MusicCityNashville.net: Dan Auerbach's First Annual Fish Fry Sizzles with the Best AmericanaFest Has to Offer in East Nashville

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Dan Auerbach's First Annual Fish Fry Sizzles with the Best AmericanaFest Has to Offer in East Nashville

by Rich and Laura Lynch

The first annual East Nashville Community Fish Fry hosted by Easy Eye Sound, Spotify and Luck Presents was by all accounts a sizzling and smashing success. The afternoon-long gathering was held on Thursday, September 15, 2022 as part of the AmericanaFest celebration of music and featured tasty food with fish and pizza creations from Red Perch and Sean Brock. The main draw, however was on the indoor stage at American Legion Post 82 when living legend Hank Williams, Jr. joined organizer Dan Auerbach and his group The Black Keys for a few unforgettable moments in Inglewood.

Dan Auerbach's First Annual Fish Fry Sizzles with the Best AmericanaFest Has to Offer in East Nashville

Dan Auerbach threw quite the party with the help of some of his friends.

Before the headliners and the surprise appearance by Bochephus happened the revelers in attendance were treated to a long and convincing set by the cute and spunky Nikki Lane who treaded perilously close to several wardrobe malfunctions inside the stuffy community center. But, that only added to her charm as she delivered hook laden hit after another including the intoxicating new single "First High" from her forthcoming record.

Hank Williams, Jr. on an American Legion stage? Yup, this happened.

Shortly before Hank, Dan and company took the stage the lights dimmed rendering our photos from the night something less than Getty quality. Still, it's the music that matters and the players were seemingly going for a dank, smoky and swampy setting and that is exactly what they delivered. Williams emerged from the crowd, took a seat on the stage and proceeded to deliver a master class in southern blues running off four treatises on the genre - "Fireman Ring The Bell", "Rock Me Baby", "Take Out Some Insurance" and "Georgia Woman" - in quick succession. The Black Keys then wrapped up an unlikely afternoon's worth of entertainment by presenting their patented take on psychedelic jam rock that included "Stay All Night", "Coal Black Mattie", "Going Down South", "Poor Boor Long Way From Home" and "Crawling King Snake" before everyone slithered out the door on their way to the next showcase in town.

Nikki Lane is winning fans over with skimpy outfits and substantial songs.

More players throughout the day included Brit Taylor, Early James, Jon Muq, Robert Finley, Libby Decamp & Adam Schreiber and Nat Myers. There were plenty of celebrity sightings, too, as we saw - Kid Rock milling around by the backstage bus; up and comer Wade Sapp mingling with his fans; Mr. Mural himself Guthrie Trapp kicking back before heading back out on the road with John Oates; Mike Wolfe of American Pickers made this his pick of the day; and, West Virginia's Sierra Ferrell dancing up a storm obviously in a fine mood after taking home "Emerging Act Of The Year" at Wednesday night's award ceremonies. A complementary photo shoot, auctions for artist-signed guitars and posters and free tattoos from Kustom Thrills and local artist Kyle Frary helped insure that the first year fish fry would leave it's mark on the community. We can't wait until next year to see how they top this!