Visitors pay their respects to the late Rep. John Lewis as his body lies in state on the U.S. Capitol steps on Tuesday. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

“In the final analysis, we are one people, one family, one house—not just the house of black and white, but the house of the South, the house of America,” said John Lewis in a 2015 interview with G&G. The seventeen-term Georgia congressman and civil rights icon died on July 17 at the age of 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. This past weekend, a funeral procession carried Lewis’s body across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where he survived a brutal beating during the 1965 march for voting rights. His body currently lies in state at the U.S. Capitol, and on Wednesday will lie in state at the Georgia State Capitol, where lawmakers and the public can pay respects before a private celebration of life takes place at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Thursday. Read the G&G interview with Lewis here. —Caroline Sanders

For decades, the Newport Folk Festival has played host to some of music’s biggest moments, from the time Bob Dylan went electric in ’65 to when the Highwomen made their Dolly-tastic stage debut last year. Although the festival canceled in-person events for 2020, the show will go on with a livestream benefit, broadcasts of past performances, and a new film, Our Voices Together, with never-before-seen performances from Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Brittany Howard, Chris Thile, James Taylor, and more musicians. The film premieres at 8:30 p.m. Eastern this Sunday, August 2, and will be viewable for free on fans.com for 48 hours. Like what you hear and see? Donate to the Newport Festivals Foundation to support the organization’s ongoing arts outreach—and to ensure that the music plays on next year.
—Dacey Orr Sivewright

We challenged readers to re-create Brian Noyes’s decadent caramel cake from the cover of our August/September 2020 issue and then asked them to post the results with the tag #GGCoverCake. We’ve seen some great ones and checked in with two Southerners who baked their own cover-worthy cakes over the weekend. Both Malinda Kay Nichols of Birmingham, Alabama, and Marianne Jennings of Knoxville, Tennessee, report tasty results: “The whole thing went that day,” Jennings says. The women share some favorite touches, such as the pecans and the homemade caramel in the cake batter, and they agree on which step was the trickiest: making the caramel. “You cannot look away,” says Nichols, who burned her first batch while posting a video of the bubbling goodness to Instagram. But both bakers concur—they’ll be making the cake again soon. Read more about the bake-off and see photos of readers’ cakes here. —Lindsey Liles

You know Hatch Show Print posters when you see them. With distinctive block lettering and hand-carved-and-pressed imagery, the nostalgic prints are as synonymous with Southern music and culture as Nashville itself. A fixture of Music City since 1879, the letterpress printshop has produced iconic tour posters for the likes of Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Kacey Musgraves, not to mention custom works for cinemas, music venues, sporting events, and political campaigns in Tennessee and beyond. Today, the storied printshop still relies on its original presses and an archive of blocks, including the circa-1885 alphabet set used to create the classic Exclamation Print. The Hatch collection spans vintage music posters and punchy home decor, all inked and printed by hand. Click here to shop.

Turn boiled peanuts, the classic Southern roadside snack, into a dinnertime side dish. Anthony DiBernardo, the pitmaster at South Carolina’s Swig & Swine barbecue, says his salad is an entry point for anyone skittish about the beloved yet squishy Southern legume. “Once you’ve got corn, tomatoes, boiled peanuts, and a bacon dressing going on and hitting so many spots on your palate,” DiBernardo says, “if it’s the boiled peanuts that turn you off, you have issues.” Get the recipe here.

We recently asked, “What song never fails to lift your spirits?”  A few of your responses:

The Band’s “The Weight.” You can’t help but sing along. —Celia C. 

“An American Dream” from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Linda Ronstadt doing some backup vocals. —Ray D.

Every time I hear “Blue Sky” by the Allman Brothers Band, I immediately get a smile on my face. —Bailey W. 

“You Are My Sunshine.” I know some of the verses are very sad, but it reminds me of bath time as a child when my mother would sing it to me. —Mary Jo G. 

“Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight & the Pips. —Julie M. 

“Gentle on My Mind” by Glen Campbell. Such a peaceful song. —Vance H.

Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel.” But Dolly Parton’s cover of “Seven Bridges Road” is a close second. —Tim G. 

Living in Ohio, I experience some very cold winters, so I play James Taylor’s “Carolina in My Mind” to lift my spirits. —Sharon W. 

“Werewolves of London,” by Warren Zevon. Ah-wooo… —Jere B.

Your spirits can’t possibly be down when you hear or sing “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks. —Gail R. 

Dolly Parton’s “My Tennessee Mountain Home.” It takes me back to summers in Bristol, Tennessee, before the speedway was there. —Charles R. 

“The Thrill Is Gone” by B. B. King. —Rich C.

“Still the One” by Orleans can always get me movin’ and singing. —Carol P. 

“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Diana Ross. —Michele M. 

“Homegrown Tomatoes” by Guy Clark. —Eric R.

Outside of “Amazing Grace,” “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong never fails to raise my spirits. —James C.