CRAP Festival

Country! Rock! Alternative! Pop! Reduce them to an acronym and you get CRAP -- that is to say, the CRAP Festival, an annual compendium of Southern bands. The 18 Wheelers specialize in the back catalogue of big-beat honky-tonk and rockabilly. Will Thomas perpetuates the recurrent yet somewhat underappreciated rockin'-country-boy-drenched-in-Southern-R&B subgenre, receiving studio support from none other than Spooner Oldham -- writer of more rock and soul classics than you've had hot breakfasts. The Dharma Bombs mix Southern-fried boogie with the piano-driven finesse of the Band and classic Elton John, while Clambake combines mad eclecticism with the oddball humor of They Might Be Giants. Others scheduled to perform include Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling Gamblers as well as the Down Home Southernaires. -- Mark Keresman