Timberland's Made for the Modern Trail With Jamie N Commons

Since launching in 1973, Timberland’s influence has extended far beyond the realm of its outdoorsy roots. Perhaps no piece of footwear has endured the test of time like the fabled 6-Inch Boot while countless coveted collaborative endeavors — with everyone from Supreme to Stussy to Billionaire Boys Club’s Bee Line — have cemented the brand in the consciousness of the fashion world. Key to that evolution from hard-wearing, workwear-centric company to contemporary street mainstay is the simple fact that nothing feels impossible when you’re rocking a pair of Timbs. This inimitable feeling is especially true for Timberland’s creative, independent, trailblazing MarkMakers, and the likes of modern day bluesman Jamie N Commons.

Born in Bristol before relocating to Chicago at the age of six, Commons’s formative exposure to the unadulterated soul of American blues and New Orleans-style swamp rock directly led to the superlative sound of his music today — a unique blend of old school blues and modern production with a raspy baritone not unlike those of Johnny Cash, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen. Taking a break from putting the finishing touches on his major label debut, Commons sat down with HYPEBEAST to help launch Timberland’s Made for Modern Trail campaign. Hitting the most modern trail of all, New York City, Commons talked everything from touring and pre-show rituals and performing in the Big Apple and the mixing of the old and the new — the perfect parallel to Timberland’s style and Commons’s approach to music.