This America’s Got Talent Winner Makes Magic Happen

Humble, dedicated to his craft and one of the most amazing magicians I have been privileged to interview, Mat Franco’s journey has been nothing short of enchanting. A natural-born showman, he fuses humor, heart, and jaw-dropping illusions with a sincerity that has endeared him to millions. His performances aren’t just about tricks—they’re about joy, connection, and the shared experience of wonder.

Now celebrating an extraordinary 10-year run at The LINQ, Franco continues to make history as the first and only magician ever to win America’s Got Talent. His acclaimed production, Mat Franco: Magic Reinvented Nightly, has evolved into a Las Vegas phenomenon, captivating audiences and earning rave reviews from critics and locals alike. Night after night, audiences fill the theater not only for his impossible feats, but for the warmth and authenticity that radiate from the stage.

Franco’s list of honors is as dazzling as his performances. He has been named “Best Magic Show in Las Vegas” multiple times by Las Vegas Weekly and USA Today. Franco received the coveted “Casino Entertainment Award” for Best Show, and most recently earned one of magic’s highest distinctions—“Magician of the Year” from the Academy of Magical Arts at the worldfamous Hollywood Magic Castle. Long regarded as the spiritual home of magic and a temple to its greatest legends, the Magic Castle’s recognition places Mat among the true masters of the craft.

Yet even with such prestigious accolades, it’s his humility that continues to define him. Mat remains the same grounded, gracious performer who never takes a single audience or standing ovation for granted. Whether unveiling a breathtaking new illusion or ending a show with a heartfelt thank-you, Mat Franco reminds the world that the greatest magic of all lies in authenticity, gratitude, and the joy of connecting with others.

Travelgirl: What drew you to magic? What did your parents think when their very young son displayed an interest in magic?

Mat Franco: I was really young when I saw magic on TV. My interest in it may have had less to do with magic, and more to do with the overall entertainment impact. The magic was cool, of course. But I loved that most of the performances were set to music, and it all took place on a big stage, with amazing set designs and lighting… all shot in front of a live audience. The idea of being involved in something like that made me feel alive! My parents were supportive from day one, and I’m forever grateful for that.

TG: You’ve said your grandmother used to read magic instructions to you when you were too young to read them yourself — that’s such a wonderful image. Were there any other people who guided or inspired your journey early on?

MF: Too many to count. Teachers, kids at school, family, neighbors… in retrospect, everyone around seemed to be pretty shocked and taken aback by this kid who was laser focused on doing what he loved to do. Growing up in Rhode Island, I didn’t know other magicians, or anyone in show business, so the support from my community was really instrumental in booking lots of local shows throughout my youth.

TG: You grew up in Rhode Island, a state that isn’t exactly known as a hub for magicians. What was it like growing up there with this unusual dream, and how did your family or community respond?

MF: I grew up in Johnston, Rhode Island. All my friends were into playing “spawts” — that’s sports with a Rhode Island accent! So, the being into the arts, let alone magic, definitely made me stand out. I took pride in being the “magic kid” at school and everyone seemed to dig that I was into something different. Surely there were those that thought it was weird, but I don’t really recall much of that, as I’m a glass-half-full kinda guy.

TG: Many artists can point to a person who believed in them before anyone else did. Was there someone like that for you — a teacher, a magician, or even a friend — who gave you that push?

MF: Absolutely. When I was finishing school and trying to decide whether to take the leap and pursue magic full-time, my biggest inspiration, Jeff McBride, happened to be touring on the East Coast. I saw his show and attended his private seminar for magicians. I’ll never forget his words: “You can absolutely do this.” When someone you grew up watching on TV tells you that, it’s hard not to listen. That moment gave me the confidence to take the plunge.

TG: You’ve said your magic is about connection, not deception. How do you design an illusion to make the audience feel involved rather than just amazed?

MF: I think people connect with authenticity. When I share my story, audiences often see a piece of themselves in it. The illusions are just one element — I use magic as a vehicle for storytelling. The show blends music, comedy, crowd interaction, and audience participation, all coming together to create an immersive experience. My goal is always to make the audience part of the story, not just spectators.

TG: What first drew you to sleight of hand and close-up magic, and how has your approach evolved since you first began performing?

MF: I’ve always loved a good challenge. Sleight of hand is often considered the most difficult branch of magic because it demands precision, dexterity, and discipline. That level of practice is meditative for me — almost addictive. Over time, my approach has evolved. These days, I’m more drawn to the psychological side of magic — understanding how our brains take shortcuts and make assumptions. Once you understand that, you can create the illusion of miracles without even relying on sleight of hand. It’s endlessly fascinating.

TG: Many magicians guard their methods closely. You often emphasize creativity and curiosity — how do you keep your material fresh while protecting the mystery?

MF: That’s actually one of the biggest misconceptions about magic. I don’t think mystery needs to be “protected” — it’s more like a movie. You don’t want to spoil it for someone who hasn’t seen it yet, but once they’ve experienced it, it’s okay to talk about it. That said, it’s not right to reveal methods that aren’t yours to share. Magic is a nuanced art, and even magicians debate where those lines are. At its core, though, magic isn’t about tricks — it’s about self-expression. So, I don’t protect mysteries; I just tell stories. I keep things fresh by constantly allowing my show to evolve, and by writing new material.

TG: Winning America’s Got Talent made you a household name. Looking back, what was the most valuable lesson you learned from that experience — personally or professionally?

MF: Performing live and performing for TV are two completely different worlds, and America’s Got Talent is a crash course in doing both at once. You’re performing for a theater full of people, but also for millions watching at home, all while celebrity judges watch your every move. That’s about as intense as it can get! After that experience, every gig feels a little easier.

TG: Since AGT, you’ve maintained one of Las Vegas’s most successful residencies. What’s the secret to keeping Magic Reinvented Nightly exciting for both new and returning audiences?

MF: The show is always evolving. That keeps it exciting not just for the audience, but for me and my crew too. I got into this business because I love it, and I want that joy to come through on stage. If we’re having fun, the audience feels it.

TG: Every night your audience is different. How much of your show is scripted versus spontaneous interaction?

MF: I always have a clear roadmap. We start at point A and somehow end up at point Z, but how we get there depends on the audience. They shape the show every night. No two performances are the same, and the grand finale changes too. It definitely keeps me on my toes!

TG: You often perform for all ages. How do you balance sophisticated sleight of hand with humor and storytelling that resonates with everyone?

MF: I never made a conscious effort to have broad appeal in that way. Magic inherently appeals to a wide demographic of people, and when you combine that with the fact that I work “clean,” it makes for a fun experience that happens to be wellsuited for the whole family.

TG: You’re known for supporting The Animal Foundation and the NSPCA. What inspires your commitment to animal welfare, and what message do you hope fans take from that work?

MF: I grew up with pets. My wife is the biggest animal lover I know. So many lost or abandoned pets are in need. So, my message is: whenever possible, adopt, don’t shop.

TG: With your busy Las Vegas schedule, how do you stay grounded — what keeps you creatively and personally centered?

MF: Life can feel like a plate-spinning act sometimes. I actually enjoy working under pressure, as that’s when I feel most creative. But personally, I need quiet moments to recharge. Sometimes that means going for a run, taking a walk, shuffling cards, drumming, or playing guitar. Those little outlets keep me centered.

TG: Do you have a favorite travel destination? What’s on Mat Franco’s travel bucket list?

MF: Hawaii’s tough to beat. When life gets busy, I don’t mind sitting on an island for a few days to reset and recharge. Next on the bucket list is Spain (for the amazing magicians they have there!), and Italy, because of my family’s heritage.

TG: What does one of the world’s most famous magicians never leave home without when he’s packing for a trip?

MF: My retainer. I’m a teeth grinder (so says my dentist), so I always pack a retainer to sleep in.

TG: Can you offer some sage advice for those young hopefuls who hope to one day walk in your famous footsteps?

MF: Practice. Never stop learning. Enjoy the journey. Don’t be afraid to approach new challenges from a beginner’s mindset. Above all, be you!

The post TG Coverguy: Mat Franco appeared first on Travelgirl.

From Georgia fraternities to Country Music stardom, Cole Swindell’s songwriting touches everyone.

Cole Swindell, born and raised in Georgia, grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of Southern life, where music, family, and community formed the backbone of his upbringing. From an early age, Swindell was drawn to storytelling through song, often scribbling lyrics and melodies in notebooks long before he imagined a career in country music. He attended Georgia Southern University, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. It was through this fraternity that he first met fellow “brother”—and future country superstar—Luke Bryan, a connection that would leave a lasting mark on Swindell’s path in music.

After graduating in 2007, Swindell made the decision to move to Nashville, the heart of country music, with aspirations of building a career from the ground up. Initially, he worked on the road selling merchandise for Luke Bryan, a role that provided him with an insider’s view of life on tour, fan interactions, and the complexities of the music industry. Even while traveling, Swindell remained committed to his true passion: songwriting. He dedicated countless hours to crafting songs, experimenting with melodies, and refining lyrics that would lay the foundation for the hits that would later define his career.

In 2010, Swindell’s persistence and talent earned him a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a significant milestone that allowed him to write songs for established artists such as Craig Campbell and Thomas Rhett. Through this period, Luke Bryan continued to serve as both mentor and inspiration, offering guidance on navigating the music business and life on the road, and encouraging Swindell to pursue his own recording career.

