http://www.concertforthecuresa.org/index.html
ELI YOUNG BAND
PAUL EASON
SCOTT WIGGINS BAND
Credit: John Goodspeed
While there are a lot of cool events this weekend, the spotlight is on a good one for a good cause in the middle of the week.
It is the Concert for the Cure, featuring the Eli Young Band Wednesday evening at the Lone Star Pavilion at Sunset Station.
What makes this event so special is that it is being produced by a group of Trinity University students, and most of them are in the Gamma Chi Delta sorority and the Kappa Kappa Delta fraternity.
The debut event raised $7,000 for the American Cancer Society in 2005 with Roger Creager playing at a dance marathon in Trinity's Webster Gymnasium. The next concerts grew, and they got too big for the Trinity campus.
“The event is becoming so successful, we opened it to the public this year and moved it to Sunset Station to maximize our donations,” event chair Mackenzie Kelly said. “So far, we've raised $33,000.”
About 60 students from six sororities and fraternities work on the fundraiser, said Kelly, a 21-year-old junior from Kansas City, Mo., who is majoring in neuroscience.
“The reason the American Cancer Society was chosen was because we had two members who had cancer, and we continued it as the beneficiary because cancer is something everyone can relate to,” Kelly said.
There will be food booths, and radio stations will give away prizes. Doors will open at 5 p.m. Trinity alumnus Aaron Einhaus will kick off the music with an acoustic set at 6 p.m., with Texas-style country rock on tap from Paul Eason and the Scott Wiggins Band.
Hitting the stage at 10:30, the Eli Young Band hopes to continue on the roll it ended with in 2008. Fueled by a melodic blend of pop rock and country with lyrics that sound hopeful even when dark, they sold out 16 shows in six weeks late last year after seeing ticket sales double and triple in venues across the country.
Last year the band, founded by Mike Eli and James Young and based in Denton, hooked up with Universal Records South after “When It Rains” promised to become one of the longest-running independent country singles in chart history.
The debut major-label album “Jet Black and Jealous” launched at No. 5 on Billboard's country chart. Their current single, “Always the Love Songs,” sits atop the Texas Music chart this week.
Tickets cost $18 at Ticketmaster or $20 at the door.
John Goodspeed's column appears on Fridays in Weekender. Check out his blog on country and Texas Music at http://www.MySa.com/blogs, Goodspeed's Country; and outdoors, Hunting and Fishing.