"I had been into Built to Spill for a little while," says Casey Deligeannis, as we speak over the phone. "I went to one of their shows - I mean, it's been about a year ago. The last time they played at the Showbox. And you always see (guitarist) Doug Martsch and some of the band members before they go onstage, just kind of roaming around."

Deligeannis waited for an opportune moment to approach Martsch.

"I had made this postcard thing with pictures of my daughter on it," Deligeannis continues. "I put Facebook info and other info on it that you could look at real quick and tell what was going on."

In March of last year, Deligeannis's 2-year-old daughter Mia was diagnosed with High Risk Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). Soon, the financial strain of doctor's visits and treatments and travel and on and on - this all became too much for Deligeannis. His friends pitched in to help, and suddenly Friends of Mia was born.

"So, I found (Doug Marstch) at the show," says Deligeannis. "I asked him if he would be interested in doing a benefit show for Friends of Mia, and he seemed interested, but said that it would obviously be hard to schedule something like that. He said that if they could do it, he'd get back to me."

Meanwhile, Friends of Mia began to pick up steam, not only as a charity to aid Deligeannis in the further treatment of his daughter, but to help other parents who find themselves burdened by the medical costs of treating a young child.

"I gave him the card and watched the show," says Deligeannis. "About a year or nine months later, after I'd already forgotten about it and didn't really expect anything to happen, I get a call on my cell phone. Doug says that Built to Spill want to do the benefit. It was kind of off and running at that point."

The booking of Built to Spill is an awesome display of luck and good karma on Deligeannis's part. That you might approach a (semi)rock star, hand him a flyer for your cause, ask him to play a show, and almost a year later he not only remembers but agrees to do it? That's some kind of cosmic good fortune.

For the uninitiated, Built to Spill are kind of indie rock royalty. Making a name for themselves in the mid-to-late '90s, the band distinguished itself by performing high atop a rigid foundation of complex chord structures and no a small amount of jamming (hoping now that I am not struck down by a diehard BtS fan). They released two albums that are now considered classics and standards for any indie rock fan's collection, Perfect from Here On and Keep It Like a Secret.

The band's output has slowed down in the new millennium, but is not gone completely. Just last year, they released a well-received new album, There Is No Enemy.

It says a lot for what a worthy cause Friends of Mia is that this benefit show is happening.

"I still pinch myself sometimes," says Deligeannis. "Like, is this really happening?"

For more information on Friends of Mia and how you can help, visit friendsofmia.org. For a gutful of rock ‘n' roll, see Built to Spill on Sunday.

Built to Spill

with The Hive Dwellers, Scarf
Sunday, Nov. 21, 6:30 p.m., $20
Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. SE, Olympia
360.754.6670