even more surprised by just how talented of a guitar player he is. It was really awesome watching him play, and his bandmates were quite good as well. Overall, it was a really fun concert. After the few quiet songs towards the beginning of the set, the rest was just rock 'n' roll, and the audience loved it. I have to say that it may be the most fun concert that I have been to, and "fun" is not usually a word that I use to describe concerts, no matter how much I like them.

On one critical note, while discussing the concert on the way back to Atlanta, the R's and I concluded that the two encores were really a bit over the top and bordered on pretentious. Plus, in all of the time that was wasted with pretending to take a bow (twice) and going backstage and whatnot, they could have played at least one more song, which I think the audience would have appreciated even more. However, it was a pretty fantastic show and definitely worth the late night last night.

**Note: I would like to thank Christopher Robinson for generously giving me the extra ticket he had. I owe him one after that show. Also, speaking of R&R, I would like to promote the beef that they are attempting to start with Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman. Mr. Gleiberman asserts that anyone who found the movie Bruno to be disgusting or offensive is nothing more than a homophobe, and the R's (and myself, for that matter), believe this to be false. Check it out here.