Three of the bands from the WKNC CD compilation “Hear Here” will perform at the Pour House in Raleigh on Saturday night.
The show, appropriately named “The Finale Show,” represents the culmination of the “Hear Here” project.
The compilation “Hear Here” was the brainchild of Mikey Perros, a former N.C. State student and WKNC creative services manager. Perros envisioned an album that featured an eclectic assortment of local bands that would be sold to benefit a local area charity.
“I wanted to do something that had never been done before in this area: gather a collection of local talent together on one CD to help spread awareness about these great bands,” Perros said.
Mike Alston, the general manager of WKNC, was also intimately involved with the project.
“Mikey asked me to help him out with this thing and I thought it was a great idea” said Alston.
Perros and Alston began by putting together a list of about 150 bands, Alston said.
“A large portion of the bands that we asked said yes, and we were just so excited,” said Alston. “We had a back up list, but we never even had to use it.”
Next, they needed to find a way to record and release the album. They found a partner in local area record company Terpsikhore. Terpsikhore put the money up to record and produce the album, and was also the one who suggested the Visual Arts Exchange as the charity to benefit from the proceeds raised from the CD.
“The Visual Arts Exchange was just a natural fit for this project,” Alston said.
The charity’s focus is on new, up-and-coming visual artists, and “Hear Here” is trying to do the same thing for musical artists.
Sarah Powers, the executive director of the Visual Arts Exchange, agrees with Alston’s sentiments.
“VAE is proud to be the recipient of ‘Hear Here’ compilation,” Powers said. “The project, which promotes wonderful local musicians, aligns perfectly with VAE’s efforts to showcase local visual art talent though our exhibitions and programs.”
The album itself was released on Aug. 29, and has since sold nearly 1,000 copies. According to Alston, they do not know exactly how much money has been raised so far because some of the proceeds from these sales have been used to press a second run of 1,000 copies.
For Alston and Perros, putting together Saturday’s finale show was no easy task.
“We were having trouble finding bands that were available, as well as similar enough to play a show together,” Alston said. “But then, Chris Malarkey, who does the booking for the Pour House, said, ‘The album’s eclectic, so why not make the show eclectic too?'”
This led to the booking of three unique artists from entirely different musical genres.
The Finale Show will take place Saturday night at the Pour House located at 224 S. Blount St. in downtown Raleigh. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show will start at 10 p.m. Fans can pick up the “Hear Here” compilation CD at the show and at Schoolkids Records on Hillsborough Street, CD Alley in Chapel Hill and Bull City Records in Durham for $5.