Swindell’s personal breakthrough arrived in 2013 with the release of “Chillin’ It,” a catchy, upbeat track that quickly climbed the charts and introduced him to a nationwide audience. By this time, the doors Bryan had helped open, combined with Swindell’s growing songwriting credibility, positioned him perfectly for the next phase of his career. Swindell has often credited Bryan with showing him the ropes, providing not just opportunities but also lessons in professionalism, perseverance, and connecting authentically with fans.

Over the years, Swindell has released five studio albums, each contributing to his reputation as one of country music’s most consistent and relatable voices. His 2014 self-titled debut album featured “Chillin’ It” and established him as an artist to watch. “You Should Be Here” (2016) included the heartfelt title track and the high-energy collaboration “Flatliner” with Dierks Bentley. In 2018, “All of It” delivered memorable singles such as “Break Up in the End” and “Love You Too Late”. His fourth album, “Stereotype” (2022), featured hits like “Single Saturday Night” and “Never Say Never.”

In 2025, Swindell released his fifth studio album, “Spanish Moss,” a 21-track collection that showcases his evolution as an artist while staying true to the storytelling roots that define country music. The album includes the debut No. 1 single “Forever To Me,” co-written with Greylan James and Rocky Block, which Swindell dedicated to his engagement and wedding to his bride, Courtney. The song also holds personal significance as it marks and honors the upcoming birth of their first child, a daughter, in the fall of 2025. Other standout tracks from the album include “We Can Always Move On,” “Spanish Moss,” “Kill A Prayer,” “One Day,” and “3 Feet Tall,” the latter of which was hailed by Country Now as a “Song of the Year” contender and “one of Cole Swindell’s most meaningful songs”.

To support the release of “Spanish Moss,” Swindell embarked on the Happy Hour Sad Tour, which kicked off on September 4, 2025, in Toledo, Ohio. The tour features special guests Priscilla Block, Logan Crosby, and Greylan James, and is produced by Pepper Entertainment. Swindell expressed his excitement for the tour, stating, “I cannot wait to get out on the road this year for the Happy Hour Sad Tour. Getting to write songs and make music for a living is a dream come true, and there are so many folks that make that happen! I hope the fans that spend their hard-earned money to come out and support us know how much we appreciate it and how much we love seeing them out there having fun.”

The Happy Hour Sad Tour is not just a promotional tour; it’s a celebration of Swindell’s journey as an artist and a father-to-be, (his daughter was born in August, 2025). The tour’s name, inspired by the title track from “Spanish Moss”, reflects the emotional depth and authenticity that Swindell brings to his music. Fans can expect a mix of new hits and classic favorites, all delivered with the passion and energy that have become synonymous with Swindell’s live performances.

As Swindell continues to balance his career with his personal life, he remains committed to his craft and his fans. His journey from fraternity halls in Georgia to sold-out arenas and national tours is a testament to determination, talent, and the power of mentorship. Through songwriting, touring, and chart-topping hits, Cole Swindell has solidified his place in country music as a compelling voice whose journey continues to inspire.

The post TG Coverguy: Cole Swindell appeared first on Travelgirl.

He’s a pianist and composer whose jammed with jazz greats while creating his own sound.

Travelgirl: It’s an honor to welcome you aboard Travelgirl Magazine. You grew up in Atlanta and there are quite a few musical giants who have honed their skills in Atlanta and other cities in Georgia. The legendary Ray Charles was born in Albany; Otis Redding was born in Dawson; Gladys Knight hails
from Atlanta; and the incredibly talented songwriter Johnny Mercer was born in Savannah. Luke Bryan and Tricia Yearwood, both of whom graced Travelgirl’s covers, are also from the Peach State. Who influenced you when you were young and paved the way for your passion for music?

Joe Alterman: My dad influenced me. I asked for piano lessons when I was about three or four. I took a few, did not like it, and wanted to quit but my parents wouldn’t let me. When I was born, the first thing my dad noticed were my long fingers and he said that I would probably play the piano. I don’t think my parents saw much talent then; it was more about finishing something I’d started. But they wouldn’t let me quit, so, from three or four years old until I was 11 or 12, I took classical piano lessons, and I was always getting in trouble for changing notes.

As I was taking these lessons, which were basically a chore back then, I fell in love with other types of music, including bluegrass. My dad and I traveled to various bluegrass festivals where I first encountered traditional American music — much of which I later heard performed by jazz pianists through my dad’s recordings. And, that was what turned me on to jazz. Jazz musicians like Oscar Peterson and Ramsey Lewis played familiar bluegrass melodies in their own style. It was just so tasty, so creative, and so interesting to see what these guys would do with a melody. They did things that I never thought possible and that brought about my love of the piano.

TG: Did you study music in high school? Talk about the influence boogie-woogie music has had on you.

JA: When I started hearing jazz musicians interpreting songs at bluegrass festivals, I fell in love with boogie-woogie music, which is blues music that’s written for the piano. I remember I was about 13, maybe a little younger, and I went to my classical recital and instead of playing the piece that I was supposed to play, I played a boogie-woogie song. While the audience gave me a standing ovation, the school threw me out.

TG: Did you have a mentor in your formative years?

JA: In high school, after the classical school debacle, I found a teacher who was a better fit. His name was Gary Motley and he’s now the director of jazz studies at Emory University. Gary was a great teacher, perfect for that period in my life because he had an unbiased view of jazz piano history, so he taught everything. He was unlike some of the people I later encountered in New York who looked down on certain styles, techniques or eras.

Once I got to New York, I gained many mentors, some of whom were huge heroes of mine. People like Houston Person, who was an incredible saxophone player. I grew up playing along with his recordings and I never imagined then that we would get to play together. I also studied with the great pianist Don Friedman. I became incredibly close friends with the legendary Ramsey Lewis, whose piano I actually recently inherited — and I was friendly with the fabulous Les McCann, who called us Big Mo and Little Joe. I was also very lucky to have gotten to know Ahmad Jamal, the pianist whose music really changed my life. They were all mentors to me in different ways and I’m forever grateful.

TG: I’ve read you were a history buff and that studying history provided insight into different types of music. What led to your love of jazz?

JA: I feel like the more you know about the context of something, the more you can appreciate that thing no matter what that thing is. For me, that thing is music. I mentioned that my love of jazz really began with the interesting ways in which jazz musicians were interpreting well-known melodies that I already knew. So, it was really the interpretation of melody that brought me to jazz.

Studying history just adds a deeper appreciation. If you can know what a song is about or what it was meant to be about, it makes you appreciate it more. For example, “Our love is here to stay” is a very famous George and Ira Gershwin song. But the truth is that that song was the last melody George Gershwin ever wrote. He wrote it with no title in mind. It was just a melody. Then he died, and Ira Gershwin, his brother, decided to put lyrics to it, and he called it “Our Love is Here to Stay” as a nod to his brother George. Hearing something like that will give anyone who hears this story a greater appreciation for that song. So that’s why, and I try to do that with everything I play.

TG: You earned both a BA and a Master’s in Jazz Piano from New York University. Attending university at NYU must have been an enlightening and spiritual time for a college kid.

JA: Definitely. It was an incredible time because NYU was in Greenwich Village, which is where a lot of the jazz clubs are. I was there when many jazz masters we studied in class were still alive. Often, we’d learn about this musician in class, and later in the evening I’d go and see this person at night. I would share what I had learned earlier in the day, and the musician would affirm or correct the information. It was an incredible time for me!

TG: You are an accomplished and talented pianist; you compose music and thus far have eight critically acclaimed albums. That’s quite a feat for someone in their 30’s. What inspires you when you sit down to write music?

JA: Anything and everything. Life is inspiring. Music is inspiring. Nature is inspiring. Cities are inspiring. Everything that makes up my life inspires me when I sit down at the piano. I might just be playing around with one song and get stuck on one idea as I improvise, which will lead me to get stuck on another idea, which will lead to an entirely new song. It is literally anything and everything.

I feel very lucky that there’s a lot of music inside of me, and all I really need to do is turn on the faucet and let it gush. It won’t stop until I turn the faucet off. That said, the most important thing for any musician or artist who recognizes that they have been given a gift is to recognize that it’s not about them. The gift is to become a vessel for that gift. I’m a vessel for the music to come out. That’s all, and that’s humbling.

TG: Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington are just a few of the celebrated jazz legends. Now you, Joe Alterman, can count yourself among them. If you could choose one jazz legend to jam with today, who would it be?

JA: If I could choose one jazz legend to jam with today, it would be the late, great bassist Ray Brown. I love his sound so much and just wish we could have played a little blues together. That would’ve been a treat.

TG: I love the “Remembering” passages on your website under the heading “Writing”. They are quite memorable. Each person you write about must have been an inspiration to you.

JA: I love writing and it’s a special way for me to not only write all these incredible memories down, but also to work through some sad feelings when one of these heroes or mentors passes away. Someone like Les McCann, we talked on the phone every day for years. It was a really hard thing to lose him, but writing about him is not only a way to document special stories and memories, but it’s therapeutic, too. It brings back so many memories that make me laugh out loud and smile.

TG: Please tell us about your involvement with Neranenah, an Atlanta-based Concert & Culture series, which celebrates Jewish contributions to music and the arts.

JA: Neranenah means “let’s come together and sing” in Hebrew. We are a concert and culture series that celebrates Jewish contributions to and interactions with the arts, often alongside other communities, most notably the African American community. Neranenah used to be called the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, but the question to me has always been “What is Jewish music?” The Atlanta Jewish Music Festival defined it as “a Jew playing music,” which I don’t necessarily agree with.

