On Broadway - Haley Mae Campbell and A Fish Fry

On Broadway is a bi-monthly web series that delves into the food memories of the talented musicians of Broadway in downtown Nashville. Every other week, we’ll pair those memories with a relevant recipe and information on how to listen to each musician’s material. Our aim is to connect the passion of food to the passion of music—two mediums that evoke instant reactions and memories and remind us of the incredible people that pour their heart out every day to make their living in our backyard.

Summer is winding down (even if the weather will likely stick around for a while yet), making it the perfect time to squeeze in the last of the quintessential summer dishes you’ve been dying to make. Surely, fried fish makes that list. And who doesn’t love a good fish fry? It seems like they’re everywhere, too- I grew up in a suburb outside of Cleveland, Ohio, and a local restaurant chain had them every Friday.

Haley Mae Campbell knows a thing or two about a good fish fry. The talent-packed brunette was raised in Charleston, South Carolina, where great seafood is a staple for the folks who live there. Haley’s family, however, is especially partial to it, as they were raised pescatarian.

There’s a fun backstory here: Haley’s maternal family is from Ireland and she holds a duel citizenship. Her mother had a pet lamb growing up and one day when she went outside to find him, she was told the lamb was sold to market. After finding out the meaning of that phrase, she swore off meat altogether, and when she had kids, she wanted to honor her lamb and raise them pescatarian as well. Around the time Haley was 12 and her sister wasn’t far behind, their mother told them the story and they chose to remain on the diet. This means Haley has never had red meat in her lifetime; a fascinating fact, especially for someone from the south (what do you MEAN you’ve never had bacon?!?)

Anyway, meat or no meat, Haley has incredibly fond memories of the cuisine of her childhood. Besides scarfing down as many homemade hushpuppies as she could get her hands on, she recalls her father – the “head chef” of the family – cooking up yummy meals and putting out platters of food for the crew. “My dad would always grill salmon for any kind of big celebration or do a fish fry. And THAT SMELL of the fried fish brings back some of the fondest memories. Anytime the whole family could get together we would have a big fish fry [in the] fryer on the back porch. It’s been out there as long as I can remember.” Sounds like a blissful way to spend an evening to me (and enough inspiration to whip up this delicious fried fish sandwich… though Haley would remove the bacon).

But who is Haley Mae Campbell? Let’s back up.

A couple of months ago, I attended a preview of a new casual restaurant in town. The event was nice, but while sampling food at a table and chatting with some colleagues, a voice cut right through the conversation. That voice belonged to 21-year-old Haley. And let me tell you- anyone that can make a couple of food writers ignore their food is worth paying attention to.

Like so many before her, Haley started out as a child in musical theater as her first introduction to the performance world. She played Abu the monkey at age 11 in a production of Aladdin- she admits her tap dance solo was “pretty sweet” but alas, she didn’t have a single line. She also sang in choir. “I really fell in love with singing through that experience,” she recalls. “I found out as I got older that I wasn’t a gifted dancer or actress, but the singing definitely stuck.” Before long she enrolled in lessons and received her first guitar at 13. “Once I put those two together it was pretty much an instant love for songwriting. I listened to a lot of Indie music, which opened me up to that world. I started writing my own songs around that time [and] started playing in bars as the front of a cover band when I was 14. I definitely wasn’t old enough to be there unless I was singing, so that was pretty funny.” While we talked about her songwriting process, I found myself captivated, as it is so similar to how many chefs tell me they create a new dish or menu. “I find myself waking up in the middle of the night with something in my head; whether it be a little melody idea or a line or title for a song, and I roll over and jot them in my notes to look at later,” she says. “I would say [my writing style] is that I like to write imagery into my songs. I think the best part of a song you love is that it can take you somewhere mentally and put you in a situation; you can really be able to see the surroundings and feel the emotions in that situation.” Just like the smell of fried fish puts her back on her porch with her father in Charleston, basking in the warmth of the sun and her family.

Haley attended public high school for first three years but transferred to online schooling for her senior year to fully pursue music. The original plan was for her to take a gap year and then pursue college, but she dove so far into music during that year, putting her band together and all, that she moved to Nashville instead of going to college. And her parents cheered her on the whole way. “I know a lot of people whose parents would look at them like they had three heads if they told them they didn’t want to go to college but wanted to pursue music instead. I’m very fortunate.”

Miss Campbell has been working in music ever since and her success is already impressive. Her recently released single Anything But Yellow has over 1 million streams on Spotify, was featured in a recent Spotify Spotlight and on their Hot Country Playlist. She plays as many shows as she can and travels every weekend with her band. And she pushes herself in other areas, too. “I will say, since moving to Nashville and moving out of my parents’ house for the first time, it’s been really fun to try and recreate recipes that I find online, like from Edible, and make my own vegetarian version. That’s been a challenge that I’ve welcomed. I’m not the greatest cook in the world but I’m trying!”

In terms of a great pescatarian recipe to try, this cedar planked salmon with nectarines and honey is the perfect excuse to fire up the grill another time. It’ll go nicely alongside Haley’s new single.  

Haley is often found rockin’ the stage at The Wildhorse Saloon. You can follow her @haleymaecampbell, support her career endeavors at Patreon.com/haleymaecampbell, or look her up at haleymaecampbell.com.