A CRAWFISH FEST IN NEW JERSEY!!

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“American Hit Radio” is based in New York, but regular listeners to our program know our connection to the music and culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Over the years, we have dedicated numerous shows to New Orleans, including an annual feature when we re-cap the highlights of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. This event has become an annual ritual in our lives, to the point where we spend much of the year longing for the opportunity to return. Well, this past weekend, we attended a ‘local’ event that helped alleviate some of our longing for New Orleans culture. For the past eighteen years, Michael Arnone has been hosting “The Crawfish Fest” in New Jersey, and the party has grown considerably over the years. This year’s fest took place at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, New Jersey. We finally made the time to attend this year’s festival, and what a wonderful time we had.
As we hoped, the Crawfish Fest resembles a local, miniaturized version of the New Orleans Jazz Fest. Full of great music and good food (including some awesome boiled crawfish, naturally) in a hassle-free environment which emphasized ease of access and maneuverability, the Crawfish Fest made us feel like we were taking part in a bit of New Orleans, while staying within an hour’s drive (or thereabouts) of New York City. The main event is spread out over two days, and features various artists performing on three stages. Food booths and beverage stands are liberally distributed, making it easy to grab a bite without missing a beat. The event is exceptionally family friendly, too, with a fourth stage dedicated to kids, and simpler fare such as burgers and French fries for those who feel less adventurous. If you wish, campsites are available to those who wish to spend the night.
For today’s program we’ll present a smattering of songs by some of our favorite artists from this year’s event, while discussing some of our own experiences. Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Fest is destined to become part of our annual routine here at American Hit Radio. For information about next year’s Fest (as well as previous fests), visit http://www.crawfishfest.com
We hope to see you there next year!
Here’s a list of representative songs by featured artists from Michael Arnone’s 2007 Crawfish Fest;
1) Shake Your Rugalator – Bonerama
2) Levee Town – Sonny Landreth
3) C’est Pas La Peine Brailler – Geno Delafose
4) Fortunate Son – New Orleans Social Club
5) Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket – Billy Hector
6) Forty Four – Howlin’ Wolf (with Hubert Sumlin)
7) Got to Be More Careful – Jon Cleary
8) Pine Leaf Boy Two-Step – The Pine Leaf Boys
9) Goin’ Down to Louisiana – Cedric Watson & Corey Ledet
10) Joe Strummer – Cowboy Mouth
11) Walk on Gilded Splinters – Dr. John
12) Do the Memphis Grind – Duke Robillard