For me, the question is “beyond this person happening to have been born Jewish, what, if anything is Jewish about their music?”. To me, Jewish music is not a genre of music. It’s much more than that. Consider Jewish people like Alan Lomax, who traveled the country and the world documenting rural musicians, seeking along the way to convince them of their worth by playing their music back for them. Remember the great Milt Gabler, who was the only one willing to record Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” after Columbia Records and John Hammond turned it down. Also, Alfred Lion, Frances Wolfe, and Norman Granz, people who are responsible for the documentation of so much incredible American music. They entered the music business out of their passion for music and their opposition to the prejudice faced by the musicians they admired.

These are people who preserved and championed the roots of Black American culture, helping elevate street life to the realm of high art. What’s interesting about the above is that none involves Jewish performers or composers, but all are deeply important to the music that’s shaped American culture. The stories are powerful, inspirational and Jewish. I’m convinced it’s the story that makes the music Jewish. Jewish music is not only music composed by Jews and performed by Jews, but also music that has been influenced and expanded, in part, by Jews to make it uniquely American. These are stories that we can all identify with and celebrate together. After all, while this is a Jewish organization, music is for everyone and Neranenah embraces and reflects that.

TG: You’ve performed at legendary venues including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Birdland Jazz Club, and Blue Note, performing alongside jazz greats Houston Person, Les McCann, and Ramsey Lewis. You’ve opened for Dick Gregory at the Kennedy Center and performed internationally at the Blue Note Jazz Club in MIlan. You’ve also performed at the Blues in Washington, DC, and the iconic Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Do you have a favorite venue, one that everyone should put on their musical bucket list?

JA: I truly love most of the venues I’ve played at. They all have something different to offer. My dream venue to play is the Village Vanguard in New York, but there’s nothing more exciting than playing somewhere like Birdland in New York or even Eddie’s Attic here in Atlanta. I love an intimate vibe. This music is meant to be felt close up, and I love the opportunity to do that.

TG: You’ve traveled to perform concerts all over the world. Do you have a favorite travel destination?

JA: Truthfully, I think my favorite country is Greece. I loved going to the islands. I’ve never played in Greece, but I loved visiting there and hope to be back to perform some time in the future.

TG: You are a renowned pianist; is there one item you never leave home without?

JA: My wallet! Although sometimes I forget it!

TG: What’s next for the incredible Joe Alterman and can you please tell us where we can see you perform throughout the remainder of the year?

JA: I just began hosting a weekly radio show on WABE in Atlanta, which is an Atlanta NPR affiliate. The show is called “The Upside of Jazz,” and it’s on every Saturday at 7:00 p.m. I hope Travelgirl readers will give it a look or a listen. In terms of performances, I have a European tour in mid-September and a tour in Germany in November. Over the next few months, I’ll be in Chicago, New York, Houston, and more. Next up in Atlanta is October 9th at Eddie’s Attic and November 21st at the High Museum.

TG: You are a positive and engaging force in music. Your talent, energy, and enthusiasm inspire and uplift every audience. Travelgirl applauds your dedication, talent, and commitment to advancing positive change through music. Your continued efforts contribute significantly to ensuring jazz remains valued and appreciated by future generations.

JA: Thank you so much!

The post TG Coverguy: Joe Alterman appeared first on Travelgirl.

He’s a songwriter, humanitarian, legendary musician and recently scored a big Broadway hit.

Travelgirl: I’m so happy to be with you and to get to know you. Everyone knows Huey Lewis the musician. You are also a humanitarian and very philanthropic. You have been quite involved with San Rafael’s Lifehouse, whose mission is to improve the lives of those living with disabilities and help them live independent lives. You’ve been an honorary chair and emcee for their fundraisers. Please let us know how you became involved in this most worthwhile endeavor.

Huey Lewis: I sang an anthem for a Special Olympics about 45 years ago and I was so touched by the group. It was such a nice thing, and my neighbor was also involved. The association was formerly called the Marin Association of Retarded Citizens. It is now called Lifehouse and its purpose is to help disabled folks live independent lives.

I’ve been chairman of the association’s big fundraiser for 35 years now and it really is a wonderfully gratifying thing. If you are a developmentally disabled person in Marin or Sonoma counties in California, you are a lot better off than almost any other place in the world. We have independent living situations. I’ve gotten to know some of the clients well over the years and it’s just a fun thing. It’s not a lot of heavy lifting.

We have a wonderful chef’s banquet called The Great Chefs & Wineries where we invite all the great restaurants and all the great wineries in Marin and Sonoma counties to come and make a one dish, one wine table. It’s a black-tie event featuring an enormous, incredible buffet. We raise tons of money, and it all goes to a great cause. I am chairman so I say a few words; it’s very gratifying. There’s a lot to be learned from these very special people. They joyfully notice the little things that we don’t pay any attention to, and they radiate happiness. It’s a wonderful, important cause.

TG: Let’s start with your hearing loss. In 1987 you suddenly lost hearing in one of your ears. How did you cope and how difficult was it to keep performing?

HL: Let’s go with that; how exciting. Hit me with the hits — hearing loss; let’s do it. I exist on these hearing aids, which Bluetooth connects to my phone and my television. I am really very, very deaf and it’s probably getting worse. I’m possibly headed for a cochlear implant, which is not a fun thing. But if you really can’t hear, it becomes a fun, necessary thing.

TG: You were able to overcome losing the hearing in your right ear but you were still able to perform and hear with just one ear.

HL: I was diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease 35 years ago. At first, I had a bout of intense vertigo; it was so bad they had to take me to the hospital but no one could figure out what it was. The doctors gave me some medicine of some sort and three hours later I was fine. About 30 years ago I lost the hearing in my right ear. I was able to exist on one ear for a long time. Then six years ago my left ear went and now I can’t hear music at all and I can’t perform. I can’t hear pitch. With the aid of hearing aids I can hear you and I can hear a conversation with three or four people at a time, maybe, if I am in a quiet room. In a noisy room I can only hear one person and I need to be looking at that person to understand the conversation.

TG: If music is playing, you can’t hear it? Is that correct?

HL: Zero. I cannot hear music. You can play one of my songs and I can’t identify the song; that’s how bad I am. Speech exists in a much narrower frequency than music. Music, even one note, occurs in all frequencies with harmonics and overtones and undertones. Just listening to you is a struggle for me; it’s changed me. My show on Broadway, The Heart of Rock and Roll, has been my salvation in a lot of ways. It’s given me a creative outlet and kept me busy.

Zen Buddhists say you need three things in life: something to love, something to hope for and something to do. The something to hope for and the something to do are my show on Broadway. I have other things going on as well. I’m lucky; I remind myself that plenty of people are way worse off than I am. I’m not dead; I’m just deaf. I’m actually a glass half full kind of guy. I’m a major key, not a minor key guy.

TG: I can’t wait to see your musical, The Heart of Rock and Roll. Everyone I know is excited about it. What’s the genesis of the show? I know our Travelgirl readers will want to head to New York to see it. I absolutely love Broadway and I’m thrilled you are bringing your music to the Great White Way!

HL: I love Broadway too. It’s the most challenging and therefore the most rewarding of artistic expression. It’s totally collaborative and it’s complicated. [We made a documentary about our song We Are the World (in 1985, 46 legendary musicians came together for one night to raise money for African aid)]. The iconic Quincy Jones, who co-produced the song, addressed us before we performed the background vocals. This isn’t in the documentary, but Quincy said, “Look people, here’s what we are doing, we are building a house. We are going to start with the foundation, order the tracks, put in the walls, the studs and put a roof on it. That’s what we are doing now, putting up studs and we will finish the work later on.” His description was really clever. The metaphor for making a record is building a house. Well, if that’s true, then putting on a Broadway show is building a city with parks and pathways and all kinds of paraphernalia. I love it and it’s been a really fun trip.

TG: Does your hearing loss make creating a Broadway musical more difficult?

HL: It makes it impossible to hear the music, but I lost hearing in my left ear six years ago on January 17. Before that I could hear music. As it so happens, you only need one ear to hear. When I lost hearing in my first ear, I went to my EENT doctor. My father was a doctor and he sent me to the best EENT doctor in all of Northern California. I went to see this specialist and he told me to adapt to the hearing loss. I reiterated to him that I was a musician and a singer. The doctor told me I only needed one ear to hear. He told me Brian Wilson [The Beach Boys] only had hearing in one ear and Jimi Hendrix only had hearing in one ear.

The doctor also told me that he only had hearing in one ear and that he performed in a barbershop quartet. I existed on one ear for a long time, and I had that ear and hearing seven years ago when we imagined this show. I had reimagined most of the songs by that time. Our musical director, Brian Usifer, is brilliant. He has done his homework so thoroughly. He knows our music so well that he has reimagined the songs and given them their own setting. There is very little to quibble with, even when I could hear. As a footnote, they had to make me a producer because of the songs and now they have to listen to everything I have to say.

TG: It’s your music they are performing.

HL: It’s my music and my show now!

TG: You were born in New York City but grew up in California. Did you have an interest in music when you were young? Your father was a doctor but he was also a musician; I believe he played the drums. Did he encourage your interest in music?

HL: My old man absolutely had an influence on me. There was a set of drums in my living room my whole life. Since my early years, I spent my life surrounded by musical equipment. My father didn’t like singers; he liked big band jazz. He would play these big band jazz records, instrumental stuff and every once and a while there would be a singer. Naturally I wanted to rebel a little bit so I kind of dug the singers. My first influences were Mr. Five by Five, Count Basie and all the old blues singers and musicians.

TG: You have two plays featuring your music on Broadway. Your own, The Heart of Rock and Roll, and Back to the Future. It’s astounding; two plays running concurrently.

HL: It’s amazing and I’m not sure it’s ever happened before. I don’t know if it’s true or not. Someone told me that but even if it is true, it doesn’t mean that I’m Richard Rodgers.

