The third annual New Orleans Stones Fest will bring together some of the best musicians in New Orleans for a tribute to the Rolling Stones at Tipitina’s on Friday, March 28.

Featuring John “Papa” Gros, Chuck Credo IV, Dave Malone, Alex McMurray, Joe Stark, Carl Dufrene, Chad Gilmore, the Honey Island Swamp Band Trio and special guests, the musicians will perform classic Stones tunes as well as some deep tracks from the band’s 50 year career.

McMurray said the current core lineup for the show has gelled over the last three years, making each year’s show more fun than the last. And McMurray should know. He’s been taking part in Rolling Stones tribute shows since the late 1990s.

“Superfly did a Rolling Stones tribute night years ago, and I was like the Paul Shaffer of the band – the guy who actually sat down and had to learn all the tunes,” McMurray said. “Then Davis Rogan did a Stones thing, and I had to sit down and learn all the tunes. And then this group comes along three years ago, so I’ve been involved in more Rolling Stones things than anyone in town.”

The funny thing is, McMurray wasn’t really a Stones fan when he was growing up, preferring Led Zeppelin and ACDC. He said the Stones were so entrenched in the culture of his hometown in suburban New Jersey that the music was really inescapable, but he didn’t actively seek out the music until later in life.

“Having been involved with all these projects for all of these years, and having to get the Keith Richards guitar thing down, which is very idiosyncratic with that one tuning he uses for a lot of the songs, you have to learn how to play the guitar differently,” he said “It takes a little bit of time to get fully immersed. But the Stones are great, and the music is great. It’s obviously stood the test of time since all these tribute shows keep popping up and becoming successful.”

Credo, who organizes the event along with the New Orleans Beatles Festival every summer, said focusing on the Stones throughout the different stages of their five decade career is a challenge that brings out the best in the musicians, often leading to unfamiliar setups like John Gros playing acoustic guitar and french horn.

For McMurray, returning to core Stones classics as well as b sides that aren’t heard on classic rock radio is always a fun challenge.

“We’ve kind of been through it now as a group,” he said. “We’re not doing the same tunes every year, and we’ve got a lot of new stuff this year, we’ve got a little bit of mileage under our belts, and I’m excited about this show this year.”