Pegs

So, do you want to know a secret? Sometimes I go into western wear stores just to see what boots they have sitting on the shelf...and when I do, I do what everybody else does and I pick up a boot and turn it over. I look for the pegs. The pegs are hammered into the sole of the boot and they run along the underside of your foot's arch and under the boot's heel where you can't see 'em.

Only I don't stop there...oh, nooo...not me. Then I take my thumbnail and scratch the layer of black wax off the top of the pegs, and double check something. Most of the "pegged" shelf-boots are now using these kinda rectangular peg-shaped brass nails instead of the traditional wooden pegs. Ugh. The beauty of the wooden peg is that it absorbs water and swells along with the sole of the boot when it gets wet. Yeah sure, today's glues are strong enough to outlast any leather or stitch...but that's not the point. When I see a row of wooden pegs I see craftmanship and skill. For every peg on a boot's sole an awl is dipped in wax, a hole is punched, and a peg is hammered in...and the magical thing is that the hole you punch with your awl is round and significantly smaller than your peg. Square peg into a round hole...get it? You do it wrong and your peg goes halfway into your leather sole and snaps off at an angle. Experienced bootmakers have a special hammer, one with a textured face to grip the peg, and the hammer is set into a rhythmic motion...one light tap to set the peg in place...then a harder one to drive it in....over and over.

Big bootcompanies like using brass nails because they are fast and foolproof. If they can make a boot faster, it's the same as making it cheaper. I understand this. I just don't like it when they are square...it's misleading. People have learned to turn a boot over and to "look for the pegs"...like thumping a melon in the grocery store.

Yeah...go ahead look for the pegs, but bring your reading glasses.

"Countrypolitan"

In the last couple of weeks I've heard the word "Countrypolitan" maybe five times, even found myself using it in casual conversation at a party last night.

What is "Countrypolitan?" The term has often been used to describe "pop"ular country music. I just saw Ray Price perform (more on this later)...Mr. Price is old school "Countrypolitan". Singing songs about misery and love gone wrong...no longer with yodels or twangs of his early days, but a nice looking suit and a smooth voice and style...still improving with age at 79.

You can see "Countrypolitan" now emerging in cowboy boot design. Country music has always supplied Western glamour. "Countrypolitan" is glamour without the "bling." The new Lucchese Stiletto Boots are a good example. These cowboy boots have tall tops, collars, pointy toes, wrinkles and toebugs, but they take a fashion detour with their 3 1/2 inch heels, and sleek stage soles. They are "cowboy boots" only upon second glance....at first they look are mainstream...that's countrypolitan. Even without exotic hides, rhinestones or metal tips these new boots takes sides with form not function. They pay tribute to their country roots, but from a safe distance.

TylerBeard.com

At the start of my friendship with Tyler I'd get these notes, typewritten with lines of XXXXXXXXX through the mistakes. Ah, those were the days.

Now...I get handwritten notes in the mail and it takes me no less than a couple hours to decipher each one. I keep old examples of "cracked code" in a folder as reference material. Once, I even tried sticking one of Tyler's postcards under the wiper blade of my Ranchero...figuring if I stood back from it ten or fifteen feet, maybe the letters would come into focus. Nope, no such luck.

Don't hold your breath for an e-mail address (Tyler may never get one)...but don't miss the "Grand Opening" of www.tylerbeard.com. You can get first edition and signed copies of his cowboy boot books available nowhere else.

Bootmakers in the News — Bo Riddle

Put all the rumors to rest....here's a swell article which recounts the life and work of Mr. Bo Riddle. (Bonus!!—Click here to listen to a sample of "A Song to Boot.")