His music: An enigmatic drifter who turned up in Memphis in the late 1990s, Harlan T. Bobo quickly fit into the Midtown garage rock scene. He’s a capable sideman in groups like Viva L’American Death Ray Music, Love Clowns and Limes, but it was his country-tinged, self-released solo debut, Too Much Love, that really resonated with local audiences. Bobo has been championed by the likes of NPR’s “All Things Considered” listeners and the volunteer staff of Memphis’ WEVL FM 89.9. I’m Your Man, a gently rollicking, Kinks-esque follow-up, was released in 2007.

In $5 Cover: A spellbinding performance by Bobo, 42, slathered in clown makeup and balancing on painter’s stilts, and his band, the Chimps, provides the backdrop for a quarrel between a jilted Amy LaVere and Nick, the Hi-Tone’s lead bartender. Featured song: “Too Much Love.”

In $5 Cover Amplified: Bobo and his animated roommates, Larry and Boffo, invite fans into the biosphere that is their cluttered Midtown apartment for a dissertation about love.

On Memphis music: “I’d quit playing in bands by the time I moved here, but guys like Jeff Evans, Jack Yarber and Greg Cartwright are creating music that’s so good, so alive, that they got me excited about playing music again.”

Latest news: The 11-track, full-length I’m Your Man, recorded by indie music mainstay Doug Easley and released on Goner Records.