The Refried Beans will serve up three portions of music for a hungry crowd and a good cause.

The self-proclaimed alternative-country group will hold an Intracoastal Waterway Tour — with stops in Belhaven, Beaufort and Wrightsville Beach beginning Thursday.

The concerts will raise money for volunteer fire departments that have assisted in fighting the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge forest fire that began June 1.

The first concert will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday at River Forest Manor in Belhaven. Subsequent shows will be at 4 p.m. Aug. 15 at the Dock House in Beaufort and 4 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Bluewater in Wrightsville Beach.

"We've been playing on and off with one another since college days, which would be about 30 years," said band member Wintson Lea.

Originally, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduates started playing music by the Kingston Trio. There are three guitars and a set of congas in the band.

"It's evolved, and now it's a lot of folk-based music, Robert Earl Keen and Jerry Jeff Walker, Texas-based songwriters," Lea said.

Lea lives in Rocky Mount, where he is the chief financial officer of Action Staffing Group. Other members include Fred Frohbose, Millard Woodard and Henry Boyd. Frohbose is a urologist in Rocky Mount, Durham-based Woodard is a sales representative for Brame Inc. and Boyd lives in Belhaven and is a developer and retired magistrate.

"We don't take ourselves or our music seriously," Lea said. "We just want people to come out and have a good time."

While they profess to not take their music seriously, they have the earmarks of real musicians.

The quartet has played at fraternity, corporate, private and wedding parties over the years.

"Millard, when he got out of school, he played some down in the Keys and Estes Park, Colorado. He played and made a living," Lea said.

The idea for an Intracoastal Waterway tour wasn't new to the Beans.

"Actually, we did it five years ago just for the fun of it. We had a lot of fun and wanted to do it again. Then, I got to thinking just after the fire started on June 1, maybe we can tweak it and turn it into a fundraiser," Lea said.

The three venues the Beans wanted to play were on board with their fundraiser idea, too.

"They agreed that it was for a good cause and were as excited about it as we were," Lea said.

The shows are free, but the Refried Beans will accept donations, which will be equally distributed among five volunteer fire departments in Hyde, Washington and Tyrrell counties.

The band has printed about 400 posters promoting the event which they've posted locally and in Washington, Belhaven, Wrightsville Beach and Morehead City.

"I've been surprised at the enthusiasm that I'm hearing about the event," Lea said.

As for the actual intracoastal tour?

"We've got about five boats traveling from Belhaven to Beaufort and then about seven or eight boats going from Beaufort to Wrightsville beach," Lea said.

Each trip, he estimates, will take about three hours by boat, "under normal conditions."

The band will travel by boat to the second and third show, leaving each port at approximately 10 a.m.

"We'll tie up at the dock and get ready to play," Lea said.

IF YOU GO!

What: Refried Beans Intracoastal Waterway Tour

Where: 8 p.m. Thursday at River Forest Manor, 738 E. Main St. Belhaven, 4 p.m. Aug. 15 at the Dock House Restaurant, 500 Front St., Beaufort and 4 p.m. Aug. 16 at Bluewater Grill, 4 Marina St., Wrightsville Beach

Cost: Free, but donations will be accepted

To make a donation to the volunteer firefighter fund, mail checks to: Ponzer Fire Department P.O. Box 9028 Rocky Mount, NC 27804.

Contact features writer Kelley Kirk-Swindell at 329-9596 or kkirkswindell@coxnc.com.