ROUTE Magazine to launch Feb. 1

Brennen Matthews, a principal figure behind the upcoming ROUTE Magazine, today posted this message and the above image out on social media:

“ROUTE Magazine, the new high quality bi-monthly print title has begun its official launch campaign. The magazine will be focused on US road travel, vintage Americana and Route 66 and be found nationwide in Barnes and Noble stores, in numerous motel and hotel rooms along Route 66, and for international readers, online via its digital version and platform. The official ROUTE Magazine website launches in late January and the print version of the magazine will be on shelves on February 2018. ROUTE is set to bring something new and fresh to lovers of road travel and Route 66 with its storytelling style and focus. Their tagline says it all: We have some stories to tell.”

Answering follow-up questions via email, Matthews said the official launch date for the magazine is Feb. 1. He said he hopes to have the ROUTE Magazine website launched by Jan. 15 at this URL, but it could be later in the month. For now, the magazine’s internet presence is found on Facebook.

Matthews said he likes the billboards along Route 66 leading up to Meramec Caverns in Missouri and the Jackrabbit Trading Post in Arizona. So he adapted the idea for today’s social-media message to build anticipation for the premiere issue of the magazine.

Matthews also wrote:

“I am keen that ROUTE is not merely a commercial magazine, but a platform to promote the people and places along Route 66 and other great road travel destinations such as the Lincoln Highway, Pacific Coast Highway, Hwy 93 and the like. We want to use the magazine and website to bring like-minded people together to really tell their stories and promote great history, culture, geography and businesses.”

Matthews provided a sneak peek to Route 66 News of the magazine’s inaugural cover, which teased to these stories inside:

• A one-on-one interview with “Route 66: The Mother Road” author Michael Wallis
• “On the Road: 19 Great Places to Stay”
• Jim Hinckley’s America
• “The Savior of Amboy: Albert Okura”
• “The Quirky Side of the Mother Road in Pictures”

Matthews, a Kenya native, provided some of his publishing industry background on his website:

Brennen has worked with some of the entertainment industry’s most famous film, music and television actors, such as Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Andrea Bocelli, LL Cool J, Jennifer Connelly and Forest Whitaker, showcasing a more relatable, human side of these well-known personalities. Brennen has also partnered with publicity teams at major global studios like FOX, Warner Brothers, NBCUniversal, HBO, AMC, The Weinstein Company, and Disney-ABC. Brennen’s professional journey has resulted in a unique blend of skills with 12+ years of senior management, 16 years of freelance writing, and 7 years of Editor-in-Chief experience with East Africa’s award-winning Destination Magazine. As an avid enthusiast of literature, entertainment and photography – with a particular passion for the wilder side of continental Africa, and fabled Route 66 – you will find most of Brennen’s free time spent in the pages of great books, sojourning down roads less travelled, or seeking out quiet places.

(Image courtesy of Brennen Matthews)