Letter from the founder

I hope this finds you all well. I am sitting here at my desk watching the snowfall as I enjoy my evening Moon Pie and ponder how things are going and what the future holds. It’s just after Thanksgiving, with Christmas barreling down on us as I write this. Things got held a bit for a few different reasons, so I’ll get you my Thanksgiving and my Christmas thoughts here in one.

As some of you may know, we are a very small team, and it only takes some life events to hold us up longer than we expect. We were going to have a digital Christmas special out, and due to some work-related events, both Molly (who does our layout, editing, and writing) and I were unable to pull that off. Honky Tonk Times is a passion project at the moment, so we need to be attentive to our full-time jobs that pay the bills! So the digital Christmas special got tabled for this year, and we are focusing on the physical copies that our subscribers have paid for.

You readers have proved to us time and time again that you like a tangible item. That warms my heart! I am thankful for all the kind words and support you have shown.

At Honky Tonk Times, I feel as if we are a family. I am very thankful for those who have been a part of the magazine in one capacity or another. It is the great writers, artists, graphic designers, and editors that have made my dream of running an old-school publication come true. It’s hard to believe that from a passion for preserving history and reading old honky tonk magazines on my couch came Honky Tonk Times, the wonderful connections and opportunities I’ve had.

I would also like to thank all of those who have believed in us and given this Vermont boy a chance to prove that Honky Tonk Times is worth supporting. All of the wonderful PR folks that work hard to promote their artists and keep me up to date on the new and upcoming things; thank you! As part of the magazine, I have gotten the opportunity to cover different shows and festivals that I may not have been able to go to otherwise to provide coverage for.

I’d also like to thank the folks at Ernest Tubb Record Shop for carrying our publication in their store. They are right in the heart of things on Broadway in Nashville. If you are down there, pop in and say hello and pick up a copy of the magazine. You never know what might be unique about the copies you find there.

The last group I’ll mention here to be thankful for is pretty important here at Honky Tonk Times: the musicians that make the music that we all love so much. Without them, we would have nothing to write about, nothing that touches our hearts and souls so much, and nothing to want to share with the world. Music is life. So to all of you who have ever picked up an instrument, a microphone, or put pen to paper, thank you! From the bottom of my honky tonk heart, I truly can’t thank you all enough.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and happy new year to you all.