MSU’s second annual Old Main Music Festival hits campus tomorrow, at 7 p.m. in the Amphitheater.
Headlining the free event is former Hootie & The Blowfish front man Darius Rucker.
The New York Times called Rucker’s hit solo album Learn to Live “one of the year’s most vibrant country albums.”
The album, and his hit singles “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” and “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” topped Billboard country charts after their release.
This Hootie-turned-country star’s performance promises to be a treat for country fans on campus. Music Maker Productions student director Madison Gartman said he will even perform some Hootie favorites.
Also performing at Old Main is MTV’s “Making the Band 4” winners Day 26.
You may recognize some of the rap group’s more popular singles “Got Me Going” and “Since You’ve Been Gone,” both from its debut self-titled album.
Day 26’s album, Forever in a Day, hit stores Tuesday.
Album single “Imma Put It On Her” features “Making the Band” judges P. Diddy and Yung Joc.
Revving up the night for Day 26 and Darius Rucker is local Battle of the Bands winner The Grenadiers, who won the stage spot in the contest.
Garland Burton, The Grenadiers guitarist and vocalist, said tomorrow is the band’s premier performance at the Amphitheater, and its first time opening for a nationally-known act.
He said The Grenadiers, made up of Burton, Christopher Polk and Jerry Johnston, got its start as The Kitchen Blues Band playing blues and classic rock, but changed things up when it made the switch to performing as The Grenadiers.
“We changed our instruments and style,” Burton said. “We still do some blues and classic rock, but we throw a little modern rock in there, too.”
Burton described The Grenadiers as a miscellaneous cover band, playing a mixture of everything.
“We’ve remained pretty faithful to the blues, but depending on the night, we’ve been known to deviate into everything from Daft Punk to Rage Against the Machine,” Grenadiers drummer Johnston said.
Both Johnston and Burton said getting the opportunity to play during Old Main is very gratifying to The Grenadiers as a trio of MSU students.
“We were very flattered to be able to play in the same festival as Rucker,” Johnston said. “And to be able to open for him and Day 26 is something special for us as growing (amateur) musicians.”
When asked why students should come to this event, Burton replied, “Why not?”
He said he wants to stress the event is free and is a great way to support campus activities in general.
The event is jointly sponsored by the Campus Activities Board, Music Maker Productions and the Student Association, which have pooled together their resources to make Old Main happen.
CAB and Music Makers are organizations designed to help bring entertainment like this to campus and have been involved in bringing festivals to State for years.
The spring festival began as Down in the District, but in 2007 it was moved on campus and renamed Spring Fling.
Last year, the event moved to the Amphitheater, becoming the Old Main Music Festival.
Gartman said CAB, Music Makers and SA tried picking artists covering many genres.
“We usually try to get diverse groups to please everyone on campus,” she said. “We want to fit every crowd at MSU.”
The goal of all three involved organizations is serving the student body.
“We tried to find the bands that we thought people would be most excited about,” SA President Blake Jeter said.
Jeter said the idea of Old Main is getting a range of music so anyone can find something they enjoy listening to while improving the student experience.
“I think it should be good for everybody,” Jeter said. “It’d be a shame to miss out on it.”
Krista Sherman, CAB student director, said with events like Old Main, the organization tries bringing talent to Starkville that would be expensive to see in Atlanta or Nashville.
“We like being able to bring high quality music to MSU,” Sherman said.
She said attendance ensures students great quality music in the future.
“The better turnout we have, the better we can make things in the future,” Sherman said.
Old Main kicks off following the end of the Maroon and White scrimmage.
The Grenadiers are scheduled to hit the stage about 7:30 p.m., followed by Day 26 at approximately 8:45 p.m. and Darius Rucker at 10:15 p.m.
Old Main features vendors selling food to hungry concert-goers, as well as Old Main Music Festival T-shirts selling for $12.
Major sponsors for Old Main are Campus Trails, 21 Apartments and Cumulus Broadcasting.