LEWISTON — Too much music is dying.

That’s the notion that haunts Roger Michaud, the lead singer of the ’60s-era Lewiston band, the Moon Dawgs. Too many songs have been lost, he said. And each time that happens, a piece of Maine heritage is lost.

“Think of the musical history of the state of Maine,” he said. “The story has never been told.”

That will change, he said.

On Saturday, the singer plans to kick off an effort to create a Maine music museum in Lewiston.

Details of what the museum would look like or where it would be were uncertain. However, a private donor plans to come forward Saturday with an as-yet-unspecified amount of money to seed the project, Michaud said.

The donation will be made in the name of Michaud’s friend and fellow singer, Michael Goff, who died in March after a long fight with cancer. Goff was 64 and had led a popular local band, The Innkeepers.

“His passing was a catalyst,” Michaud said. He and other local musicians have been talking for years about the idea of a Maine Music Hall of Fame, but they jettisoned that concept as too tough. Egos and expenses might get in the way.

But a museum for all Maine music would hopefully cross communities, genres, eras and ethnicities, Michaud said.

A museum would feature the music of Native American tribes, the big band period, the garage bands of Michaud’s heyday and the hip-hop artists of today.

“We really don’t have an archived history of any of this,” Michaud said. “I think it would be a tremendous resource.”

Discussions are also under way with leaders at Museum L-A in hopes of coordinating efforts.

“I foresee that we’ll be able to pull that together,” said Rachel Desgrosseilliers, Museum L-A’s executive director.

Michaud already is raising money through the online sales of a song he wrote and recorded for Goff, titled “Message to Julie.”

The song will likely be part of Saturday’s event, “The 2nd Annual Dawg Days of Summer” concert at Lewiston’s Royal Oak Room. Michaud plans to sing a few songs from his new album, “American Stories.”

Then, he plans to sing with the Moon Dawgs.

Both the album and the concert are fundraisers for the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps injured service members re-enter civilian life.

“I’ve done all this because I believe in the causes,” Michaud said.

For the soldiers, it’s a matter of lending a hand.

“What I am doing is trying to help these guys who were so selfless,” he said. “We need to be more focused on how we honor these guys.”

For the museum, it’s personal. Part of that is owed to Goff.

“Mike was a great frontman,” Michaud said. He and the Innkeepers were edgier than the Moon Dawgs. He deserves to be remembered. So do many others.

“There is a really rich music history in Maine and our effort is to capture it,” he said. “When you think of artists such as (singer-songwriter) Jud Strunk and (country singer) Dick Curliss, there is a national impact.”

But there was also an impact on the community.

The Moon Dawgs, the Innkeepers, Terry and the Telstars and several other bands were regulars at Friday night Police Athletic League hop dances. They became locally famous and flirted with larger success.

“Nobody is trying to get rich and famous from the PAL hop,” Michaud said. ” But I think negating their contribution to the community is foolish.”

“You look back and say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to be here forever,'” he said. Ideas like the museum need a kick-start. “Maybe 10 years from now, none of us will be performing. If these things are going to get done, we’ve got to stop talking about it and move forward with the concept.”

Tickets to Saturday’s fundraiser are $25 per person or $250 for a table of 10. For more information, call (207) 333-3242 or go to www.royaloakroom.com.

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