Perhaps you don't think a dearth of barbecue is Nashville's most pressing culinary problem. The guys behind the Shotgun Willie's BBQ beg to differ.
This past weekend, at the Light the Nations block party, the new food truck made its public debut, serving Central Texas-style barbecue brisket, slow cooked, seasoned only with salt and pepper, tender enough to eat with a flimsy plastic fork.
One member of the team, Bill Laviolette, is known for helping to bring another taste of Texas to Music City, kolaches — he launched the Yeast Nashville bakery with his now-ex-wife Sara,
Laviolette was looking for his next venture (Sara now runs Yeast) and brought some Texas brisket over to share with his buddy Dave Crumpton (best known as "Inspector Dave," the home inspector who drives around town in a 1959 Chevrolet).
Crumpton's family runs a number of businesses in the same building as Yeast, under the Harlan Ruby umbrella, and as business neighbors, the two had become friendly. Crumpton wasn't actively looking for another business — home inspection was going pretty well (in case you hadn't heard; there's a lot of home buying going on) — but he's also a guy who loves barbecue and can't sit still. So, next thing, the two brought in Kyle Lamoureux, and the recipe-perfecting and food truck construction began.
Crumpton's creative family pitched in, too. Illustrator daughter Fiona Flaherty created the lettering for the logo, and his 9-year-old daughter Gertrude, who owns Hankabee Button Co., made the buttons and bottle openers sporting the Shotgun Willie's logo. (The name is an homage to Lone Star legend Willie Nelson.)
For now, the team is on wheels, headed to University School of Nashville's POPclectic event this weekend as well as at Halcyon Bikes on Saturday night. In the works are plans for a regular routine of stops to build a following, and eventually, they hope, a brick-and-mortar location, possibly on the East Side where they live. In addition to the simple, tasty brisket, the team offers simple sides such as cole slaw, beans and potato salad, and will be selling smoked turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Beef sausage is on the menu, and Laviolette hopes to add beef ribs in the near future, too.
The team says that due to their relatively novel focus, other local barbecue joints have welcomed them as heartily as the block party crowd did over the weekend.
