"There's something about a Sunday. Everything just seems a little bit more laid-back," muses Jessica Pawli when asked about the easy-going, welcoming feel of her long-running Southern Fried Sunday musical event series.
Indeed, before #SundayFunday was a rallying cry from every two-bit brunch spot in the known universe, Southern Fried Sunday was putting on events that lengthened out the feeling of weekend possibility and hijinks just that little bit more. SFS has been dulling the Monday dread for 16 years now with roots and Americana showcases paired up with strong spirits and fine Southern cuisine.
This weekend, Southern Fried Sunday hits peak rebellious teenage years with a bash scaled to match. The all-day affair will sprawl over all three stages at Will's Pub — the home to SFS for the last decade — and you can expect to see and hear from performers young and old, repeat SFS offenders and first-timers.
On offer are the Red Elvises (who also played SFS' 10th anniversary), Nervous Turkey, Skinny McGee & His Mayhem Makers, Kaleigh Baker & Matt Walker, Will Quinlan, Elizabeth Ward, Matt Woods & Lauris Vidal and more. JC's Soul Food Truck will be on hand to serve up thematically appropriate and delicious vittles. Attendees will also have a chance to (metaphorically, we're fairly certain) peer inside the brain of a musician during a recording of Woods' Songs Matter podcast on site, with Vidal and Woods talking the nuts and bolts of songwriting.
"He and Lauris will talk about their songwriting processes and what inspires them, and break down certain songs," enthuses Pawli. "Two stalwart musicians of Southern Fried Sunday, giving people the opportunity to gain insight into them as artists and as creatives, is really kind of cool."
Thinking back to the beginnings of Southern Fried Sunday years back, Pawli remembers not being able to find the shows that scratched all her diverse musical itches. So she worked to build them.
"It started as a spin-off of the popular Bluegrass Sundays at the Copper Rocket which had been going on for years before we turned it into Southern Fried Sunday. ... At the time, I was going out to see bands like Lucero and Drive By Truckers and Reverend Horton Heat and the HorrorPops. ... And we had some bands that would consistently open for them, but there didn't seem to be this local community getting behind all of the [local] roots music," says Pawli.
"I wanted to create Southern Fried Sunday and continue the tradition that was there in place but bring the music to new fans, and new music to current fans. For me, the goal was always to help bands build a fanbase, and help fans discover new music."
When thinking back on her favorite moments of the past 16 years, Pawli free-associates a short survey of some treasured memories — and don't get her started on the year they tried out Chickenshit Bingo (it is exactly what it sounds like).
"When we first moved Southern Fried Sunday over to Will's from Copper Rocket, those first few shows were really special. ... Dex Romweber Duo at the Copper Rocket. ... Some of the benefit shows that I did for the Mustard Seed. In July I would do a big Southern Fried Sunday. It always fell around my birthday. I would invite people to come celebrate with me, but make it a benefit to raise money to help people who were homeless in our community transition into a new home. So we teamed up with the Mustard Seed. ... There was one we did with a car show and a bike show and a pin-up girl show and stages all up and down Mills. ... We had a whisky tasting one in the parking lot of Wally's. American American headlined that one, and were like, 'We don't think we've ever played a show in the parking lot of a liquor store before.' ... I think every Southern Fried show is super special in its own way."
Pawli affectionately namechecks multi-appearance local performers like Beartoe and Rickey Dickens, but all roads seem to lead back to Central Florida musician Kaleigh Baker.
"I've worked with Kaleigh Baker for at least ... 13 years of the past 16 years," says Pawli. "And it's been amazing to see local acts like her who you wouldn't consider local anymore grow up while the event was growing up as well."
Baker tells OW, "I think I may have played one of the first iterations of this event. It was at the Copper Rocket over a decade ago and I was playing a short opening acoustic set.
"It was pivotal in a few facets of my development over the years. It was the first time I saw Nervous Turkey. It was the first time I saw the unmatched power of Terri Binion ... Ms. Binion became my most cherished mentor. I've had a string of beautiful music relationships forged as a result of playing Southern Fried Sunday."
For Pawli, the food served on site can be as important an element of the overall aesthetic as the music. She shouts out Swine & Sons, Uncle Jones Barbecue, local pitmaster Clay Watson and the aforementioned JC's Soul Food Truck as all-stars in providing the essential element of Southern and soul food.
"There's the experience of sharing a meal together, people breaking bread together," explains Pawli. "I think it brings people closer together."
Despite an unwavering focus on music that is reverential toward traditional American songcraft, Pawli has never been afraid of tweaking the Southern Fried Sunday format, from moving the event 10 years ago to trying new spins on the core concept — the Southern Belle Ball, the SFS-suffused Will's A Faire markets, Southern Punk Sunday or even taking the whole production virtual for some livestreams during the pandemic year of 2020. She's got a large audience willing to follow wherever she takes them aesthetically.
"Southern Fried Sunday is one of the city's most wonderfully organic traditions. It's gone from a folksy little local gathering to a regional draw, all while keeping that unmistakably familial vibe," says OW music columnist Bao Le-Huu, who's attended more than a few. "That soul there is what makes it such a special affair."
Pawli is looking forward as she looks back on Southern Fried Sunday's history.
"I want to keep doing Southern Fried Sunday but I think I want to do it in more unconventional ways ... in more unconventional spaces," says Pawli. "I like to push the limits. I'm always looking to go bigger, or do things in new ways. That's what I'm hoping for Southern Fried Sunday in the future."
In the very immediate future however, besides this week's anniversary affair, Pawli — under the Southern Fried Sunday umbrella — is teaming with Will's to host a multigenerational touring group of queer country artists, featuring Lavender Country, on March 25. There's apparently little sleep permitted when you're building a scene around the music you love.
We'll give Kaleigh Baker the last word, musing on the heart of SFS: "There's a hand — sometimes hands — that props up a scene. Someone to curate and nurture a growing, erratic, loud and beautiful being. Someone is putting the food on the table and burping the baby. The secret ingredient isn't the BBQ sauce, it's Jessica Pawli."