TG: Let’s talk about the genesis of Back to the Future. It’s a beloved film and your name is synonymous with that movie. You contributed to the soundtrack and had a small role in the movie. Please talk about your experiences with that film and your iconic songs that are central to the show. Did you have any idea it would become a landmark film?

HL: I had no idea it would be such a paramount hit. I was asked to take a meeting with [Steven] Spielberg, who was the executive producer, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, whose story it is. Neil Canton was also a writer on the show. The meeting was organized through Amblin Entertainment, which had just started. We sat there and Zemeckis told me they had written this movie about a kid named Marty McFly, and his favorite band would be Huey Lewis and the News. So, they asked me to write some songs. I was flattered. I told Zemeckis I didn’t necessarily know how to write for film and honestly I didn’t fancy writing a song called Back to the Future

Zemeckis said, “Oh, no, no, no, we don’t care what the song is called. We just want one of your songs in the film.” He told me that whatever I decided, that’s the one it will be. Well, I thought the next thing we do is write and we wrote The Power of Love. It’s a little more complicated than that. I didn’t think it was going to work because Power of Love is a love song, right? There is no love object in the film. But they used it wonderfully and it was a great lesson.

We’ve tried to employ the same thing in our Broadway show, which is the idea that songs help a musical or a show when they are tangentially tied to the project; not when the songs are a literal translation of what’s going on. If the song was just called Back to the Future, it wouldn’t have been so universal, if you will. I tried to do that with The Heart of Rock and Roll. It’s important that the songs move the story forward. The songs in my show are laid out beautifully by Tyler Mitchell and Jonathan A. Abrams. Their initial layout is brilliant because they know the music so well. I didn’t initially realize how well the songs fit the story. But they do and it’s pretty cool.

TG: I saw Back to the Future on Broadway. When they sing The Power of Love everyone goes crazy and they are referencing you.

HL: First of all, Uncle Huey is a character in the show. That’s their little nod to my cameo in the film. When they play Power of Love it has nothing to do with the story at all. It’ s Marty McFly and the Pinheads and it’s my logo. It’s the triangle with Huey Lewis and the News. It’s exactly my nine-piece band with the three-piece horn section. When I first saw it in London, I was sitting next to Bob Gale. I looked at Bob and told him I thought they owed me a set design credit. He told me they only pinch from the best.

TG: Your song, The Power of Love, is synonymous with the movie, Back to the Future.

HL: Thank goodness. The film just keeps growing. We did a 35-year reunion and every five years we go on television and reassemble the cast. Huey Lewis and the News was on top of the world back then and our song, The Power of Love, was huge. It was the perfect time for us. We had just toured with our Sports album and now we had to come up with another album. You wanted to keep the momentum in those days. The Power of Love was the perfect way to continue the momentum. We recorded it and we gave it to the movie and it went straight to number one.

The Power of Love went to number one in nine weeks, which is remarkably fast. From the close of principal photography for Back to the Future to the release of the movie, it was the fastest ever completed in Hollywood history. The producers knew the song was on its way to number one and they wanted to get the movie out to gain the momentum from the song. The day the movie was released, our song, The Power of Love, was the number one song in the country.

Interestingly, we weren’t allowed to put that song on one of our albums because MCA had purchased it and owned the rights. They wouldn’t let us put it on one of our albums in America but they did in the rest of the world. Not in America but in the rest of the world we added The Power of Love to our album Fore. In the rest of the world our album Fore is way bigger than our album, Sports.

It’s interesting. In America we have numerous big hits, This is It, Heart and Soul, I Want a New Drug, Heart of Rock and Roll, Bad is Bad. In Europe they hardly know any of these songs. They know Jacob’s Ladder, Stuck With You, Power of Love, Doing It All For My Baby because those were on the other record. It’s amazing. A lot of this is business, right? One of the reasons Power of Love is such a wonderful, amazing song is because it’s in the movie and the movie was the biggest movie of all time. We have a lot of great songs, but this one was in the movie.

TG: All of these incredible songs are yours; they are part of your history. Is there one song among all these memorable hits that is your favorite?

HL: No, I can’t name a favorite. I honestly think these songs on our latest record, Her Love is Killing Me and While We’re Young, and Remind Me Why I Love You Again, are three of the best things we’ve ever done. In my opinion, I think our last record is really our best work.

TG: Please talk about making the album Weather.

HL: We released Weather. It only has seven songs because of the loss of my hearing. It’s a record that we did piece by piece. It’s what we do; we write songs and we record them. So what we were doing over the course of almost 15 years was to play shows everywhere. We would write a song and record it in our home studio. We had a very nice studio; we used to have a complex with a recording studio, offices, etc. We would record the song and learn to love it. We would take it on the road and work on it and then bring it back, record it and put it in the can. We would play it for months, then cut it and we kept doing it until we had about seven songs. It’s hard to be prolific when you’ve written over 80 songs. Because we wrote for such a long time, these are our best works, the most realized.

“I fell in love with Broadway because of all the people — all the talent. Not only are the Broadway actors talented; they are smart, funny and self-effacing.”

TG: Now I have a question from my daughter’s son, Harry. He wants to know why you changed your name from Huey Lewis and the American Express to Huey Lewis and the News?

HL: That’s a great question! The record label made us change our name. Tell Harry that’s a super good question! The reason we were Huey Lewis and the American Express, which I think is a great name, is because it’s what I thought we sounded like. I thought it was the best name ever. No one had ever done a corporate tie in, zero; it had never been done. The first person to do it was Michael Jackson with Pepsi. Prior to that, it was the kiss of death; it just wasn’t done. They were afraid that American Express would sue us. They only figured that out 24 hours before the cover had to be finished so we really only had 24 hours to come up with a name.

TG: Where did the News come from?

HL: It was me. I just thought of it. There were a bunch of other contenders, but we went with Huey Lewis and the News.

TG: You have so many top hits that are so memorable. Your songs include I Want a New Drug and Hip to be Square. How did you go from a song about drugs to one about being square?

HL: Hip to be Square was supposed to be funny. It may be my only regret writing wise. I originally wrote in the third person. In the lyrics, he used to be a renegade; he used to fool around. It was meant to define a phenomenon that David Brooks articulates in his book Bobos in Paradise on how people were dropping in after being too far out; how they were cutting their hair. It was almost like a fashion thing. I thought it was kind of funny; it’s hip to be square. I thought it would be funnier if I told it on myself but not everyone got the joke. Some might think it was an anthem for square people but it wasn’t meant to be. I think I’ve lived it down by now.

TG: Please talk about your career in acting.

HL: Lovely. I worked with Bob Altman, which was amazing. We went on location and he invited me to ride with him. The location was three hours away and I got a three-hour tutorial on film acting from him that was fascinating. Robert Altman was a great experience. I did a bunch of Just Shoot Me’s with Wendie Malick, Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli and Jane Leeves. The shows were written by Fraser writers and it was fantastic. I performed in one episode a year. For two weeks I shared a dressing room with Bob Newhart, who is fantastic and a TV legend. I have no desire to be more famous nor to appear as myself. If there’s not some acting required, I’m not interested.

TG: You played Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago on Broadway.

HL: I love the Broadway community and I loved doing Billy Flynn. What a great play, great musical and great character. I did 222 performances and I learned something every single day. The material is that rich and dense; it was just fabulous. I fell in love with Broadway because of all the people — all the talent. Not only are the Broadway actors talented; they are smart, funny and self-effacing. They are just fun. It’s great work. It’s the most demanding and therefore the most rewarding of artistic expression.

TG: Talk about the early days.

HL: Back in 1980, in the early days we had to have a hit record. There was no internet, no jam band, the only avenue to success was a hit record in a format called CHR, Contemporary Hit Radio. Top 40 started with the advent of push button radio. In the 50’s when they had push button radio, when the programmers opined it, as long as you didn’t hear something you didn’t like, you would just stick right there. So, narrow your play list and just play the top hits over and over again. That was top 40!

By late 70’s, early 80’s we had AM format, mono Top 40. FM Radio comes along with stereo but it’s still not broadcasting with a lot of watts. But it is stereo and it’s a free format.

Radio was the only format we all competed on. So if you had a hit there it was a big, big hit. It was unique for its time and we had to have a hit record. We insisted on producing the records ourselves because I knew we were going to have to make commercial decisions that I was going to have to live with. We aimed every song right at radio. Sports sounds like a record of its time; it’s a collection of singles and different styles.

“I’m not dead; I’m just deaf. I’m actually a glass half full kind of guy. I’m a major key, not a minor key guy.”

Conventional wisdom says you can’t do that, you have to stick with one genre, but we were all over the map. Bad is Bad is like a little bluesy thing. Honky Tonk Blues is a country song. Thin Line is a big hard rocker and One New Drug is kind of a dance tune. We consciously aimed each one of these songs as a single at radio. I knew we needed a hit and I didn’t know which one was going to hit. Our records hit so hard we were touring coliseums and achieving our dreams and doing really well financially. After that happened, I made a decision with myself and the rest of the band that this was the last thing I would ever do for commerciality. If it didn’t make artistic sense, we were not going to do it. I’ve done exactly that ever since.

TG: You are pretty amazing with a harmonica.

HL: My mom was a hippy. When she divorced my dad she moved to another house and rented out a room to a boarder. The boarder was a folk singer named Billy Roberts; he wrote Hey Joe. He had lots of harmonicas and when they would go out of tune, he would give them to me. I was in high school so I started playing harmonica. I graduated high school a year early at 16 years old; my dad told me there was one thing I had to do. He told me to take a year off and bum around Europe. I told him I had been accepted to Cornell and he said no, take a year off and head to Europe. He actually made me do that. I took the harmonica with me; it fit the image.

