In two weeks, the annual month-long Memphis in May International Festival will kick-off with the three-day Beale Street Music Festival.
About 60 well-known and local artists will perform on May 4, 5 and 6 at Tom Lee Park, which is located on the banks of the Mississippi River, on Riverside Drive.
Last year, nearly 118,000 music fans attended the event held on the 33-acre park.
Artists performing represent the genres of blues, alternative, rock, rap, R&B and gospel. The performances will take place on three main stages, as well as a blues tent.
Steely Dan, Godsmack, Wolfmother, Counting Crows, John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae, Gym Class Heroes, Daughtry, and local Oscar winners Three Six Mafia are a few of the acts taking part in the weekend-long event.
The Ohio Players is the group that University of Memphis student, Crystal Chism is most looking forward to seeing.
"I'm old school," said Chism, a senior biology major. "It's a tradition. I go every year."
Stephanie Johnson, also a senior biology major, said that she had enjoyed going before, but was not sure whether she would be attending this year.
"I'm not a crowd person," Johnson said.
The Oklahoma City based rock band, Hinder, will be one of the headliners of the event.
This is only their second time visiting the Bluff City - their first visit involved flying in a magazine editor from a United Kingdom magazine.
"We had a great time," said Hinder drummer Cody Hanson. "We tore it up pretty hard, so we're looking forward to coming."
The band released an album on an independent record label in 2005 and released the album, "Extreme Behavior" in late 2005 after they signed with major label, Universal Records.
"Our goal has always been to be the biggest band in the world, and I definitely think we have a great start," Hanson said.
The band, at one time, had the most visited MySpace page out of any band or group of any genre, according to Hanson.
The video for their latest single, "Better than Me," is currently in rotation in the VH1 network's Top 20 music countdown.
Hanson, who describes the six-year-old band's music as "good old fashioned rock-and-roll," lists its primary musical inspiration as Guns N' Roses.
Tickets to the Beale Street Music Festival are available through Ticketmaster. One day or three day passes are available. Tickets will also be sold at the gate.
