Annual free outdoor county music festival and neighborhood gathering Nashbash is starting to get a good reputation among Nashville musicians, according to Kerrytown District Association President Deanna Relyea.

“It’s on the radar down there in Nashville, and it has at least an underground reputation. Nashbash, now in its 5th year, has become known as a good spot to be chosen for down there,” she says.

This summer, Nashbash happens on August 18, from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at its usual location at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. On top of live music from Nashville-based and Michigan-based performers, local food establishments will be serving up good eats. Local artisans and Kerrytown businesses will participate as vendors. And before all is said and done, performers will give people more of that Nashville sound at an Afterglow party outside the Aut Bar in Braun Court, from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“Word gets around after so many headliners have been here. After last year, I got many emails from musicians down in Nashville wanting to come up and play not only Nashbash but the Kerrytown Concert House as well,” Relyea says.

This summer’s headliner, Paul Burch, has been a notable country musician since recording his first album, Pan-American Flash, in 1998. It was named one of the best country albums of the 1990s by Amazon. He is known for his throw-back, honky-tonk style of country.

Whit Hill, formerly of Ann Arbor, “is the creative force behind Nashbash. She got to know Paul Burch and like him from being a musician down there in the Nashville scene. She always finds someone great to come up here and headline the show who fits our bill,” Relyea explains. Hill will perform with her band, Whit Hill and the Postcards, again at this year’s Nashbash.

Also from the Nashville area, Pam Kennedy Boylan (Relyea’s daughter-in-law) and Steve Mitchell have become Nashbash regulars. They are promoting their new CD, The hApHaZaRdS.

Ann Arbor area musicians playing music that fits the Nashville sound will also be on hand. Ru Knoedler with Outtabox & Friends is performing at Nashbash for the first time. Ann Arbor’s Jennifer Smith played the very first Nashbash as a solo artist, and she is back this year with her trio, Cowgirl Cabaret.

Aside from being a music show, Nashbash “is truly a neighborhood summer happening. We are all about promoting the Kerrytown neighborhood and the businesses in it,” Relyea says.

“We have a lot of vendors participating in the periphery flea market area. A “Trunkapalooza” will be going on where people will come in and set up booths from the trunk of their car, and Ann Arbor artisans will be there selling stuff.” In addition, there will be a “Retail Row” during the event. “We’re inviting retail establishments from the Kerrytown area to open booths and sell their wares. Hopefully, it will give them some exposure and help promote what we have down here,” Relyea explains.

Good music will be accompanied by good eats. The Aut Bar will send up a tower of billowing BBQ smoke again this year. Wolverine State Brewery Co. will serve beer, Sweetwaters will cool people down with iced drinks like iced tea and lemonade, and a few other TBD food vendors will be on site.

The afterglow party in Braun Court outside of the Aut Bar is one of Relyea’s favorite parts of the festival—it is more spontaneous than the early evening’s lineup. “A lot of the artists will be getting up and playing more songs open mic style at the Afterglow,” Relyea explains.

In conclusion, Relyea says that she enjoys hosting Nashville’s sound in Ann Arbor because “Nashville is an amazing city. It’s changing a lot with more and more people coming down there and businesses moving there. The variety of cultural activities that happen there are inspiring,” she says. On the other hand, country music in Michigan has its own flair. The two forces come together to form Nashbash.