@davidyarrow

Storytelling, my new book published by Rizzoli, is coming out this fall. The book features more than 130 images, including this one in the chapter on Texas. I wanted this image to fully embrace the vibe of a honky-tonk bar in Texas, peopled by hard-working, hard-living cowboys whom David Allen Coe made pivotal to his songwriting. John Steinbeck - the American literary giant - wrote, “I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion.” I get it, and cowboy culture is core to that religion. To try to immerse oneself in Texan culture and not spend time with true cowboys is akin to holidaying in Italy and eating at Burger King rather than the local trattoria. I needed a strong lead and Roxanna Redfoot does this so well. She is comfortable with playing badass, and she can do it with no real effort, which is why we so often cast her. She is not in character - she is just herself. Sometimes one person can kill an image, but that evening in Bandera, in the Hill Country of Texas, everyone nailed it. The saloon is the Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar, where so many legendary country music singers have passed by and sang. By the bar downstairs, there is an open door, and that gave me the chance to play with a little ambient light.