Deep-fried Americana

A few oversized yard birds sat sizzling in hot oil as neighbors Frank Douglas and David Chapman strummed their guitars under the moonlight. Suddenly, the picturesque Washington Street block party fell silent. Douglas and Chapman paused their serenade, stared at each other and erupted into laughter.

We sound pretty good! We should be a band.

Over the next few months, the newly formed Fried Turkeys added other musical neighbors and talented amateurs to their ranks. Together, the ever-evolving band cooked up a special kind of Americana/country magic that has sustained them for some 15 years. Upwards of 20 musicians have played with the Fried Turkeys over that span, each adding his own ingredients to the mix.

Congregated recently in the living room of lead singer and songwriter Douglas, six turkeys sat joking, teasing and breaking each other up. They converse more like family than colleagues, reminiscing about players no longer with them and marveling at how a song comes to life.

Chapin Frazee, who is an electric guitar and mandolin player as well as a vocalist, believes the Fried Turkeys are ready for takeoff. “Promoters are calling us often now,” he said. Photo by Erich Martin

Douglas is the beating heart of the Fried Turkeys. His original songs comprise the band’s playlists. By day, he works as a lighting designer at Tallahassee Nurseries who enjoys an escape to St. Teresa Beach when he has the time. Often, he returns from the beach with a new song scribbled on a yellow notepad.

“The first thing you know, Chapin (Chapin Frazee, mandolin and guitar) will change the time — slow it down or speed it up,” Douglas said. “Then Johnny (Johnny Andrews, keyboard, bass and pedal steel) might switch the key signature, changing the whole feeling and making it better! These songs are collaborations.”

Frazee, a senior software engineer at Infinity, used to play with the Potlickers band, and Todd Bevis, who teaches biology at Florida State, also plays with Two Foot Level and Ten Pound Pancake. Shaffield Building Specialties contractor Don Horne is the keyboardist, and Andrews introduces himself as an “electrical engineer and farmer.” The one woman in the group, known affectionately to her bandmates as “The Diva,” is singer and guitarist Carol Ann Mathews, who is retired from a career spent teaching voice and music at the Gretchen Everhart School.

“So what keeps us coming back through these years?” Mathews asked rhetorically.

“Well, it’s the food, right?” interrupted Andrews, who is known as the group’s gourmet chef.

BEVIS ON BASS – A biology professor at Florida State University, Todd Bevis plays for the Fried Turkeys and two other area bands, Two Foot Level and Ten Pound Pancake. Photo by Erich Martin

“That’s it!” she giggled. “Band practice is always hilarious. These people are just so darned funny. They’re pretty nice, too.”

Frazee noted that, even with all the competition in the music business, he feels opportunities are opening up. The Fried Turkeys’ feel-good anthems are still grabbing people’s attention.

“Promoters are calling us often now,” Frazee said. “Playing places like the Suwannee Roots Revival, Due South, Porch Fest and the Cascades Park amphitheater during Word of South, it’s great inspiration when you’re up there on stage.”

Everyone agrees.

“Sometimes, in a harmony with Frank, there is this unspoken magic that goes off,” Mathews said.

“Even playing background, I can feel it, man. I’ve cried up there,” Horne said.

“You feel that rush,” Bevis added. “It’s like an electrical charge going between all of us and the audience.”

Concert Date

The Fried Turkeys will be playing at Goodwood’s Wonderful Wednesdays on Jan. 1. For information about booking the band, contact Frank Douglas at frankdouglas@comcast.net or at (850) 510-1944.