At the moment’s cats and dogs are raining all over Tom Lee Park. But it’s expected to last only another 20 minutes or so and Diane Hampton, Memphis in May spokesman, says the day’s Sunset Symphony events will continue as planned. So come on out but forget the white shoes.

There’s another act just announced for the Sunset Symphony lineup.

The Four Tops and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra are headlining, of course, but Memphis in May just confirmed that the guy known for last year’s accompaniment of Patti Page on her re-recording of her 1950 hit “Tennessee Waltz” will perform. You may actually know him better as the senior senator from Tennessee, former governor, former U.S. Secretary of Education and guy who likes flannel shirts, Lamar Alexander.

He last tickled the ivories at the sunset event in 1982 when he was governor. He may have been too busy to add much material to his rep since he’s doing an encore of the medley of Memphis music he did back then.

But that’s OK. Any politician who can be associated with the Tennessee Waltz and come out looking good is going to be a crowd pleaser.

My money’s on number 34 as the winner of the People’s Choice award. That was a mighty fine morsel of shoulder I tasted. I stopped by the tent–the line was probably 100 deep to get in–to see how the whole shebang worked. And I found out.

55 teams cooked shoulders, all from the same place to avoid variation in the quality of meat, and lined up outside the tent earlier today to get inspected by the health department (165 degrees at the door, and 135 degrees at serving time) and to begin the super-secret process of getting their number. No one present in the tent knows which number corresponds to which team, and the team members don’t know their number, either. Further, each table is served samples from a predetermined set of numbers, and you don’t get to pick your table. This is a foolproof system–rigging would be impossible.

Last year 2,800 folks came through the tent to taste and judge. Yesterday’s rain put a damper on the crowd, but volunteer Sue Binnie (pictured above, explaining the rules) expects about 1,500 people to cast their votes before the contest ends tonight.

“This is prestigious,” said volunteer Cathy Walsh. “Teams want to win the People’s Choice award as much as anything else.”

They’ve been at it for 10 years, but this year The Pink Ladies have given up ribs and gone exotic. Here’s their story.

I found my newest two BFF in the media trailer at Memphis in May. Volunteers John and John know where all the best food is and I’ve adopted them as my official guides. Have a look at this spread and you’ll see why I can bestow BFF on them! Piped for Pork, the team that put out this spread, is a team after my heart. On the table was barbecue–shoulder, ribs, beans and so on–Cajun food, cooked by “Cajun Dave” Aucoin of Lafayette, La., these unbelievable seafood pizzas–one crawfish, one shrimp, one king crab–crab dip, smoked tuna spread and chunks of halibut fried up like chicken nuggets. Heaven!

Mike and Shannon Wiley of Juneau, Alaska, watched a Food Network show about the MIM barbecue back in 2000, they think, and immediately made plans to come the next year. They hooked up with folks, became part of the Piped team, and come laden with goodies when they arrive. (I am a king crab FREAK, and they have legs there as long as my arm.) They’ve won the “Anything But” category twice for their seafood. And get this: They learned so much about barbecue that now they own the Spinnin Pig Memphis-Style BBQ in Juneau, a mobile smoker that’s spreading the good smell and the good word in Alaska.

And man, they are all such nice folks.

It’s been wet and cold today, but Joey Sulipeck promises — as much as a weather forecaster will actually promise — that the remainder of the barbecue contest will be fit for outdoor consumption.

Sometimes, you just gotta dance.

North Mississippi Allstars guitarist Luther Dickinson made his hometown debut with his new band, the Black Crowes, Sunday night to close out the 2008 Beal Street Music Festival.

“It was the first time I’ve been nervous with them,” said Dickinson, who joined the Atlanta band last winter. “I was okay though. I was glad mom and dad were there.”

Jim and Mary Dickinson watched their son from the wings of the Budweiser stage, along with Dickinson’s wife Necha and his lifelong friend and fellow guitar player Steve Selvidge (Big Ass Truck, Secret Service, Antenna Shoes) and his wife, local film maker Joan Self. His brother Cody and Allstars bassist Chris Chew were waiting for him at the New Daisy on Beale Street for a post-festival jam session.

Dickinson’s friends and family got to see him handle the majority of the lead guitar duties in a 2-hour set that included several selections from their new record, their first with Dickinson, Warpaint. Crowes co-founder, guitarist Rich Robinson, let the new guy have the six-string spotlight most of the night, including on an epic 20-minute “Thorn In My Pride.”

“Rich writes all the tunes so his rhythm is he core of the songs,” said Dickinson of his role, “so they just let me go crazy. It’s crazy.”

Although the large, cheering crowd didn’t seem to notice (the Killer’s signature slurry Louisiana accent made some of his words hard to decipher), Jerry Lee Lewis was not pleased with his longtime band during his Sunday afternoon performance in Tom Lee Park.

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He was in fine form and rocked the crowd. Sometimes, though, his songs were just a little sad — poignant even. But he’s still The Killer, so get outta the way.