The Road to Bonnaroo runs through 2010, picking up where its inaugural year left off, with one more slot up for grabs. The contest, sponsored by BMI, Mercy Lounge, Yuengling, Camping World, and the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, will feature 32 bands with Nashville ties vying for four slots at Bonnaroo 2010, slated for June 10-13, in Manchester, Tennessee. The Road to Bonnaroo will take place over four designated nights of BMI’s free 8 off 8th showcase, with eight bands performing each night. Venue partner Mercy Lounge will host the live action litmus tests, slated for February 22, March 22, April 19 and May 17.

To select each evening’s top contender, an industry panel comprising local music journalists, bloggers, and 8 off 8th hosts will contribute one half of the verdict, while fan-voting through onsite ballots will determine the other half.

Tonight's performers are:

Born Empty

Kyle Andrews

Moon Taxi

Mona

The Non-Commissioned Officers

Parachute Musical

Ponderosa

The Privates

Here are the rules for voting:

The winner will be determined by 50% fan voting and 50% judge voting.

FAN VOTING

◦ Fans will be able to vote for only one band. They will receive a ballot at the door with all bands' names and time-slots listed on it, as well as a field for the fan's email address.

◦ In order for a ballot to be counted, the voter's email address must be provided on it. All email addresses are subject to being checked for validity. If an address is checked and found to be invalid, that vote will not be counted. In addition, if a duplicate email address is found, all ballots with that address will not be counted.

◦ In order to insure that bands playing in earlier slots or later slots are not disadvantaged because of their slot, ballots will only be passed out until 10:30 and can only be turned in after 10:30. Any ballots turned in prior to 10:30 will not be counted.

◦ Regardless of a band's time-slot, we encourage their fans to arrive early, as once the room is at capacity, we will only allow new persons to enter on a "1 in, 1 out" basis.

JUDGE VOTING

◦ Judges must be present for all eight performances.

◦ Judges will vote for their top 3 artists, in order from 1–3.

◦ Judges have been instructed to consider the following criteria:songquality, instrumentation, stage energy, and crowd response, as well as any additional production from the artists, such as costuming, additional visual production, marching bands, Mega Man masks, etc.

The winner will be announced via the Mercy Lounge Twitter that night and will perform at the 2010 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Budweiser Troo Music Stage, this June.