For more info visit Silver Bella.

Weekend Soundtrack

1. SON VOLT: A Retrospective 1995-2000
2. LUCINDA WILLIAMS: World Without Tears
3. WILCO: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Share the Style! Roots, Design, Americana.

The Urban Prairie wildfire is spreading. Would you like to help light more fires? The DIRT ROAD TEAM is a grassroots, guerilla marketing effort aimed at spreading the Urban Prairie vibe. Simply post a comment here or email dirtroadteam@urbanprairie.net and tell us how you would like to help. If you qualify, you’ll receive a FREE Urban Prairie tee and a special monthly “Dirt Road Team” newsletter.

PRINTED MATERIALS:
Urban Prairie posters, postcards & stickers are available. Do you own a shop? You could hang a poster, place postcards on the counter and hand out a sticker with each purchase. Would you like to carry “signed” copies of CRACK HEADS, the soon to be released book featuring Chris’s doll head collection?

GUEST BLOGGER:
Chris will soon be appearing as a “guest” on several designing blogs. Have him appear on yours, answering decorating/design/collecting questions. Or, let him come up with his own post talking about his collections, odd take on decorating – all with photos, some exclusively to your blog.

SWAG:
New Urban Prairie “Alt Country Style+Design” tees will be available soon. Would you like to offer these to your clientele or friends? Be the first to wear one.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Do you have a friend/contact at a magazine/newspaper/design zine that you think would like to learn about the Urban Prairie vibe or Chris?

Join Today! Spread the Urban Prairie vibe. We appreciate your support in helping this little “cult style” thing called Urban Prairie grow like a wildfire out of control.

Updates Soon!

Tons of exciting things being firmed up! Updates soon on: "Crack Heads" the book, "Alt Country Style+Design" new Urban Prairie tees, the opening of Urban Prairie's online storefront, Urban Prairie's first podcast & a possible opportunity to "hangout" with Chris at the Fall Warrenton/Roundtop Antique Show. Stay tuned!

Urban Prairie Pick: The Sky Observer's Guide

Everybody knows the stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas, and the celestial has always been proudly represented in Lone Star culture, be it bands (Explosions in the Sky), sports (Houston Astros) or the state nickname itself. Amy Cook also sees something unique up there, but the alt-folk singer-songwriter isn’t content simply marveling at the enormity of what lies beyond earth. On The Sky Observer’s Guide—written in a prolific four-week gush—she tells simple, bittersweet, earthbound stories, refracted through the panoramic scope of the heavens. Things like this happen when you leave the industrial clamor of L.A. for a humble, weirdly-named West Texas town like Marfa. Said Amy, “Marfa’s nothing but open sky and a million stars and I think that got me on those sort of analogies—thinking about the bigger picture of it all, putting yourself in the place of just being here on this planet, where you can cover the moon with the tip of your thumb like an eclipse. It doesn’t make you feel insignificant, but it changes your perspective to be somewhere with a wide-open sky.”
The upcoming Sky Observer’s Guide, due 7.10.07, showcases Amy’s brilliant band, with Nina Singh (David Garza, Future Clouds and Radar) on drums, Brad Rice (Son Volt, Tift Merritt) on guitar, and Bobby Daniel on bass. The compelling production by Jamie Myerson is simultaneously lush and gritty, mysterious and honest. As opposed to overtaking the songs, in Myerson’s capable hands, the production allows the lyrics and melodies to shine.

Right Off The Prairie

Good friend Kara Larson-Koenig {see kara-line.com & urbanprairie.net/Profiles} has given me an exclusive on some of her new styles that will be hitting the urban streets or farmlands very soon. Kara who was featured in the May .06 issue of Country Home magazine describes her style as, what else, Urban Prairie: Beautiful clothes for everyday. Some of her favorite dresses are those that look as if they just rolled off the farm.


Photos: Jan Sonnenmair