This story is brought to you in collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors USA…
This summer, some Nashville flavor came to Illinois in a pretty unique way. No, I’m not talking about that “Nashville Hot” chicken (though that’s picking up steam in the north as well), but my sister’s country wedding. Though she grew up in Illinois as I did, Nashville has always been in her sights, and that’s where she ended up. But for her wedding, she was back up north for a barn wedding in Hebron, Illinois. What was unusually cool is where some of the decor came from… not just from City of Nashville, but from the television series. After a six season run across ABC and CMT, Nashville came to an end this summer, which meant that the time had come for the production to wrap things up with a three-day “Set Decoration Public Sale.” Actor Charles Esten even shared a video preview of the event some months back, and as luck would have it, decorations that may have dressed the set when Rayna Jaymes (Connie Brtitton) and Deacon Claybourne (Esten) tied the not wound up as part of the atmosphere for a real-life wedding.
The beautiful Bluestem Farm and Events served as the backdrop – the vintage, two-story Degraslanden dairy barn having been upgraded and transformed with modern amenities while retaining its early 1900s charm. My wife and I were both in the wedding party and The Rock Daughters™ made their third appearance as flower girls (they’re practically professionals at this point). This shot came from the rehearsal…
For all the running around we had to do, from our house to the hotel where the the out-of-towners were staying and through the country out to the farm, our ride for the weekend was the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander SEL S-AWC, provided on-loan from Mitsubishi Motors USA for a Rock Father™ Rides feature.
Having driven the Outlander through various forms over the years, I was excited to get behind the wheel of their best yet. They have a slogan that they’ve used in their marketing a few times that’s pretty fitting: “We pack it with features, you pack it with memories.”
And we did.
Aside from cruising country roads in northern Illinois, I’ve been working with Product of Hate on getting their second album finished and packaged. The new record has been recorded, and this summer we released the first single, “Rapture.” The rest of the album is being mixed and mastered right now with Chris Collier (Prong, Flotsam & Jetsam) on the boards, having just come off engineering for Korn. The Rockford Fosgate Premium Sound System was a fine place to check out some test mixes, with up to 710 watts passing through nine speakers-including a 10-inch dual-voice coil subwoofer with Punch Control. Thunderous and clean.
When the wedding was over, there was clean-up to be done, and the Outlander went from transporting family to transporting stuff. A lot of water, actually. Cases and cases of it, along with some LED candles and other adornments that also came up from Nashville. It’s the perfect example of everything that a crossover should be – a great mix of style, function and performance.
As of now, my sister and my new brother-in-law are back down in Nashville but I’m thinking road trip. Haven’t driven down there yet, but life is always an open road…