My mother told me that was the first good decision my old man had ever made. She gave me a Bob Dylan record and told me the poets love this guy and told me to check it out. I listened to the Dylan record, brought my harmonica and in my mind, I was a wandering minstrel throughout the world. I hitchhiked Europe, hitch-hiked North Africa; I went to Marrakech for a day and stayed three months.

TG: Travelgirl wants to know, do you have a favorite travel destination?

HL: I have several places I want to visit. I’m a fanatic flyfisherman and I want to go the Seychelles and fish. That’s a bucket list thing.

TG: Huey, you’ve paved quite a path. Do you have any sage advice for those young hopefuls who aspire to one day follow in your legendary footsteps?

HL: I’ve always told people that unless a career in music is the only thing — the only thing — you want to do, I suggest you go back to school and study. If it is the only thing you want to do, then listen to everyone and pick and choose the advice that you want to take. Think through it all, keep dancing and in the final analysis, trust your instincts. Just keep at it; keep trying and working.

The post TG Coverguy: Huey Lewis appeared first on Travelgirl.

From small-town Tennessee to Las Vegas and Netflix, Leanne Morgan talks about her life and gets 50 million YouTube views

Travelgirl: It’s a pleasure to welcome you to Travelgirl Magazine. I was recently in Las Vegas and saw the large billboard outside the Wynn announcing your show. How did a girl from Tennessee make her way to the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas? First, please tell me about growing up in Tennessee.

Leanne Morgan: I was raised in a town of 500 people, a farming community in middle Tennessee on the Kentucky- Tennessee border called Adams, TN. My people are farmers on both sides, going generations back. I was raised there until I went to college at the University of Tennessee. I always wanted to be in show business from the time I was a little girl. I didn’t know how or when, but I ended up being in standup.

TG: You graduated with a degree from the University of Tennessee and married your sweetheart Chuck. You two moved to Bean Station, Tennessee and started your family. Will you elaborate on these years?

LM: Chuck and I met at the University of Tennessee and he bought a refurbishing manufactured housing business in his 20s, and moved us to Bean Station, TN, and I got pregnant with our first baby Charlie. I worked for Chuck for a little while. I’m country and rural, but this was a different kind of rural. I got my degree in Child and Family Studies Crisis Intervention Counseling. I thought I would be a therapist if I wasn’t going to make it in Hollywood. I mostly wanted to be a momma more than anything.

TG: You seem to be quite the entrepreneur. You started selling jewelry at home parties. I read you were hilarious at these parties. Please talk about this.

LM: I didn’t want to go to work full time and leave Charlie, but I wanted a side hustle to make a little money in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains–you know to get my hair done and buy Charlie outfits. My friend was selling jewelry and asked me if I wanted to sell jewelry too. I would go into women’s houses and put jewelry on kitchen tables and eat dip and brownies. I developed an act and women thought I was funny. These women actually even started booking me about a year in advance.

TG: You said you had a moment, when you were selling jewelry, that you realized you could make it in comedy. It’s funny. Can you elaborate?

LM: I was at somebody’s house. There was a woman sitting on the couch, her name was Carmen, and she got so tickled about something that I said that she pee-peed on the couch. That was a God moment for me. I knew I was funny. I wanted to do standup, but I didn’t know how it would be possible when I was in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. When she laughed, I knew I could do it. I could make it in comedy. I am still good friends with Carmen after all these years. I tell her all the time that she was part of that decision that I made. I knew I could go for it. The jewelry company noticed that I was booking so far in advance, that they asked me to speak at their large events.

TG: Were there any early mentors in your life who encouraged you to pursue your dream of becoming a stand-up comedian?

LM: There was a man named Dennis Swanberg who was a Christian comedian performing at one of those large jewelry events that I spoke at and he told me off stage that I could do it. That was pivotal. It meant a lot to me and I thought ‘Okay, I can do this.’ Also Brian Dorfman. He let me open at Zanies Comedy Club 20-some years ago, and after my set he said “I think you’ve got something, but it’s going to be hard to do this with three babies, traveling and leaving them. But I think you got it. You’re just going to have to find another way.” I knew I had to figure it out and take a different path.

TG: You were becoming successful and raising a family. How did you balance both your rising career and your family? You’ve been successful at both.

LM: I had to just take what I could, being a momma, I would do a lot of private and local corporate events. Chuck would travel during the week. I would go on the weekends, and just work around his schedule and the kids’ schedules. I came third but that was okay. I never felt that I didn’t get to do my own thing because I always wanted my family to be my first priority. I would do comedy clubs every once in a while, but I had to do what I could to accommodate my family. I always wanted to put them first.

TG: Talk about a girl who lived in Bean Station, Tennessee making it to the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. Were you intimidated or does that Leanne moxie get you out there?

LM: It is intimidating because I did not come up in the New York or LA comedy scene. I always felt like an outsider. When I did get invited to something like that, I was intimidated. But now I feel pretty good about it. I’m 58 years old and now after all these tours and doing a movie, I finally feel like I have a place there.

TG: You are not only a stand-up success, but you have also over three million followers across social media and your online special, So-Yummy, has reached over 50 million views on YouTube. Please talk about So-Yummy.

LM: Honest to goodness nothing else was going on in my career and I was thinking about quitting. Then out of the blue, Dry Bar Comedy asked me to do a special. I honestly thought nobody would see it. I did a bunch of old material.

TG: I watched your Netflix special Leanne Morgan: I’m Every Woman. So many moments in that show are relatable to all of us. I laughed and laughed. Please talk about writing and performing the show.

LM: Well, I was doing this material before COVID, and then COVID stopped everything, and there was a lot of time off. There were a lot of things I probably lost and couldn’t remember, so I started building it back up and performing again after COVID. Every time I do any new hour, I’m always weaving in my family, and it takes me a while to get it, but it’s always something to do with what’s happening in my life. I’ve got grandbabies; I’ve gone through menopause. Throughout my 20 years of comedy, there is always something going on in my real life. The Netflix special was what was going on in my life at that time. And I am a storyteller, so I’m long winded. It is not small bits. It is always long stories of my life and my family.

TG: You are living proof that through hard work you can attain your dreams. Do you have any sage advice for those young hopefuls out there who hope to be the next Leanne Morgan?

LM: If this is something you know in your heart that you need to be doing, then keep going. Listen to your gut. If this is something you’re meant to be doing, then follow what you’re passionate about. Hard work pays off; it’s not a short-term thing. Keep going, keep working, keep doing what you love and never give up.

TG: You travel constantly. Do you have one special item you never leave home without?

LM: My iPad!!! I love my iPad so that I can watch my shows and look at pictures of my grandbabies.

TG: Travelgirl readers will want to know, do you have a special place you love to travel to and what’s on Leanne’s travel bucket list?

LM: I really enjoy everywhere, but I love going to the Carolina and Georgia coasts, like Charleston and Savannah. All around there has been a favorite. I would really like to go over to the UK, and do a tour in the UK.

TG: Talk about what’s next on your busy career. This summer you have a tour called Just Getting Started and you will be seen on the screen in the Amazon Prime feature, You’re Cordially Invited, starring alongside Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon.

LM: I’m hoping to do television, more touring, and more movies! I also have a book coming out in September 2024 called What in the World?.

TG: What’s the one most important thing you want Travelgirl readers to know about Leanne Morgan?

LM: I want them to know that I feel this is more than comedy. Since this has happened to me, my fans have been more like friends and a community, and they have lifted me up and want to see me win. It is bigger than comedy and more special and sweeter than anything I could have ever imagined. I want people to know how much I appreciate my career and the love my fans give me.

TG: Is there one charity you want to mention, so you could help

LM: My family is incredibly involved with East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and childhood illnesses. My husband is a volunteer and a baby cuddler. My daughter Maggie works in development and raises money for the hospital, and my grandson was in the NICU and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital took wonderful care of him.

TG: I have truly loved researching and reading about you. You are an absolute treasure and I am more than delighted to get to know you and to welcome you to Travelgirl Magazine.

The post TG Covergirl: Leanne Morgan appeared first on Travelgirl.

Iconic country singer is a sensation on the music charts, on television and in Las Vegas.

It’s a great honor to welcome back country music superstar Luke Bryan to Travelgirl. This legendary giant of country music graced our cover a few years back. We are honored to tell more of his motivational and inspirational story. The uber talented Luke Bryan has garnered more than 22 billion worldwide streams and has released more than 30 number one hits. This ambassador of good will and singer/songwriter superstar amassed 56 total weeks at number one in his career. He was recently presented with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award in recognition of his standing as one of the most streamed artists in SoundExchange’s 20-year history.

The five-time Entertainer of the Year has played for more than 14 million fans. His headline concert tours have played sold-out performances for millions of fans in more than 40 stadium concerts, Farm Tours, Spring Break shows, and sold-out ‘Crash My Playa’ destination concert events.

He was born in Leesburg, Georgia, on July 17, 1976, and his keen interest in music began when he was young, listening to his parents’ records, which included music from country stars Merle Haggard and George Strait. When Luke turned 14, his parents purchased a guitar for him and Luke began singing with local bands. He honed his craft in high school, performing in musicals and writing his own songs. He was on his way to stardom.

Travelgirl: You were born in Leesburg, Georgia, and your dad was a farmer. What was it like growing up with your family in Georgia?

