When country crooner Levi Riggs sings about the rural life, his passion and sincerity are as sharp and as real as a plodding plow.
He grew up around his grandparents’ dairy farm. And he is the founder of his own business called Riggs Ag Solutions Inc., helping farmers maximize their crop yields. Plus, he just performed at the annual and huge Farm Progress Show.
So he clearly knows his way around harvests and hay bales.
“I’m still regularly in the fields and in the dirt,” Riggs said, speaking by phone from his home in Danville near Indianapolis before hitting the regional roads for concerts recently.
Come 6:30 p.m. Saturday, he’ll open the Annual Our Hospice of South Central Indiana Labor Day Weekend Concert at Mill Race Park in Columbus. Before headliner Sister Hazel goes on, Riggs expects to perform an approximate one-hour set of his original tunes, plus covers of pop-rock artists such as Tom Petty.
“I want audiences to find some meaning especially in some of these new songs that I’ve written — to find their passion or to find a way to re-ignite their fire that makes them unique,” he said. “Post-pandemic, I think that there still are people struggling a little to find their proper lane again.”
So he’ll play tunes such as “Back in the Battle” with that clear message. Or some of his older, better-known tunes such as “Home Girl,” about Brittany, his wife of 15 years. At age 38, he has opened for national acts such as The Band Perry, Josh Turner, Jason Aldean and others. Plus, he opened for Sister Hazel five years ago in Evansville, and loves the group’s tunes.
“They’re a great bunch of guys,” he said.
Riggs has a lot in common with those musicians, especially in the realm of family. With four children ranging in age from 3 to 11, he purposely structures his travel around family life just as Sister Hazel members do.
“At this point,” he said, “I can be about as busy as I want to be musically,” he said.
And musically, his influences span the gamut of classic pop-rock, thanks to his mother’s album collection that included artists such as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Harry Chapin and others. The past few years, the Purdue University ag graduate’s performances have unfolded at venues ranging from 500 seats to 10,000 at fairs, festivals and the like.
Like a lot of performers these days, he considers that his role might be slightly more emphatic after the pandemic.
“It seems like that, throughout history, these different types of trials lend us the opportunity to be more reflective,” Riggs said. “If you look back at other times like during the 1960s, and you look at artists such as Bob Dylan, you’re reminded that we all can really make an impact.”
He does feel at least some responsibility for giving an audience a time of rejuvenating.
“The really big issue right now with so many seems to be mental health,” he said. “In some ways, it feels a little bit like we’re at war with ourselves. It seems like maybe we’ve become colder toward each other, and even colder toward ourselves.
“I think it’s time for a reset — and that makes it a great time for a songwriter to be writing about it.”
About the concert
What: The Annual Our Hospice of South Central Indiana Labor Day Weekend Concert, with opener Levi Riggs and headliner Sister Hazel.
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Mill Race Park, 50 Carl Miske Drive in downtown Columbus.
Admission: Free. Attendees are asked to bring their own chairs and blankets for seating.
