Honky Tonk Tuesday
American Legion Post 82
Tuesdays
Getting out the door for some air was honestly more difficult than getting in. Since I’d arrived, a line of 15 to 20 people long had formed outside. Dressed to the nines, buzzing with energy, and cigarettes in hands, these patrons were not queued up at a nightclub, but rather the American Legion Inglewood Post 82 in Nashville on a Tuesday night.
Every week, scenesters, dancers, military veterans, musicians, tourists, and others come out to what is known as Honky Tonk Tuesday at the American Legion in the heart of East Nashville. A rotating line-up of both local and touring bands share the evening with the Cowpokes, Honky Tonk Tuesday’s house band, to total about four hours of live “classic country, western, and hillbilly music.” This particular week, Anthony Ray Wright, The Satin Dollz, Hannah Juanita, and the Cowpokes made up the bill, and as usual, fringe and sequins filled the dance floor under the disco ball and American flag string lights.
Especially in 2024, one might think that the attendees of an American Legion event encompass a pretty small and specific scope of the population. But that’s not the case at Post 82. Young folks and old folks, veterans and civilians, fill the floor, whether or not they’re outright country music fans. I would be remiss not to mention up front that the crowd very much skews white, though it’s difficult to say whether that’s specific to the event or part of a greater segregation issue in Nashville.
Longtime locals will tell you that Honky Tonk Tuesday has seen a big shift, away from its more humble beginnings and toward something borderline chaotic. But it still serves as a community gathering place for many of the various music and dance scenes in Nashville: the country and Americana scenes, most obviously, but certainly not exclusively. Folks outside of the direct reach of the music industry are regulars as well; for every person I know personally when I go, there’s about 20 more I’ve never seen in my life. The recurring event has become deeply embedded into the fabric of East Nashville and the greater Nashville area for a variety of communities.
The most recent installment of Honky Tonk Tuesday opened with shorter sets from two acts new to the Legion stage, Anthony Ray Wright and The Satin Dollz. The Dollz seem to be more of a multi-city collective than a band, and leaned a little more swing than country. Dancers didn’t quite know how to engage, as the ensemble was comprised of three women singing complex and impressive harmony arrangements to pre-recorded tracks. With vintage costumes, hair, and make-up, the women committed fully to the pin-up bit. Anthony Ray Wright and his band were up next with more standard live country fare.
The feature of the evening was Hannah Juanita. A regular at Honky Tonk Tuesday and on stages around Nashville, she brought her band — Mose Wilson on guitar, Will Ellis Johnson on pedal steel, Chris Weisbecker on drums, and Page McGinnis on bass — to play a few covers but mostly her original country songs. East Tennessee born and raised, Juanita has made a name for herself as one of Nashville’s premiere honky tonk performers with her cutting songwriting and stage presence. She writes about love, life, and her Southerness, and it’s near-impossible not to dance to it. A rare combination of warm rasp and a high register in her singing voice brings a unique flavor to Juanita’s sound. The Cowpokes closed out the night, as they do every Honky Tonk Tuesday, with their pristine classic country sound and driving dance grooves.
While music and dance are central to Honky Tonk Tuesday, the event is equally a Nashville fashion show, with people donning Western wear and a variety of clothing genres given a Nashville spin. Sometimes there’s even a full vintage clothing pop-up store set up on the front deck by the entrance. The general emphasis on country fashion is high and last Tuesday night, Stetsons, boutique feathered hat bands, Lucchese boots, hand-embroidered custom sets, vintage pearly snaps, and the like were flaunted by many. These pieces can be admired on the dance floor, but the real place to see the parade of outfits is the parking lot, the unofficial official hang out at the Legion where people smoke their cigarettes and shmooze.
I can understand some of the bitterness that people have about Post 82’s Honky Tonk Tuesdays becoming somewhat overcrowded and overrun with tourists and rowdy college students. It certainly isn’t perfect. But in today’s world, such a space of tangible community, from kick drum to clothing, is a rare gem.