Luke Bryan: Growing up in Georgia, my dad was a farmer and we worked in agriculture, so we were always looking up at the sky, checking if rain was in the forecast. That always set the tone for the mood in my household, whether we had rain coming in or not — we knew the crops would be good and it was going to be a good week around the Bryan household.

At age 19, Luke was heading to Nashville when tragedy struck and his beloved older brother Chris was killed in an automobile crash. Luke stayed home, attended Georgia Southern University, and worked on his dad’s peanut farm — all the while playing music at night. In 2001, with his family’s insistence, Luke relocated to Nashville and landed a songwriting contract. He wrote for several renowned artists including Travis Tritt and performed his music at night. Capitol Records caught his show and signed him and, the rest, shall we say, is history.

The accolades poured in, and Luke Bryan’s career took off. He wrote a wealth of number one hits including Rain is a Good Thing, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Fast, Crash My Party, That’s My Kind of Night, and numerous others. As his career skyrocketed so did the awards. Country Aircheck named Bryan the Most Heard Artist of the Last Decade. He’s won almost 50 major music awards and has amassed close to 30 number one hits. The awards continued. Luke Bryan became the first recipient of the ACM Album of the Decade for his Crash My Party Album of 2013. He’s been a CMT Artist of the Year six times and has sold over 12 million albums.

His latest sensational hit, But I Got A Beer In My Hand, which was written by Chase McGill, Matt Dragstrem, and Geoff Warburton, was produced by Jeff Stevens and co-produced by Jody Stevens, is in the Top Ten. This song comes on the heels of Luke’s 30th #1 single Country On, which ended the 2022 charts as the final #1 of the year. The release of Country On continues Luke’s record of 29 career #1 singles and 17.2 billion worldwide streams on country radio.

TG: Your song Country On is so uplifting.

LB: I love that the song uplifts the hardworking American people out there, and it brings a lot of unity. It just has feel-good vibes all the way around it and anytime you can reference country music fans in a song, and you can really make it feel natural, it’s great. And this song does just that.

Luke Bryan is a humanitarian in every sense of the word. He’s humble, gracious and incredibly charitable. He was honored as the 2021 Artist Humanitarian Award recipient for his numerous philanthropic undertakings. Luke’s Farm Tours are motivating. He began these tours in 2009 and thus far Luke Bryan has granted 83 college scholarships to students from farming families attending the local college or university near the places the tour performs.

He works tirelessly for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Nashville where all children are treated for free, regardless of their circumstances. His support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation is inspirational. He lost his devoted sister Kelly in 2007 and her husband in 2014 after which Luke and his beloved wife Caroline became guardians for their nieces and nephew. Luke and Caroline are incredibly proud of their own two sons, Thomas “Bo” and Tatum “Tate” Bryan.

Bryan told the stories of his many successes and heartbreaks in November 2017 when he gave us a look at his life in Living Every Day: Luke Bryan. It’s a triumph told in the first person.

Luke will play his final dates of his record-breaking headline engagement at Resorts World Las Vegas, “Luke Bryan: VEGAS,” with six remaining shows — including New Year’s Eve!! — on December 29, 30 & 31, 2023 and January 3, 5 & 6, 2024. Tickets available at axs.com/lukeinvegas.

TG: Your tenure at Resorts World Las Vegas has been a huge success. Fans can still garner a seat; you have performances scheduled for late December and early January. It’s really a phenomenal and quite extraordinary show.

LB: We’ve worked long and hard to put together an incredible, high-energy show for the fans. I am so proud of how it turned out and I hope everyone who comes leaves there having as much fun as me.

My favorite place to be is on stage performing for country music fans. So thankful every night when I walk out on that stage and know you are there to have a blast along beside me. It never gets old.

Luke and NFL legend Peyton Manning recently hosted “The 57th Annual CMA Awards”; it’s a return engagement for these two talents and the show was a huge success. Next year Luke Bryan will return for a seventh season with Katy Perry and Lionel Richie as celebrity judges on ABC’s American Idol. January 17-20 Luke will headline two “Crash My Playa” concerts with special guest appearances by Dierks Bentley and Eddie Montgomery. Tickets are on sale now and there will be a host of additional performers. Log onto CrashMyPlaya.com to purchase packages and garner more information.

The post TG Coverguy: Luke Bryan appeared first on Travelgirl.

Carrie Underwood has won more than 100 awards including eight Grammys, 16 ACM Awards and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry when she was a mere 26 years old. She is the most awarded female country artist for singles in RIAA (the Recording Industry Association of America®) history. She has recorded 28 number one singles, sold more than 85 million records and has the honor of being the most awarded female country singer.

In 2013 Underwood performed Sunday Night Football’s theme song, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” which became a huge fan favorite. She’s starred in the NBC televised production of The Sound of Music playing the lead role of Maria.

This legendary luminary is also an entrepreneur and author. In 2014 Underwood launched CALIA, a line of fitness apparel, and in 2020 she penned released the self-help fitness and lifestyle book Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Fuel Your Soul, and Get Strong with the Fit52 Life, a New York Times best seller.

Travelgirl: We are honored to have you aboard Travelgirl Magazine. You were born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, raised on a farm and loved growing up there. Oklahoma’s so proud of their hometown girl! I was at the Oklahoma Centennial when you brought down the house!!! In 2017, you were inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Would you please talk about growing up in Oklahoma?

Carrie Underwood: Being raised in Checotah and in Oklahoma definitely shaped the person I am today. My parents taught me the importance of working hard and to always be grateful for what you have. I loved growing up on a farm as it taught me to appreciate the land, which probably helped plant the seeds for my love of land and gardening. Even now, when I visit my family in Oklahoma, I feel such a sense of peace. I can really just relax there.

TG: 2004 was a banner year for you. You were majoring in journalism and decided to try out for American Idol, which you won. You were on your way to stardom and you managed to return to school at Northeastern State University where you graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in mass communications. How did you manage stardom so early and what prompted you to go back and finish college? Would you please share a few memories from that time in your life?

CU: The decision to audition for American Idol changed the entire trajectory of my life. I loved music and performing, but at that point I was planning to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. The idea that everything that came after that was more than I could have even dreamed for, let alone think it could actually happen. It was all such a whirlwind, in the best possible way.

TG: You’ve sold over 85 million records worldwide. You’ve won a wealth of awards including eight GRAMMY Awards, 16 ACM Awards including winning Entertainer of the Year three times. You ended 2022 as Billboard’s top Country female. You are a New York Times bestselling author and successful entrepreneur. Seven of your albums are certified multi-platinum or platinum by the RIAA. You were inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2008 and were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018. How have you kept so grounded all these years? You are humble, gracious and give lots of time to worthwhile causes.

CU: Again, I credit my family with always teaching me to be grateful for the gifts God gives us and the blessings we enjoy every day. I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in my career but, more importantly, always remember the things that matter the most — faith, family, and gratitude.

TG: Please talk about your fitness app fit52, which you launched in 2020. Every Travelgirl will want to participate and get fit.

CU: fit52 is my app where I can share all the things I’ve learned about fitness and nutrition. My trainer, Eve Overland, and I have such a great time creating new content for the app and I love that we have created a community of people who want to share their journeys, whether they are just starting out on that path or are looking for new and different ways to approach working in working out into their lives.

TG: In December, 2021, you became the first artist to perform at the new Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas; you actually opened this marvelous venue. Your show, REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency, garners rave reviews and you constantly perform to sold-out crowds. You will be on stage at Resorts World in September, November 30 and December. Please talk about your sensational show and performing in this marvelous arena. You dazzle the audience each evening.

CU: I love having our ongoing residency, REFLECTION. As much fun as it is to be on the road, which we were earlier this year with The Denim & Rhinestones Tour, it’s great to be able to be in one place and to put on a show that we could never move from city to city on a concert tour. We have some incredible set pieces and effects. When we were creating REFLECTION, we knew we really needed to put on a show worthy of the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and the fun and energy of Nashville, and we’ve really accomplished that. I will always love being on the road and coming to the fans where they are, but it’s also really cool that we can be in Las Vegas for periods of time and perform a show we love for audiences who come from all over the world to see us.

TG: Do you have a favorite song and if so, what does it mean to you?

CU: Well, it’s not fair to choose one favorite… but of course Jesus, Take the Wheel will always have a special place in my heart. Not only was it the first single from my first album and the first hit, it just meant the world to be able to wear my faith on my sleeve and lay the groundwork for a career that melds who I am as a person and as an artist.

TG: Will you please talk about the C.A.T.S. Foundation and let our Travelgirl readers know how they can help.

CU: I wanted to create an organization that gave back to where I’m from, and helping to improve my hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma is extremely important to me. The C.A.T.S. Foundation (Checotah Animal, Town, and School Foundation) is all about giving back to the community I grew up in. We’ve helped out in all kinds of ways, from supporting the animal shelter, to the police and fire departments, to the schools (donating musical instruments and computer labs), and have been blessed enough to meet the needs of many different parts of the town. You can learn more about The C.A.T.S. Foundation on our website.

TG: Travelgirl readers will want to know if you have a favorite destination and what travel destinations are on Carrie Underwood’s bucket list.

CU: I’ve been so lucky to visit so many places here in the U.S. and around the world, I’m not sure I could pick just one. Anytime I’m able to squeeze in a little time for myself, I do love being near the water, whether it’s a pool, lake or the ocean. And visiting any vineyard anywhere always makes me a very happy girl.

TG: Do you have any sage advice for those young hopefuls out there who hope to one day walk in Carrie Underwood’s famous footsteps?

CU: Work hard and treat people the way you want to be treated. Always show up prepared and ready to do your job and never take a good opportunity for granted. Remember to have gratitude and humility.

