Wesson's Eric Sharp, 15, and Ryan Spear, 14, are taking a break from their weekly acoustic duets at Los Lobos restaurant Saturday to perform for America's warriors at a Mississippi National Guard ceremony at the Hilton hotel in Jackson.

The high school freshmen have only been playing guitar and singing together since February, but they jumped at the chance to bear their own expenses and provide free entertainment for soldiers and their families for a Yellow Ribbon Program beginning at 6 p.m. on Oct. 17.

"We didn't really ask any questions," Spear said. "We appreciate doing stuff like that for the soldiers."

It may be their rural upbringing, their raising in church or people they know who have served their country. They can't really place a label on their patriotism, but it's there.

"All she had to do was tell us it was for the soldiers and we were in," Sharp said.

She is Lynn Holloway, a contractor for the Yellow Ribbon Program, which pulls together servicemen and their families to provide them various professional and personal resources before, during and after returning from deployment.

Holloway is a Wesson resident, and heard Sharp and Spear performing their blend of country, rock and Christian music in Los Lobos during one of their regular Saturday night shows. When the musicians made their rounds in the restaurant, meeting guests and taking song suggestions, Holloway introduced herself and invited them to perform at this weekend's event.

"They sounded really good, particularly to be so young," Holloway said. "We just got to talking about what I do, and they said, 'What can we do to support the servicemen?' That's how this all got started."

Holloway's invitation will place the musicians before the largest crowd they've ever performed for.

Approximately 300 servicemen and their families are expected to attend the Yellow Ribbon Event, which is being held for the168th Engineer Group of Vicksburg, which is expected to return from overseas in around one month; the 858th Horizontal Construction Company from Calhoun City, which has been deployed about two months; and various members of the Mississippi Air National Guard, who are deploying soon.

Sharp and Spear are feeling nervous about facing the crowd.

They began performing together in February for a talent show at Wesson Attendance Center and picked up their Los Lobos gig that same night. They've also performed for Copiah County's Relay for Life, but never for anything as organized and far away as the Yellow Ribbon Program.

But they're going to deal with it.

"I guess it's just out of respect," Sharp said. "The least we can do is go play a few songs for them. People don't realize how much they're sacrificing. We owe them our lives as Americans is the way I see it."

The duo is preparing a handful of special songs for the occasion, most notably "Soldier's Life," in which they try to explain in song what soldiers go through. Toward the end of the song is a line about the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which the musicians believe Americans tend to need reminding about from time to time.

"People forget what they felt like when they turned on the TV that day," Spear said.