Moon Taxi, a Nashville-based band, will perform at Mellow Mushroom as part of the Artist of the Day program this summer at Riverbend.

Riverbend officials have added an anti-gang element to one of its outreach programs and Civil War history to another.

The programs take a handful of the artists booked at the festival out into the community to do either "eat & greets" with fans or to give a short program separate from their gig that night at the festival, according to Jeff Styles, assistant talent coordinator for Friends of the Festival, which produces the city's largest outdoor music event, scheduled for June 7-15.

This year on June 10, Pimps of Joytime, a Brooklyn-based funk band, will be a part of an anti-gang/youth awareness event at the Lindsay Street Performance Hall prior to its headlining performance as part of the Bessie Smith Strut. Members of the city's anti-gang task force will be on hand, and Chattanooga Parks and Recreation will bring school-aged kids that are part of its Prevention and Youth Program, according to Styles.

"Don't let the name fool you," he says of the band. "This is a heavy funk band and their message is that, if they can come out of Brooklyn and the life they grew up in, you can make it."

Boyd Patterson, head of the city's Gang Task Force, says the Lindsay Street event is going to be part of the Stars in Chattanooga program that introduces young at-risk teens to music. As part of Stars, two city recreation centers are equipped with music recording technology and teens are allowed to write, produce and record their own songs.

"Just a few weeks after posting the announcement and call for songs, we had 130-odd songs, and they were really good," he says.

Thirteen of those songs were put on a CD that will be released Saturday at Hamilton Skate Place at 7 p.m.

Brian Smith, publics relations coordinator with Parks and Recreation, worked with Friends of the Festival last year on a similar 'Bend Unplugged event and says about 40 teenagers attended. He hopes to attract more kids this time around, saying he wants to introduce young people to the idea that making music is a complicated process that involves many things.

"I want them to understand that music comes from a lot of influences and places."

On June 7, the 2nd Carolina String Band, an authentic Civil War musical re-enactor outfit, will perform at the Chattanooga Public Library. The next day they will perform at Point Park in conjunction with Friends of the Park.

"These guys are the real deal, and they do all of the material as it was written or performed back in the day," Styles says. "They don't change a word."

The Artist of the Day program features eight days of musicians performing at a downtown venue or restaurant. They usually dine with fans, shake some hands and play a song or two.

The 'Bend Unplugged events are a little more formal and often feature an agenda, or mission that matches the act with the venue. This year, the Barr Brothers, for example, use a lot of found objects in their music and their unplugged show at the Hunter Museum of American Art on June 8 will be coordinated with a new exhibit there by Whitfield Lovell. Lovell juxtaposes charcoal drawings on wood with found objects.

All are free and open to anyone.