TG: This month you are releasing Denim & Rhinestones (Deluxe Edition). What can we expect from that?

CU: I loved recording Denim & Rhinestones, which we released last year and we just couldn’t include everything we wanted to on the album. I knew I just had to extend the Denim & Rhinestones era so we are releasing the Deluxe Edition with six new tracks, on September 22.

TG: Tell us about your year-round channel, CARRIE’S COUNTRY, on SiriusXM.

CU: We launched CARRIE’S COUNTRY in June and it’s been so much fun getting to welcome listeners into my personal musical universe. I get to share my favorite music across all of the genres I love, from classic rock to the latest in country and a lot of special features highlighting everything from fitness to gardening, behind the scenes and more. fit52.com; thecatsfoundation.com

TG: Thank you for brightening all our lives.

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Story and Photos by Celina Colby

Cerulean Farm in Shelbyville, Kentucky, sits at the end of a gated drive lined with maple trees. The historic horse farm, dating back to the 1860s, is now a charming bed and breakfast and the home base of a nonprofit that rescues horses from difficult circumstances.

Cerulean encapsulates the magic of Shelby County: it’s rich in history, spilling over with natural beauty, and it’s female-owned. It turns out, women run Shelby County and the region is better off for it. We’re not just talking girl power bumper stickers and power suits. A visit to Shelby County inevitably means benefiting from the hard work and kindness of the female entrepreneurs dotting the district.

Shelby County is conveniently located 40 minutes from Louisville and an hour from Lexington. It’s smack dab in the middle of the Bourbon Trail and is home to a number of distilleries, including Bulleit. With just shy of 100,000 people, it’s the largest of Kentucky’s 95 counties and it strikes a perfect balance between expansive farmlands and urban conveniences like tasteful accommodations and au current restaurants.

Strolling along Main Street in Shelbyville, a boulevard so scenic it practically looks like it’s a movie set, visitors will take in the warm sunshine and note the beautiful dogwood trees lining the sidewalk. Those very dogwood trees are the subject of a town-wide festival in April featuring local craft vendors and artists, live music and delectable Southern cuisine.

A picture-perfect scene like this could only benefit from one thing: ice cream. Well, gelato to be more specific. Spotz Gelato is nestled in the heart of downtown and it’s pretty hard to miss. The bright pink polka-dotted interior is topped only by the taste of their award-winning banana pudding flavor. Owner Beth Richardson pioneered Spotz out of love for the depth of flavor found in gelato and the special charm of small-town ice cream shops. She now operates six locations in Kentucky, one in Las Penitas, Nicaragua, and a fleet of mobile gelato trucks, wagons and bikes.

Derby Hats and Horses
Once your sweet tooth is satisfied, pop across the street to The Polkadotted Pineapple Boutique. There’s no doubt you’re in Kentucky when you stroll into this women’s clothing boutique, because every spare corner or mannequin is sporting an elaborate Kentucky Derby hat. Shop owner Dori Lewis makes many of the hats herself, piling feathers and flowers onto fascinators in true Derby style. The tradition of wearing hats to the famous horse race was brought over to the U.S. from English and French horse races and some say the bigger the hat, the bigger the luck.

But long before you don your Derby hat and order a mint julep, the horses that race the Derby are training. Melanie Defler, owner of West Meadow Farm in Eminence, has been training thoroughbred winners for years. Visitors can tour the farm and meet some of the soon-to-be Derby competitors. Though Defler breeds and houses race horses, she also accepts rescues and finds new careers for horses that are past their racing prime.

The Derby is an important part of Kentucky’s history and culture, but some of the side effects have been less than productive. Jeanette Aumon, the owner of Cerulean Farm, is using her own rescue program not only to rehabilitate horses but also to preserve original horse breeds. Native quarter horses are much healthier in their original foundation breed than when bred with thoroughbreds in order to race. Watching so many happy horses gallop across Aumon’s fields, it’s hard to believe some of them could barely walk when they arrived in her care.

Not all souvenirs from this trip are horses’ kisses and dusty boots. The Shoppes at Blue Gables is a complex of small shops by local vendors and artists. Built in an old motel compound, the shops include clothing, handmade bath products, an art gallery and much more. Shelby County is also home to The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass, the only outlet in the entire state.

Bourbon? Of Course!
Alternatively, you could bring home a bottle of bourbon. After all, is it really Kentucky if you haven’t sipped a locally made Old Fashioned? Jeptha Creed is a unique stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour. Co-owned by master distiller mom Joyce Nethery and marketing manager daughter Autumn Nethery, the bourbon is distilled from bloody butcher corn grown by the Nethery family. The red corn, an unusual style for bourbon distilling, adds a richness of flavor to the beverage.

Start your visit to Jeptha Creed with a barrel tasting. You’ll be brought out to the barrel rooms where all the bourbons age. Sitting in leather armchairs, wrapped in furs in the cooler months, you’ll sample limited edition bourbons and learn about the company’s history. If you visit on a Sunday, Jeptha Creed’s lavish brunch Bloody Mary is a must. It comes with the distillery’s hot pepper vodka and enough skewered food to feed four people. Your Instagram will never be the same.

Back at Cerulean Farm you can nap off your trip along the bourbon trail or enjoy tea and homemade cookies on the year round porch. Aumon may join you to check in on your stay or she may be out caring for her horses, photographing local animals, educating students about equine health and generally saving the world. That’s women’s work in Shelby County.

visitshelbyky.com

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Atlanta has almost an embarrassing amount of fun things to do. From professional and college sports teams, to world-class museums, to parks, innovative restaurants, the BeltLine to concerts and festivals, we humbly admit that we have it all.

And, now even more! Yes, a number of new and exciting restaurants and activities have entered the city so that no matter where one is located — Westside, Eastside, Midtown, Buckhead and Downtown — there is more to do than ever to have a great time in the ATL.

RESTAURANTS
Atlanta has a firm grasp on what’s happening in the restaurant biz. First off, let’s congratulate Terry Koval of the Deer and the Dove for being awarded the Restaurant industry’s Oscar. Koval was just named the 2023 Best Chef Southeast by the James Beard Foundation. Other local 2023 James Beard semi-finalists include: Clinton Gray, Derrick Moore and Emanuel Reed for Slim & Husky’s Pia Berria, Lyla Lila (for its wine program); Ticonderoga Club (hospitality); Buena Gente Cuban Bakery; and Ronald Hsu and Aaron Phillips (Lazy Betty), Jiyeon Lee and Cody Taylor (Heirloom Market BBQ), Sahar Siddiqi (Chai Pani) and Deborah VanTrece (Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours).

Among the big news for the area was the opening of Nobu, the famous celebrity-favored sushi restaurant, and the Nobu Atlanta hotel. Both became instant hits among locals and outof-towners. Nobu is located across from Phipps Plaza, one of the country’s most exclusive shopping malls, which recently underwent a renovation. Part of the renovation was the recently opened Citizens Market Atlanta, a 25,000-square-foot immersive culinary destination that includes a culinary market with eight chef-driven brands and a full, indoor and outdoor bar. The variety of food offerings are fast casual options ranging from modern American to Asian-fusion.

Speaking of celebrities, Marcus Samuelsson, the acclaimed chef behind restaurants including the Red Rooster Harlem, and winner of eight James Beard Foundation awards, recently opened Marcus Bar & Grille, which serves elevated comfort classics and signature dishes. Located in the funky neighborhood of Edgewood Avenue (don’t forget to go to the nearby Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium), the restaurant shows why Samuelsson has prepared dishes for former President Obama.

We’re excited by downtown’s R3 Rosendale Concepts, a restaurant by award-winning and Certified Master Chef® Rich Rosendale (only one of 72 in the country) with menus inspired from local cuisine, seasonal ingredients and the personal experiences of the R3 team. Everything about the restaurant is impeccable: the flexible and creative menu, the service as well as the decor. There’s also live music every night.

Deborah VanTrece continued her history of fabulous restaurants with the opening of La Panarda, which showcases her love of Italian cuisine, in the revitalizing Cascade Heights area. Follow the yellow brick road (literally) to Amore e Amore, a Ponce Highland restaurant that takes its themes, well, very seriously. Currently it’s a Wizard of Oz theme, complete with Dorothy, the Tin Man and lots of Wicked Witch hats decoratively and literally filling every inch of this great Italian restaurant. Themes change, so you must keep going back.

Other new restaurants making waves are: Zakia Modern Lebanese Restaurant in Buckhead, Brassica in the Waldorf Astoria, Wicked Wolf Sports Pub & Club and Johnny’s Chicken & Waffles, both in Midtown. Last but not least, we need to give a nod to the Fishmonger, named one of Esquire’s best new restaurants, with two locations.

Check out the Summerhill neighborhood near the former Turner Field, (now the Georgia State Stadium) for a variety of great food and drink options such as Little Bear for international fare, Wood’s Chapel BBQ or Halfway Crooks Beer for great craft beer.

Of course, we can never forget Atlanta’s favorites including the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group, the Livingston Restaurant & Bar (which re-opened after three years), Bazati on the BeltLine, Ray’s in the City, Aria, Thumbs Up Diner, The Optimist, Atlas, and Nan Thai Fine Dining.

ENTERTAINMENT
Pullman Yards, in the Kirkwood neighborhood, has come on strong lately as a fun spot with two great restaurants (Fishmonger and Dailies & Sides), pickleball, as well as concerts, and special events such as Jurassic World the Exhibition. But its latest addition is AlcoHall, a food hall for drinks. AlcoHall features seven stalls with different alcohol brands offering everything from wine, whiskey to beers on tap.

