Huntingburg center of a country music filled weekend starting this Friday.
Huntingburg—League Stadium will feature Trace Adkins, The Kentucky Headhunters, War Hippies and the daughter of country music legend Travis Tritt, Tyler Reese Tritt, this Saturday for the fourth Red, White & Brauen (RWB) Country Music Festival.
But the country music filled weekend starts the day before in Market Street Park with Drew Baldridge performing at 4th Fridays.
All this great talent comes through the county’s partnership with Rally Point Events, organizer of the RWB Country Music Festival, that started four years ago a year after Rally Point formed with a mission to help Tri-State veterans.
Yearby is a Heritage Hills grad who served in the Army National Guard. While in the Army he served in Iraq from 2007-2009 with 1-163rd Field Artillery as the communications Sergeant for Alpha Company while also preforming convoy security missions.
This was during some of the worst fighting in Iraq. “We saw more combat than any other company in Northern Iraq did during that time,” Yearby explained.
The company also had the most casualties during that time.
When they returned home in 2009, his company experienced more suicides than any other company as well. “It was non-stop suicides,” Yearby described.
This inspired Yearby and Joel Matherly to create an avenue to fund PTSD service dogs for combat veterans which became Rally Point Events, a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission has now expanded to helping children and veterans in the Tri-State area.
Rally Point Events connected with Dubois County five years ago when the organization used the Visit Dubois County stage for an event. Though his vision of a music festival to raise funds for veterans didn’t originally include Dubois County as a location, through a partnership with the Dubois County Tourism and local businesses, the Red, White & Brauen Festival launched in 2020 in Jasper.
Each year since, the festival has grown along with the impact of Rally Point Events which also features PBR rodeos. “We’ve almost given $800,000 back to the community over five years,” Yearby said. “Over 7,000 kids have received a new pair of shoes (Rally Point parnters with Optimist Club of Jasper to provide local kids shows). Over 300 veterans have received a new pair of work boots through our Combat Boots to Work Boots program. Countless monies have gone to veteran’s housing and service animals.”
Additionally, the events like Red, White & Brauen and the PBR rodeos are great for the community, residents and nonprofits and businesses where they are hosted.
“We can see we’re making an impact and it’s great to see more people getting behind it,” Yearby said. “The best part is knowing every dollar spent is a dollar back in the community.”
With the growth, Rally Point Events has been able to attract some great talent.
“Obviously, Trace Adkins is an A-line Country Music artist. He’s got tons and tons of hits and he’s a fan favorite,” Yearby said.
Adkins also performed in Iraq while Yearby’s company was there 15 years ago.
“Rally Point was started because of my time in service, my experience in Iraq, so we thought he’d be a great addition for our fourth year,” Yearby said.
This is the first year for the festival in a new location. According to organizer Lance Yearby, the stadium is a great venue for the concert and working with the City of Huntingburg and Mayor Neil Elkins has made it a smooth transition from the Uebelhor Toyota field in Jasper to the historic baseball field.
The move to League Stadium means easier access to essentials for festgoers. “Obviously, the historic aspect is important,” Yearby said. “But we are able to create a better experience for festgoers.”
League Stadium features restrooms, shaded areas and readily accessible concessions. In previous years, organizers have had to bring all of those amenities into the festival area, the open field north of Uebelhor Toyota.
“The biggest complaint we had was a lack of shade. I mean, hardly any music fesitivals have shade, so to have that is a big plus,” Yearby said. “Now, those that want to come out and not get burned by the sun, they have that option.”
The stage will be set up about 60 feet behind second base and attendees will have options to sit in the stadium seating area or bring a blanket or chair to sit in the field–tickets are priced according to seating choice. Gates will open at 5 p.m. on Saturday and tickets can still be purchased at www.RWBMusicFest.com and OnTapTickets.com.
Along with the direct impact on local kids through the partnership with the Optimist Club of Jasper, about ten other local groups will benefit from the event through food sales and direct donations. And if you use “BLUE” in the code when you purchase a ticket, $10 of your ticket price will go to help Huntingburg Officer Ted Klem’s children who lost their mother, Amanda Klem, an Air Force veteran and former police officer, in a tragic accident recently.
Yearby said that support is part of the group’s mission as well and they have provided similar funding mechanisms for other servicemembers and their families in the past.
“It’s a great event,” Yearby said. “and you won’t find another event in this area that does what we do.”
Along with Saturday’s concert, the RWB County Music Festival has partnered with Destination Huntingburg’s 4th Fridays event series in Huntingburg to bring a weekend filled with outstanding country music and vibrant community activities.
“It is a perfect tie-in with Fourth Fridays in Huntingburg,” Yearby said. “It becomes a full weekend of country music in Dubois County.
On Friday, everyone is invited to Market Street Park for music, family fun and food trucks. This Friday, through the partnership with RWB, country music’s rising star, Drew Baldridge, will perform as headliner. Baldridge is rapidly scaling the music charts with his song, “She’s Somebody’s Daughter.”
He will be joined by Hayley Payne, who has been spotlighted on CMT.com, The Country Network and other country music platforms.
“Friday you have Drew Baldridge, who will have the number one song on Country Music radio in about a week,” Yearby said. “Then you’ve got Trace Adkins the next day.”
You can follow Rally Point Events on Facebook here.
