therobmorgan
New in Town
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New FL Friends, my name's Rob Morgan. I'm an internationally touring bassist and I just created an account here to shed light on this specific thread. Here's how the story goes...
I've been traveling and playing live for the past couple of years wearing my trusty Stetson Open Road. (From the late 60's that I found in the basement of a western shop in Minneapolis. "Silver Belly" color and smells like roadkill anytime it gets wet
Because (as you pros know) this style has come back into vogue, I get asked just about every show about the hat. Because of the popularity of this forum (and this thread) over the past year, I've had 5 different instances where the person actually pulls out their phone and shows me this thread with the first post's photo and says, "This is what I'm on the hunt for." To which I reply, "Oh, that's a photo of my buddy Erik... And it's NOT A STETSON." ;-)
Erik Koskinen (https://erikkoskinen.com/) is one of the most highly regarded artists/songwriters/producers in the Midwest and I've had a blast getting to play in his band. If you're in this forum, you'll love his Americana singer-songwriter style!
The hat is a "Resistol." Extremely similar to my Open Road, but the main difference is the lack of ribbon trim on the brim. And the front dent is technically called a "mule kick"... although he'd call it, "what happens when you wear it day in and day out, throwing it around, and never worrying about how you handle it." Which is a great reminder for a forum like this... whether it's jeans, a leather jacket, boots, or a beat-up fender... all the most legit artists I've played with, who have the coolest looking kit (and I see get asked about it all the time) have the same approach:
They don't baby it... they use it!
There's nothing worse than a 5-year-old hat/jacket/guitar that looks brand new. What a waste of a story! I like my dressy and clean lids, but I LOVE the ones still holding dirt from the road.
Happy travels! And I'll see ya down the river.
-Rob
I've been traveling and playing live for the past couple of years wearing my trusty Stetson Open Road. (From the late 60's that I found in the basement of a western shop in Minneapolis. "Silver Belly" color and smells like roadkill anytime it gets wet
Because (as you pros know) this style has come back into vogue, I get asked just about every show about the hat. Because of the popularity of this forum (and this thread) over the past year, I've had 5 different instances where the person actually pulls out their phone and shows me this thread with the first post's photo and says, "This is what I'm on the hunt for." To which I reply, "Oh, that's a photo of my buddy Erik... And it's NOT A STETSON." ;-)
Erik Koskinen (https://erikkoskinen.com/) is one of the most highly regarded artists/songwriters/producers in the Midwest and I've had a blast getting to play in his band. If you're in this forum, you'll love his Americana singer-songwriter style!
The hat is a "Resistol." Extremely similar to my Open Road, but the main difference is the lack of ribbon trim on the brim. And the front dent is technically called a "mule kick"... although he'd call it, "what happens when you wear it day in and day out, throwing it around, and never worrying about how you handle it." Which is a great reminder for a forum like this... whether it's jeans, a leather jacket, boots, or a beat-up fender... all the most legit artists I've played with, who have the coolest looking kit (and I see get asked about it all the time) have the same approach:
They don't baby it... they use it!
There's nothing worse than a 5-year-old hat/jacket/guitar that looks brand new. What a waste of a story! I like my dressy and clean lids, but I LOVE the ones still holding dirt from the road.
Happy travels! And I'll see ya down the river.
-Rob
