Lawns, Koozies, & Rock Stars
🗓️ Updated July 2025
Like most of my best ideas, this one came to me somewhere between a rock concert and a cold beer. I was standing in line at a merch table, watching people drop fifty bucks for a band shirt like it was the last corndog at the Ozark Empire Fair, when it hit me:
“How cool would it be if people lined up for a ClassicLawns shirt?”
But let’s be real—nobody’s lining up for a lawn care shirt unless it says something really cool. That’s when I came up with our creed: GROWING GRASS AND SMOKING WEEDS. Sure, it’s got a double meaning, but my tongue was planted firmly in cheek when I wrote it. And to my surprise? People loved it—and not just Bob Marley and Snoop Dogg fans.
We put it on T-shirts, koozies, magnets—you name it. We’ve sold hundreds of shirts and thousands of koozies. Most folks get the joke—and once they do, they smile. They remember us. When you come up with a great slogan, you hope it helps you pick up some lawns, sticks in people’s heads, and maybe even becomes popular. But I never imagined just how far it could go.
My wife and I are regulars at shows by a hard-working band called The Black Moods. The lead singer, Josh, is
from just down the road in Wheaton. Over time, we’ve swapped merch, shared beers, and he’s ended up with a few of our famous koozies. Josh starts spending more time in L.A., playing gigs and making connections. At some point, he becomes friends with a guy named Nick. Nick’s dad is a very well-known musician. He sees Josh’s koozie one day, gets a good laugh, and says something like:
“That’s clever. Great marketing gimmick.”
So Josh gives Nick’s dad the koozie. We didn’t plan on that koozie going anywhere special… it just happened.
So now, one of my koozies is in the hands of none other than the one and only Gene Simmons—the fire-breathing, bass-slinging, tongue-wagging legend of KISS.
14-year-old Cary would be so proud.
LA’s a long drive…but if Gene ever needs lawn care, I’ll load up the spreader and head west.
He hasn’t called… Yet.
– Cary Carlson
ClassicLawns
