The Fried Okra Band - Deluxe Live (2024)

Originally taking its main inspiration and song material from the Hill Country Blues of Mississippi, US, Fried Okra from Copenhagen, Denmark, now write their own songs, and consider themselves a blues, roots, rock, folk, americana (and you name it) -band.

Fried Okra Band with and without the “the” has existed since around 2006. Since 2016 the band has been the trio it is today – Thomas Crawfurd(drums, percussion, backing vocals), Anders Wallin(bass, backing vocals), Morten Lunn(lead vocals, guitar, diddley bo) – and the name’s been Fried Okra.

The name:
People who lives in or travelled the state of Louisiana or the rest of the south in the US will know where the name Fried Okra derives from – namely the common dish Fried Okra. It is what is says – the small, green vegetable okra covered in a cornmeal based batter and then deep-fried in oil(try It!).

However, the name does not mean that Fried Okra plays a Louisiana type of music like Cajun or Zydeco. Rather the band chose the name to refer to Afro-American culture of the South in general.

The list of current influences ranging from Lucinda Williams to T Model Ford goes to show that while the music of Fried Okra is heavily bluesy it is not straight blues. The aim is not to copy any of the artists, that Fried Okra claims as influences but rather to mix it together with something of your own – “so it smells familiar while still spiced with something indefinable and different” as Danish reviewer Mads Kornum from the web magazine Side 33 wrote in a live review.

Nominations and Blues Challenges:
The band has been nominated 4 times. Three out of six albums have been nominated for Danish Blues Album of The Year and in 2021 Fried Okra was also nominated for The Blues Live Award.