Don’t look it up on a map, you won’t find it. Music Street is a hot summer music and food destination
that didn’t exist until a few short weeks ago.

Edison Township has a population of over 100,000 but their downtown Clara Barton area has been kind
of quiet for years. Too quiet, the local chamber of commerce decided and so they are now offering up a
stretch of Amboy Avenue as “Music Street.”

Following the example of Edison Coffee House owners Mike and Marla Fisher, who have hosted
musicians at their own expense for a few years now, the Edison Chamber of Commerce and their
members and sponsors are ready to make some noise. You are going to want to add Amboy Avenue to
your to-do list this summer.

It started in May with the installation of four community pianos. Edison based artists decorated them
and now they have been tuned and are out on the street for public use and scheduled performances.

Next, they added a fixed performance area in the center of Amboy Avenue for music events all summer
long.

Then they tossed in a two-day Summer Flower Walk on June 26 & 27 which will have a beer and wine
garden, three stages and 18 performances in celebration of the 10 blocks and 120 flower beds that
adorn the road this time of year.

Now here is the twist; making these plans on such short notice meant they needed some help finding
performers. I’ll give you one guess who they asked… wait for it……ME! Yep. You guessed it!

Together with a nonprofit known as Edison Community Beautification, the Coffee House, private
sponsors and the tireless efforts of chamber president and Councilman Joe Coyle we have already kicked
music every Friday and Saturday night and Wednesday in June.

What does that mean for you? If you know me, you can probably guess but let me break it down: the
absolute best of the NJ music is being offered to you at free shows. And FOOD. It is not an event to me
without some food so I got right on that.

Friday and Saturdays the music is at the Coffee House at 931 Amboy Avenue from 7-9PM, a full-service
café with a spacious covered patio that serves sandwiches, salads, gelato and other desserts. On
Wednesdays it moves to a public seating area on the corner of Third and Amboy Avenue from 5-8PM.
We encourage you to patronize some of the local restaurants as you take in the music and to make it
easy, many are offering $5 meal specials.

Music is always free. You can add a $5 pizza from Fratelli’s Pizza Cafe, an entrée special from the
Northern Indian eatery Ruby Ke Kitchen Se or check out the grill in front of Nick’s Meat Depot and order
up a hamburger, hot dog or kebab on special or whatever else you see on any of their menus at the
regular price. If it’s hot look for the ice cream cart on site. Oh, and you might want to bring a chair
because last week every table was full. You can also bring the kids and the dog.

Collectively the lineup offers names you might recognize from the pages of You Don’t Know Jersey like
Renee Maskin, Brian Erickson, Nick Ryan and the Mess, Natalie Farrell, Matthew “Fern” Fernicola, Bryan
Hansen Band, Tommy Strazza, Tara Dente, Cranston Dean and more. There are also bi-monthly open
mics at the Coffee House and plans in the works for bands from all genres and children’s events from
now till the fall. I’m working on all that as you read this.

Edison is not messing around here. It’s all happening fast and I don’t want you to miss a thing. The best
way to keep up is to follow some or all of us on Facebook or Instagram, as below. If you stop by be sure
to find me and say hello!

about the author: Melissa Peterson

Hey, can I tell you “Something About Melissa” Peterson? Born and raised in New Jersey, the Metuchen resident is an avid music fan and the self-declared “people’s foodie.” She’s also the only team member for the Asbury Park based Telegraph Hill Records who remembers what it was like to get concert tickets before the internet. When she wasn’t skipping school to stand in line for Bowie and Bruce tickets, she was wandering around looking for her next meal anywhere that didn’t require her to have to cook it. More recently she is a self-employed copywriter and consultant at www.somethingaboutmelissa.com. Melissa will be contributing “Something about Music” and Something About Food” regularly and is proud to be an honorary member of the Jersey Shore music community and the You Don’t Know Jersey movement.

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