It's being billed as a musicial tribute to the "Live Music Capital of the World." The "Road to Austin" concert takes place Saturday, May 19 on Auditorium Shores.

Big House Sounds is the production company in charge of building the stage and all the support structures for the event. Rod Neilsen, with Big House Sounds, is in charge of transforming Auditorium Shores into the scene of one of the largest free concerts ever held in Austin.

"Saturday night is definitely going to be historic on many, many levels by what's going to transpire here in the park," said Gary Fortin, of the Formax Group.

Bonnie Raiit is among 30 performers who will take the stage, joined by Kris Kristofferson. Both musicians have close ties to Stephen Bruton who is the Musical Director of the "Road to Austin."

"He is the motivating force behind this whole thing," said Ken Kushnick, Formax Group, of Bruton. Bruton, together with Freescale CEO Michelle Mayer, hatched the idea for the free concert a year ago. That's after Bruton put together an all star musical line up for international visitors to the World Congress of Information and Technology.

"I guess the light bulb went off in his head, 'We need to do this so the public can see it and do it on a larger scale,'" said Fortin.

An estimated 20,000 people will flock to Auditorium Shores on Saturday for an evening that will begin with a short film about Austin.

"It's a rocket ride through the history of music in Austin from mid 1800's through 6:59 p.m. on the night of the show," said Kushnick.

There's a hint of history in the stage, itself. It resembles the Millet Opera House -- a turn of the century music venue -- which is now the current Austin Club downtown.

The stage, the short movie and the performers promise to make the "Road to Austin" worth traveling.