STARKVILLE – Get ready to dance and sing along to all your favorite Motown songs this month during two Starkville Strong benefit concerts, organized with the help of a Jackson-based nonprofit looking to expand into the region.
Brandi Herrington, founding director of Starkville Strong, said attending one of the concerts is a fun summer activity for all, especially those who want to know their money is going toward a good cause.
“People can come and join the event, whether they know who Starkville Strong is or not,” Herrington said. “It’s just a way for the community to support our mission, but also enjoy something fun and I think exciting, at the same time, to have such a big production come to Starkville.”
The concerts, set for 7 p.m. July 23 and 24 at Rick’s Cafe, will feature covers of classic Motown hits by artists like Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, The Commodores, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and more, according to a Starkville Strong press release.
Starkville Strong is a nonprofit that tackles food insecurity, housing instability, homelessness and advocates for Oktibbeha County residents in need, Herrington said.
While the organization has hosted benefit concerts before, Herrington said this is the first time Starkville Strong has partnered with Covered Music – a Jackson-based nonprofit that was founded by Gary Watts in 2012.
Watts said Covered Music started as an initiative involving musicians from the worship band at Fondren Church in Jackson, with proceeds benefiting local nonprofits. He said he wanted to raise money by providing a family-friendly live music option that starts at an early time and includes songs everyone knows.
“The whole concept is: take a lot of really good local Mississippi musicians … and get them to come together a couple of times a year, and pick a theme, and pick songs that people will identify with, that are sentimental to (them), or (they) can sing every word to every song, and do a concert,” Watts said.
When it expanded three years later into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Watts said its name changed from Fondren Covered to Covered Music. They began by hosting bi-annual shows at Clyde Muse Center in Pearl before expanding in 2024 to Brookhaven, where they now organize a yearly Christmas show.
“It’s bringing a lot of people together, and (allowing) those live musicians to do what they’re very gifted at,” Watts said. “It’s allowing us to partner with people like Brandi, at Starkville Strong, and raise awareness and money fundraising for what they’re trying to do to give back to the community also.”
Watt said Covered Music is looking to expand even more, and Starkville seemed like the perfect place.
“A lot of our friends that live there, when I asked what’s the best organization to start this with, just about every one of them said Starkville Strong,” Watts said.
The event costs are covered by sponsors recruited by Covered Music, and the musicians are paid. That way, Watts said, every cent from ticket sales or donations goes directly to Starkville Strong.
Herrington said she hopes to sell out roughly 40 tables both nights.
“If the event is successful, we’re set up to have enough funds to help us get through the rest of the year,” Herrington said.
The bi-annual Covered Music concerts in Pearl have drawn as many as 700 people per night, Watts said, and he hopes the Starkville concerts will grow and allow Covered Music to expand to even more areas. While these two concerts boast Covered Music’s regular group of performers, Watts hopes to involve local Starkville musicians in the future.
Individual tickets and tables are available for purchase on the Covered Music website until they sell out, Watts said.
“To be able to continue doing this work that we’re so passionate about is imperative to have these funds to be able to do that with,” Herrington said. “So I’m just incredibly grateful that they reached out to us to have this event.”
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