The music of Moe, Nickel Creek and Richard Johnston will flood the streets of downtown Starkville Saturday night during the Old Main Music Festival. The second annual music fest, known last year as the Downtown Music Festival, will kick off at 7 p.m., with the gates opening at 6 p.m.
Eclectic musician Richard Johnston will jump-start the event at 7 p.m., followed by the bluegrass sounds of Nickel Creek at 8:30 p.m. Headliner Moe will take the stage at 10:30 p.m. Local bands will perform on the balcony of Old Main Grocery during set changes.
Travis Wolfe, co-director of external affairs for the Mississippi State Student Association, said he was excited about booking such a variety of bands.
“We have three of the top artists in their genre of music, and what’s even more impressive about it is that each genre is so different,” Wolfe said. “I think we did a good job of getting bands that fit well together.”
Blues artist Richard Johnston, who created a following on Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn., before shifting his focus to the North Mississippi blues, has refused multiple offers for record deals because he says he wants to stay true to the music.
“He’s a great act that nobody’s really heard of,” Wolfe said. “I’ve never worked as closely with an artist who has fully embraced the blues, and more so, the North Mississippi foothill blues, like this guy has.”
Bluegrass trio Nickel Creek beat Johnny Cast for a Grammy in 2002 and was named one of five “music innovators for the millennium” by Time magazine.
The group, which includes a brother/sister combo, has been playing music together since they were 8 years old.
“They’re very popular with college students, but I think this is a band that a lot of the community will be able to enjoy,” Wolfe said. “They’re credibility speaks more of them anything I could say. It should be a really good show.”
The often-experimental Moe began their career in ’94 at the University of Buffalo in New York. They started out playing frat parties and continued to build a following during the next decade. Today, they’re one of the biggest bands in their genre, which Wolfe described as “rock, slash, funk leaning more towards progressive rock.”
Presley Taylor, a senior at MSU, weighed in on her views on Moe. “They have their own unique sound and their music is so different that it gets better every time I hear it,” Taylor said. “Every time they play they bring a good time.”
SA President Adam Telle said one of the coolest things about the festival is the amount of phone calls that have been made to the SA office.
“We’ve had phone calls from people in Las Vegas and all these other places calling to ask about the festival because Moe is such a nationally renowned act,” Telle said.
“We’ve got people coming to see them from California, Colorado, Nevada and other places,” Wolfe added.
Although the scheduled starting times for each band will be followed as closely as possible, Wolfe said festival-goers should arrive early just in case.
“These bands want to play music as long as they possibly can, so if a band is supposed to play at 8:30 p.m. and the stage gets set up by 8:15 p.m., they’re probably going to go ahead and start,” Wolfe said.
Tickets for the festival are $10 and can be purchased at the gates tomorrow night. Activities will be moved to Humphrey Coliseum in the event of rain.