Season 2: Episode 3: Covering Country Roads
Behind-the-scenes of Country Roads magazines's cover selection process
In this episode, the DETOURS team is joined by Country Roads magazine's Creative Director, Kourtney Zimmerman, to discuss the less-than-precise process of choosing covers for our monthly print publication. James reminisces on days of cutting-and-pasting (with scissors and wax), everyone shares some of their favorite covers over the last 40 years, and we discuss the tensions of story vs. iconic image, fame vs. impact, and the old vs. the new—all of which contribute to our monthly slack channel voting sessions to choose the issue's most important image.
Meet Country Roads' Creative Director, Kourtney Zimmerman!
Kourtney has been with Country Roads—assisting in all things visual and artful—since 2017, and has been working professionally as a graphic designer since 2010. She's the talent behind our ad design, our web design, and our cover design. She is also an artist in her own right, and a maker of watercolor paints. See her artwork on her Instagram @Kozpaints, and shop her handmade watercolor collection at kozpaints.etsy.com.
Listening/Reading List
Here, find articles and episodes that we either mentioned in the episode, or that we think might enrich and/or further the conversations we had.
Episode 1: "Well, we've done it, haven't we?" : Meet your editors-turned-podcast-hosts, and learn about how we got here
If you haven't already, listen to our first-ever episode of DETOURS—in which James Fox-Smith speaks more on the magazine's origins.
40 Stories From 40 Years : In celebration of Country Roads' Anniversary, our editorial team reached into the archives
This collection of forty stories from over the course of the magazine's forty years in publication includes some of the archive's most fabulous covers, often created by our region's most illuminative artists and photographers.
In Memoriam: Anna Macedo, 1947–2021
Anna Macedo was an integral part of establishing Country Roads' original patchwork, home-hewn aesthetic, and was the creator of some of our most iconic covers. In this story, you'll also find James Fox-Smith's account of his first ever cover-making experience, which required a heroic last minute creation by Anna herself.
1983: Dorcas's First Reflections—When Dorcas Woods Brown introduced Country Roads to the world
See Anna Macedo's first ever Country Roads cover showcased in this celebration of our 40th anniversary, featuring a reprint of Dorcas's original Reflections column.
February 2016 Cover: In the Pink
In the episode, James mentions this iconic Country Roads cover from Spanish Town Mardi Gras, following our 2016 redesign.
January 2018 Cover: The Catahoula
In the episode, Alex recalls this iconic cover by Kourtney Zimmerman, from January 2018, our 35th anniversary.
On the Cover: Perpetual Motion, from the “Playing with Arsenic” series, 2011—2013, by Jamie Baldridge
This piece of art photography by Jamie Baldridge is one of Jordan's favorite Country Roads covers.
On the Cover: Cheri Fry's "Existence"
In the episode, the team discusses how this cover came to feature in our September 2022 issue—the first issue we'd decided to cover visual and performing arts together in.
On the Cover: Denny Culbert, "Crawfish Seasoned"
This April 2016 "Festival Issue" cover by Denny Culbert is one of Kourtney's favorites.
On the Cover: Born on the Edge of the World, by Katie Barnes
Our June 2022 "Our Natural World" Cover, featuring Wilson's Plover chicks who decided to be born days before the issue went to press, and immediately won our hearts during cover selection.
The Battle between the Buttons & the Skateboards
For our January 2023 issue, there was much debate about which story, and accompanying photographs, to feature on our cover : the iconic Grandmother's Buttons, or the Hammond skateboard scene? Classic or alternative? Beauty or action?
We ultimately landed on this beautiful image from Grandmother's Buttons, but the call was a close one.
On the Cover: Musical Odysseys—Mahmoud Chouki
After Chouki expressed to Alex in an interview his disappointment at being passed over for cover at another publication because he was less famous than another artist, we were thrilled when Brei Olivier's portraits of him immediately elevated his story to top contender for our February 2023 Music Issue's cover.
On the Cover: The Kids Are Alright—Kylie Malveaux
After debating whether to feature this striking image of Tunica-Biloxi youth Kylie Malveaux, who is emerging as a leader in the cultural preservationist movement of her tribe, on our May 2023 cover—or to feature a more famous culture bearer and musician, this incredible portrait by Olivia Perillo ultimately won out.
Meet Your Co-Hosts
James Fox-Smith is the Publisher of Country Roads magazine, and has been on the masthead since 1995 when he followed a Louisiana girl (Country Roads' Associate Publisher Ashley Fox-Smith) to her hometown of St. Francisville to take over her mother's magazine. The past two decades have made this Aussie into a true Louisianan, as passionate and knowledgable about the intricacies of this region's culture as any bayou-born Cajun. Overseeing the company for much of its forty-year history, he's worn almost every hat the magazine has to offer, from sales to editorial to marketing—and writes a monthly publisher's column, titled "Reflections" which you can peruse, here. You also might catch him hosting the Louisiana Public Broadcasting's weekly series Art Rocks!—which spotlights artists, performance, culture, literature, history and the impact of art in our world.
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot is the Managing Editor of Country Roads magazine, and has been a part of the editorial team since 2018. Born and raised in the heart of Acadiana, she came to Country Roads with a passion for Louisiana storytelling. She holds a degree in English from Louisiana State University, where she received the 2018 Sarah Sue Goldsmith Award for Nonfiction. In addition to her work at Country Roads, she has published stories in regional and international publications including inRegister, Atlas Obscura, and the Oxford American. Her first book Home of the Happy: A murder on the Cajun Prairie, will be published by Mariner Books in 2025.
Alexandra Kennon is the Arts & Entertainment Editor at Country Roads since 2020, and has been writing and photographing stories about Southern culture, cuisine, history, and art for the magazine since 2016. She holds degrees in Journalism and Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans, where she was Managing Editor of Pacemaker-winning university newspaper The Maroon, and could typically be found flitting between the newsroom and black box theatre. She has acted in productions ranging from independent festival films to Tennessee Williams world-premiere stage productions, and previously led historical, culinary, and cultural tours of New Orleans. Her book Classic Restaurants of New Orleans, published by Arcadia/The History Press with a foreword by Walter Isaacson, is available most places one finds books.