Föwling Warehouse, located on the Westside, is the only place in Georgia to play föwling, a combination football, bowling and horseshoe game. There’s also a great bar, games, pub food and has a dog-friendly outdoor patio. Located at The Works on the Westside, Your 3rd Spot has it all — great food and drinks and games — lots of games — more than 80, in fact. Explore the shops, restaurants and activities over at Atlantic Station.

PuttShack in the Interlock complex on the Westside still delights with tech-infused mini golf and great food and drinks. While on the roof is L.O.A. Rooftop, which offers some of the best views of the city, a beautiful pool (day pass or membership pass) and Restaurant L.O.A., a fantastic restaurant. Other new entertainment entries into Atlanta include the Sloomoo Institute, a slime and sensory play experience, Painted Pickle, a boutique bowling bar, Beat the Bomb and Flight Club Atlanta, an interactive social darts destination.

Explore the wonders of the ocean at the Georgia Aquarium where you can have an immersive shark, sea lion and ray interactions. The Aquarium inspires, educates and entertains guests about aquatic biodiversity through its hundreds of exhibits and tens of thousands of animals across seven galleries.

Westside Motor Lounge is a dynamic indoor-outdoor culinary and entertainment experience near the Westside BeltLine Connector. Westside Motor Lounge is an adaptive resuse project that features a restaurant We could go on and on… but we really (honestly) don’t want to brag.

Be sure to explore bustling Brookhaven where you will find a wealth of locally owned restaurants, exceptional shops and a vibrant arts scene. Don’t miss the opportunity to shop at Brookhaven’s Farmer’s Market. Open every Saturday morning, 9AM – 12PM at 1375 Fernwood Circle NE, 30319, stalls are filled with fresh fruits, vegetables and more. Brookhaven also sports Food Truck Nights. Join the crowds flocking to try the fare on the last Wednesday of the month and enjoy live music, food trucks, and activities for the kids. Be sure to bring blankets and chairs and check the weather before you head out.

Trendy restaurants, including Haven and Petite Violette, savvy shops and a fabulous vibe make Brookhaven the place to see and be see.

The post HOMETOWN: ATLANTA, GEORGIA appeared first on Travelgirl.

Story by Mary WeIch Photos by Grady McGill

In the United States, they’re called the “Flyover States.” In Canada, it’s all about “VTM” or Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Everything else, according to coastal elites, doesn’t matter.

But, as anyone who has ever had a jelly donut or an Oreo knows, the best part is in the middle. And, that is certainly true of Winnipeg, the crown jewel of the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 1,600 miles from Vancouver and 2,300 miles from Montreal. Winnipeg is a city with heart, grit, culture, charm, quirks, authenticity and surprising diversity. There are more than 100 languages spoken, resulting in great ethnic mom-and-pop restaurants.

Come to Winnipeg and you’ll discover what others already know — it’s cool! Winnie-the-Pooh (AKA Winnipeg Bear) is from Winnipeg as was William Stephenson, the martini-swilling, gadget-loving, romancing spy that Ian Fleming used as his model for James Bond. Homer Simpson is an honorary “Pegger” because creator Matt Groening named the character after his father, Homer, who hailed from — you guessed it! South Park even has an Earl of Winnipeg. And, the list goes on and on.

So, a visit to this city and Manitoba should be on every traveler’s list — especially if you’re cool. It’s a unique Canadian adventure and introduction to a city and province that are making a comeback with a vengeance with world-class museums, great shops, scenic beauty, and good old Canadian humorous self depreciation.

Yes, it’s cold!
Even some Peggers questioned our desire to visit the Great White North in March and, after one particularly blustery day, we did too! But, we’re glad we persevered and learned to, as someone said, “lean into the winter.” Embrace it. Make lemonade out of lemons — even if it’s frozen lemonade..

A visit to Winnipeg should start with an informative, comprehensive and entertaining Winnipeg Trolley Company tour that takes you to a chocolate shop in the French section and to an alley where the garages are painted with wildlife — and everything in between.

We were disappointed that we missed ice skating on the River Skating trail where people skate, walk, ride a fat tire bike or kicksled with an occasional stop at a warming station. The trail stretches 3.7 miles on both the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, and yes, a Zamboni grooms it daily. Skating ended the day before we arrived as the temperatures started inching up toward freezing.

Lots of snow also lends itself to creativity and dozens of ice sculptures dotted the city, some heroic in nature, others whimsically creative. Although we looked nightly, we were a little too far south to see the Northern Lights and should have added an extra day to take the train to Churchill, where the lights seem to perform nightly.

Of course, Canadians do love sports and while you’re there enjoy a game of hockey either with the NHL team, the Winnipeg Jets (be sure to order a Jumbo Jet Dog) or the AHL team, the Manitoba Moose.

Outdoor spa
A local favorite is Thermëa by Nordik Spa-Nature, a wellness spa that eliminates toxics, releases adrenaline and gets the endorphins flowing. All of that happens with a routine of sitting in a sauna or steam room, then plunging into an icy pool followed by two rounds of hot tubs (one lukewarm, the other hot) and then relaxing (heated stone beds). Repeat — twice. The pool and hot tubs are outside, so you are literally in a bathing suit walking from station to station in freezing weather. The ritual is based on a 2,000-year-old Nordic tradition and afterwards you are refreshed, exhilarated, and ready to have a drink and lunch at Restö, the spa’s restaurant, and one of the best meals of our trip.

Museums and a Zoo
The city has world-class museums, notably the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the world’s first museum dedicated to human rights. The 10 galleries offer insights into understanding human rights from a number of perspectives including women, indigenous people, Canadian, and the Holocaust. But it also showcases how to make a difference, speak out and understand the fragility of human rights. It truly was inspiring and we took the call to action to heart.

The locals have taken to heart acknowledging human rights as they frequently pay tribute to the area’s ancestral lands and various tribes including the Ojibway, Inninewak (Cree), Métis, Anishinnewak (Oji-Cree) Dene and Dakota peoples. Many signs on buildings note they were built on ancestral lands.

Another must-see is the Manitoba Museum, a human and natural history museum that tells the province’s story from rare 90-million-year-old fossils to a Cree settlement, to a teepee or Red River house and the Nonsuch Gallery, to viewing the Nonsuch, the ship that helped start the Hudson’s Bay Company. Honestly fascinating and well done.

Winnipeg has been the epicenter of trade and commerce dating back to the Indigenous nations. Get the scoop by visiting the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada with more than 90 historic aircraft and 70,000 artifacts, texts and photographs. Our favorite was the replica of the Avrocar, a joint U.S.-Canadian attempt at a top-secret flying saucer that never got off the ground — literally and figuratively.

The 80-acre Assiniboine Park Zoo is the perfect way to explore the animals of the world, but particularly of the north. Although there are a number of exhibits, it’s the Journey to Churchill exhibit that is the most exciting. It’s the most comprehensive northern species exhibit in the world, and you can view foxes, seals, snowy owls, musk, reindeer and arctic foxes in what is close to their natural habitat. Of course, the two polar bears who stepped out of their cave to say hi made our day.

Continuing our journey into nature, we Ubered to The Leaf, a botanical garden that showcases the plants of four distinct worlds. The tropical biome overflowed with tropical plants and the country’s largest indoor waterfall, while the Mediterranean biome features plants from Greece, Italy as well as South Africa and southwest Australia. You can also interact with butterflies at the magical Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden as they flutter around you.

Let’s eat!
We stayed at the Fairmont Winnipeg, ideally suited between the downtown area (we walked to the Jets game) and the Forks National Historic Site. The hotel’s luxury was in full view and we loved the hot cider in the evening and breakfast in the Velvet Glove restaurant.

As we mentioned, Winnipeg’s culinary diversity is front and center with an eclectic selection of eateries including Corrientes (Argentina pizza with a Canadian twist featuring toppings such as pickerel cheeks and corn) and Clementine’s, a hipster place with classic brunch dishes. Definitely try the smoked Arctic Char with crispy potato cakes, horseradish, creme fraîche and cured dill cubes. Feast Cafe Bistro is one of the few Indigenous-owned and operated restaurants in Canada that is rooted in First Nations cuisine and prepared in a traditional manner. Chef/owner Christa Bruneau-Guenther oversees a menu featuring Saskatoon berry smoothies, elk stew, braised bison ribs, pickerel and buffalo lasagna.

Have your pick at the Forks Market. The Forks is Manitoba’s top tourist attraction that offers year-round shopping, activities and a slew of dining options, including Sri Lankan specialities and fish and chips (our choices).

Tabula Rasa is a charming tapas restaurant while the pizza is wonderful at Cibo Waterfront Cafe. Nearby is Patent 5 Distillery that distills gin and vodka using Manitoban wheat and barley and serves innovative cocktails based on Zodiac signs. It’s local all the way and worth a try.

Manitoba
While we only stayed in Winnipeg, Manitoba deserves a shoutout. We truly intend to go back and take the train up to Churchill (there are no roads) to spot polar bears and beluga whales (it’s in the migration paths of both). The Northern Lights (bucket list) are visible up to 300 nights of the year.

For those who love nature, Manitoba has it all — from the arctic tundra, Hudson Bay coastline, fresh lakes, prairie and a dense boreal forest — and it’s a world-class place to fish, camp and hike.

Both Winnipeg and Manitoba have new slogans. Winnipeg’s is “Made From What’s Real” that celebrates its what-you-see-is-whatyou-get mentality. Manitoba’s is “Canada’s Heart is Calling”.

Answer that call.

tourismwinnipeg.com
travelmanitoba.com

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