Mississippi State University’s radio station WMSV is working on a project to benefit several local bands. The event will be a concert held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1617, at Rick’s Cafe Americain.

The purpose of the concert is to raise money to make a CD that will brighten the future of many local musicians.

“What we are trying to do is a compilation compact disc featuring local and regional bands. To do this, we will have a beneficiary concert at Rick’s with the bands that would be on the CD,” Steve Ellis, WMSV general manager, said. “We thought it would be a real good idea to put together a CD that features bands from this local area because there are so many good ones and we would like to get them some exposure.

“We also want to use the CD as a giveaway here at the station, and also we want to send the CDs to other colleges and stations around the country so these local bands, whom we think are pretty good, can get some exposure,” Ellis added.

The two-day concert will have more than eight bands on stage. On Friday there will be four bands, including Bind, Simple Machine from Starkville, Fellini’s Raincoat from Jackson and Mindseye from Atlanta, Ga. On Saturday, Wendeltrap from Starkville and Columbus, Potatobone and Jokers Ride from Starkville and Birdy from Hattiesburg.

If they make the money needed to go on with the project, the station will make more than 1,000 copies of the CD.

The two WMSV student workers who came up with the idea and are putting the project together are music director Lucas Jensen and Scott Wilson, a member of the programming department who is also a member of Simple Machine.

“The ultimate goal is to get a record deal,” Jensen said. “A lot of times major national record companies would not come into an area like Starkville, so we thought that this would be a good chance for our local bands.”

“It’s a good chance for local musicians to be included in a compilation CD, and also it’s great exposure for these bands because many times they can’t afford to do it themselves,” Rick Welch, owner of Rick’s Cafe Americain, said.

The CD will not only have local bands, it will include favorites such as Love Nature and Love Grin from New Orleans.

“We are looking forward to getting to play with some of these bands in the region, and there will be lots of different bands playing, which will bring lots of different people,” Wilson said.

It will probably cost about $5. “It is a good deal to pay five bucks to go and watch four bands in one night, when you usually pay that much to see only one band,” Jensen added.