Ladies and gentlemen, the day is upon us. Depending on when you're reading this, the gates at Riverbend are either already open or you're all still milling around on Chestnut Street.
Regardless, for the next nine days, the riverfront will be awash in a sea of sunburned humanity dotted by six stages spewing forth incredible live music.
I'll certainly be right there with you basking in the awesomeness of Charlie Daniels ripping his bow a new one and Jerry Douglas giving new meaning to the word virtuosity. But if the "big name" national artists are all you're interested in, I think you're missing a critical facet of the festival, one that is arguably just as important: the local acts.
Depending on your definition of local (I count Dalton and Athens, Tenn.), Chattanooga artists constitute more than 40 percent of the festival lineup this year. This is only my fourth Riverbend, but as far as I know, that's a record.
Many are acts you probably haven't heard of, or maybe you've heard of them but have never taken the time to see them perform. This is the perfect opportunity to remedy that without shelling out for a cover charge.
Here are a few locals I'm looking forward to seeing:
* Milele Roots (5-7:30 p.m. today on the Bud Light Stage). I've been a fan of Milele for a long time, but bassist Christian Craan told me this week that the Riverbend show will feature a much larger lineup, including a sax, horn section and organ. Color me excited.
* Two Taverns Variety Show (6:30-7:45 p.m. Saturday on the Unum Stage). You might not realize this, but Chattanooga's open-mike community is fairly enormous, and host Mike McDade is one of the spiders at the center of the web. He'll introduce you to some of the popular artists from that scene.
* The Distribution (11 p.m.-midnight June 18 on the Tennessee Lottery Stage). If you're not a Billy Currington fan, this funk/soul/gospel outfit is your best bet for a Coke Stage alternative. It's been six months since I've seen frontman David McReynolds pull off moves that would make James Brown raise his eyebrows. That's way too long.
Riverbend rules dictate that you claim your real estate near the Coke Stage as early as possible, but this year, I recommend you blackmail a spouse into holding down the fort. That way you're free to experience the local musicians you've been missing the rest of the year.