By SARAH BROACH

Staff Writer

Some familiar musical names are coming to Ruston, and students with a valid Tech ID can see them for free.

Sister Hazel and Blessid Union of Souls will play a concert at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Thomas Assembly Center, courtesy of Union Board.

Mark Trojanowski, the drummer from Sister Hazel, said the band enjoys playing for college students.

"We've always been a college band," he said. "We enjoy spreading music to a younger audience. It keeps us connected to the younger generation.

"We often play at colleges, and the college tours we do usually revolve around the fall or spring when students are coming back from break."

Sister Hazel played at Rabb's Steak and Spirits on Sept. 16, but it was not the first time.

"We've played at Rabb's a couple of times now," Trojanowski said. "This concert will be good because it will get the word out to more people, and then they might come out the next time we play at Rabb's."

Trojanowski said students can expect to hear a mixture of their records at the show. "Lift," Sister Hazel's latest record, was released in August 2004.

"We're going to do a wide coverage of what we play musically," Trojanowski said. "They'll get a dose of the new record."

Stephen Bell, Union Board president and a senior biology major, said Sister Hazel's music should attract many students.

"It's your basic rock and pop music, and it has a universal appeal," Bell said.

Opening for the bands is Virginia Coalition, a band from the Washington area who play a mixture of different styles of music. Blessid Union of Souls will follow them, and then Sister Hazel will take the stage.

Trojanowski said Sister Hazel enjoys playing concerts with the guys in Blessid Union of Souls.

"We've played a couple of times over the years with them, and we're all pretty good friends," he said.

Amy Askegren, Union Board secretary and a senior biology major, said the mixture of Sister Hazel and Blessid Union of Souls will make for a good crowd.

"Two different groups of people will be coming for those bands," Askegren said.

"The Thomas Assembly Center can fit about 5,000 people, and we're expecting 2,000 to 3,000 people to show up, especially since it's free [for students].

"It's one of the better concerts we could have gotten for the fall," Askegren said.

Tickets for non-students are $10 and can be purchased at the Union Board office in rooms 214 and 215 in Tolliver Hall or at the door the night of the concert.

Bell said the passing of the Student Government Association's "Get More" resolution, which raised funds given to student organizations, helped bring in the show.

"[The concert] is a thank-you to students for passing the resolution last year," Bell said.

"We usually don't get to put on a show this big in the fall because of expenses, but we can do it now."