My name is Jeff. I grew up in Chicago. I now live in Nashville, TN, where I’m a songwriter and record producer. I like good coffee, great restaurants, the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Bears, anything F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, and the Beatles. I like all that. However, I am madly in love with my Converse Chuck Taylor shoes.
Right now, I own 5 pairs that I rotate between. I want 7…one for each day of the week. I think I have 3 or 4 additional pairs in “worn too much/beat to death” retirement. I wear them all the time. On stage, in the studio, at a bar, on a date…wherever. If you meet me, there’s a 96.8% chance I’m wearing Chucks. If I’m not, I’m also probably wearing a suit and tie, and wishing I was instead wearing a pair of my favorite shoes.
Chuck Taylor’s are both completely classic and completely modern. They tie you to the past, yet you can still write your own story in them. You want to channel Pistol Pete Maravich on the basketball court in the 60s? Chucks. Are you a Silverlake hipster rocking skinny jeans? Better have Chucks. Want to be hip hop? Yep…Chucks are there too. Are you the introspective songwriter type? You know it…Chucks. Want to find a way to express your own individual fashion ideal within a context our culture has known and loved for 50 years? It’s Chucks.
Just like the guitar, Chucks will never go out of style, they will never not be cool. If you don’t have a pair, slap yourself and get one. If you do have a pair, get another. How many pairs is too many? I don’t even understand that question.
Meanwhile, I’ll be in Nashville trying to write a great song and drinking coffee from Crema. Perhaps I’ll see you there.
Check out Jeff’s Twitter Page @jeffpardo