How did James ‘Super Chickan’ Johnson get his name? And what is his plan for the weather (which has apparently worked)? Find out here.

The Commercial Appeal has plenty of people walking around Tom Lee Park to cover Music Fest. Of special note, however, is Michael Donahue who will be doing audio blogs throughout the weekend.

Check out his first two. We’ll make sure he sees any comments you want to leave him.

 Michael Donahue Podcast 1 [0:56m]: Download
 Donahue Podcast 2 [1:39m]: Download

While the measurable quality of acts appearing at MIM has remained relatively steady over the years (If not vastly improved, especially in terms of hard rock, rap, and blues), the sad fact is that the once ubiquitous city/regional festivals like BSMF have fallen to a second tier behind the mega-events like Bonnaroo and last weekend’s Coachella.

These events throw BIG money (available thanks to BIG ticket prices) at all the top acts, enough even to draw a few one-of-a-kind events. Sadly, we will not be treated to anything like Roger Water’s rare Pink Floyd-heavy performance at Coachella, which is too band because a giant pig floating over Tom Lee Park would certainly make a lot of sense.

Don’t expect MIM to go chasing after that Bonnaroo/Coachella audience any time soon. There’s no sign that that they’ve hurt their business at all. And at $60 for three days, its still a deal. (Not to mention the added bonus of getting to sleep in an actiual bed instead of a rain-soaked RV.) Still it might not hurt for Holt & Co. to look at taking a few pages out of those other fests’ playbooks: More unique “event” bookings? Commemorative CDs?

So, it’s that time of the year again. Time to head down to Tom Lee Park for some music, mayhem and misdemeanors ( … OK, so we here at The Commercial Appeal don’t condone any sort of illegal behavior, but it happens).

We’re in the process of getting some new content on the site for your perusal as you get excited for Music Fest. You’ll notice a few changes this year. First on the list that you’ll see is the AppealTV player located to the right of your screen (assuming, of course, you’re viewing the homepage of our MiM coverage). The staff at AppealTV has been at Memphis in May events for the past two years, so they’ve got things down to a science. Be sure to check back for set-up videos later this week and definitely for their coverage of the ‘Fest of Music this weekend.

For your scheduling purposes, we’ve gone ahead and posted the lineup here. Each band has an individual page with photos, Web sites and information.

This weekend, Michael Donahue will be audio blogging from Music Fest. We also have a plethora of text bloggers who will be keeping you up-to-date on the goings-on.

With all that’s going on, make sure to have a safe and fun weekend.

P.S. If you’ve got photos of your weekend, make sure to send them to our Flickr account (flickr@commercialappeal.com).