Easy Eye Sound x Spotify x Luck Presents: First Annual East Nashville Community Fish Fry feat. The Black Keys & Hank Williams, Jr.

The First Annual East Nashville Community Fish Fry by Luck Presents in Partnership with Spotify and Easy Eye Sound featured surprise performances by The Black Keys, Hank Williams, Jr., Nikki Lane, Early James, Robert Finley, and more…

Hank Williams, Jr. The Black Keys

Best known for our yearly Luck Reunion on Willie Nelson’s Luck, TX ranch, we partnered with Spotify and renowned Nashville label and studio Easy Eye Sound for a special community event as part of this year’s Americanafest in Nashville, TN.

The event was capped off by an incredible surprise performance by The Black Keys, whose Dan Auerbach owns Easy Eye Sound.  The band played to a crowd of three hundred rapturous fans in what was easily a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone in the room.  Full image gallery can be found below.

The day also featured excellent performances by some of Americana’s best voices, including Hank Williams Jr., Nikki Lane, Early James, Robert Finley, Brit Taylor, Libby, Nat Myers, and Jon Muq.  

Luck departed from our annual mansion party for this first annual fish fry, featuring all day complimentary food from Nashville’s Red Perch, to partner with Easy Eye Sound and Spotify on the intimate event which also hosted celebrity chef Sean Brock making his amazing pizzas onsite for his charity The Sean Brock Foundation, and a Kustom Thrills tattoo stand featuring free tattoos from local artist Kyle Frary.  

The day also included auctions for artist-signed guitars and posters that benefitted the Luck Family Foundation, Luck Presents’ own charity that provides financial grant assistance and other resources to artists, organizations, and programs in need.

Photos by: Larry Niehues

Mary Ellen Matthews visits Luck

Luck has a funny way of bringing people you didn’t expect together, but when you’re there…it somehow makes sense how the pieces fall together. That couldn’t be any more true than when Mary Ellen Matthews, the photographer behind all the dynamic portraits you see at Saturday Night Live, walked through our gates for our 10th anniversary year of celebrating art out on the ranch.

How all these guests from different backgrounds and places come to us is a little bit different each time, but all typically have something in common: Someone they knew was already in our Luck Family - and they wanted to be a part of it. Mary Ellen was no different.

Now that we’re packed up for the season, we finally had a chance to catch up with each other and reflect on her time at Luck Reunion. 

Luck: This was your first time at Luck Reunion. What was your takeaway?

ME: I feel really lucky to be a part of it. I just kept thinking about how it was so magical. I couldn’t believe the amount of acts and spirit throughout the ranch. It was a beautiful environment to work in. You couldn’t ask for better weather, and music was always in the background. 

Luck: That’s amazing to hear! Was there anything you had heard about Luck before or come in with any preconceived notions?

ME: I’m a huge music fan and had heard about it before, just with the SNL schedule in the past I couldn’t get away. This year the schedule aligned perfectly. 

Also, you hear that it’s on a ranch, but it doesn’t really hit you until you’re driving in and there are literally horses to welcome you. 

Luck: We’re all about those magical alignments. Speaking of peeling away from SNL and the city, you had to build an entirely new set in the hill country. We know the ranch is probably a far cry from what you are used to! How did you go about that

ME: I knew right away I wanted to bring in Sean Patrick Anderson of ACME Brooklyn to be my creative partner. While we knew we wanted to build a set, we also wanted to really stay true to the environment and honor that. 

The team went down to Round Top to search for antiques and came back with the most unique items for the build that could capture all different facets. We also sourced an amazing old Cadillac that created some unforgettable frames. 

Luck: What really stood out to you as you interacted with everyone throughout the day?

ME: Just how magical this place really is. Not only are you literally in Willie Nelson’s backyard hearing amazing music off in the distance while you work, but everyone really is a family. You see how everyone interacts with each other and it’s so heartwarming. You don’t always get that in work environments. Luck definitely stays with you and I think it comes down to that family aspect. 

Luck: Speaking of the Luck Family - we welcomed both artists who had played the ranch before and some new ones as well. What were some acts that stuck out to you?

ME: There were definitely acts I heard before, like Jason Isbell or was already friends with, like Leslie Mendelson, but I love how much emphasis was put on discovering new music. Interacting with such an array of artists in one place was really unique. 

The other day I was listening to the radio local to NYC and heard two family members: Neal Francis and Adia Victoria and got excited. You really feel connected to it even after you leave the Ranch. 

Luck: If you could describe Luck in one word, what would it be?

ME: WillietasticLuckaliciousnelsaficant!


Luck would like to extend a special thank you to Mary Ellen Matthews, Sean Patrick Anderson, ACME Brooklyn, and Garden & Gun for capturing and sharing so many images of our Luck Family as we brought back Luck Reunion in 2022. 

Never Before Seen Luck Session: Marcus King Live at Arnold’s Nashville

As we look back at the last 10 years of Luck, we’re still amazed by the unique performances with our Family and Friends. Sometimes we look back through our archives and find something special that we didn’t have the chance to share at the time. 

Artist collaboration is one of the best parts of Luck, and during AmericanaFest 2019 we met up with our Luck Family member Marcus King at Arnold’s in Nashville. What came out of it were performances of “The Well” and “Beautiful Stranger” that we won’t soon forget.

“Arnold’s is a Nashville Institution. Since I was a young fella, my trips to Nashville would always include a trip to Arnold’s for a meat and three, and some of THE greatest sweet tea you’ve ever tasted…Everything served up with love and Soul. All the same can be said for our pals at Luck - always with a smile and a bag of coffee or maybe a bag of something even more enticing. It only made sense that these two would collaborate and we could make these legendary walls speak."

 - Marcus King 


We’re excited to share these for the very first time. 



You can view other recent Luck Sessions here