For years, she was known to the general public primarily as Alan Jackson’s wife, but with It’s All About Him: Finding the Love of My Life, Denise Jackson made a name for herself as a New York Times bestselling author. Now, Jackson has written a new inspirational book, The Road Home, which relates how faith helped her deal with tough situations.

Her publisher wanted to pull out the core messages from her autobiography and put them in more of a short-story form. “It could be more like a devotional-type thing, where you could read two or three pages at a time,” Jackson says. “I think this will really appeal to women graphically, because it’s got beautiful pictures. I added scriptures and some inspirational quotes from people I’ve been encouraged by.”

Jackson says her favorite nugget of wisdom in the book involves the power of prayer.

  (more…)

“I kind of always had a romantic notion about what Nashville was like,” says Katy Kattleman, better known as the fashion designer Katy K. “It’s funny, I thought Nashville people were going to be dressed in Western all the time and I’d find Nudie suits in thrift stores.”

Beginning in the early ’80s and after attending fashion school, Kattelman began making and selling her own designs at a trendy hotspot in New York. When stylish petty coats became all the rage, she found herself dressing the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Whitney Houston. She quickly found herself moving up the fashion chain and continued to hold onto her love for Western wear and ’50s style. By the time the mid ’90s rolled around, Tower Records was taking over her building and she began feeling the crunch of high-priced New York rent. So, she packed her bags and fashion expertise and made the big move to Music City.

From the time she opened, she’s helped dress the likes of Dixie Chicks, Alan Jackson, Emmylou Harris, Nicole Kidman, Montgomery Gentry and Jack White, to name a few. “When Porter Wagoner came in last summer, I was so excited,” she said. “He was just so nice and just to see somebody like that. I meet so many different people in the store and it still is a thrill for me.”

Kattleman’s clothing isn’t simply limited to Western wear. She designs and/or sells burlesque garments, 50s and 70s influenced attire, rockabilly wear, Manuel-inspired suits, vintage apparel, children’s clothing, unique boots, hats, belt buckles and custom-designed clothing. “I adapted a lot when I came down here,” she said. “It wasn’t what I thought Nashville was going to be but I really like it. I like the way things have turned out.”

Well-known Nashville restaurant critic and music writer Kay West has been mixing country music and country cooking for years. With her new cookbook, Around the Opry Table: A Feast of Recipes and Stories from the Grand Ole Opry (Center Street, $24.99), she’s combined food, music and Grand Ole Opry history in one package.

Around the Opry Table includes recipes from country superstars and legends, including Martina McBride’s White Chili, Brad Paisley’s Fishin’ Supper, Alan Jackson’s Pimento Cheese Salad and Minnie Pearl’s Chess Pie. But unlike a conventional cookbook, it also includes stories and photos from Opry members, such as how McBride began making her chili for her crew when they grew tired of catering on the road. “There’s not a single picture of food in the book,” says West. “All the photos are of artists, along with vintage photos from the Opry.”

West searched the Opry archives for photos and recipes in an effort to create more than just your average country cookbook. As publicist for George Strait for many years, West says, “I was always getting asked for a recipe from George for various cookbooks, and I’d always give them George’s King Ranch Chicken recipe,” says West. “I’ve seen that recipe everywhere. So when I started this book I wanted to get recipes that hadn’t been used everywhere else.”

Being a thorough researcher, West naturally had to sample the concoctions. “I tried almost all of them,” she says. “You have check them out, especially because on some of the older ones you have to adapt the measurements. For example, Texas Ruby’s recipe called for a box of marshmallows. And a couple just said a can of this or that, and I really needed them to be a little more specific.”

Her favorites? “I think Martina’s chili is really good, and Marty Stuart’s mother’s applesauce cake is really good. And Alison Krauss’ Pretty Good for a Yankee Chicken Pot Pie really is pretty good for a Yankee!”