Transcription:
Kim Cole:
Hi everyone, thanks for joining us today. I’m Kim Cole, President of the Community Foundation of Morgan County and with me today is Rob Helms from RD Productions. Second time joining us on our podcast, joined us last year when we talked about the concert series. So we’re going to talk about his upcoming concert series for 2026. Rob, there’s nobody that does more for Morgan County than RD Productions and the entertainment that you’re bringing. We were just talking off air about how long you’ve been doing this now, more than a decade, 11 years. The talent that you’re bringing is unbelievable. So, let’s talk about who you’re getting, where they’re going to be, and of course, lots of free concerts for the community. So, let’s talk about that.
Rob Helms: Let’s start with what I call the big one. This is our make-or-break concert, I kind of call it. It’s the one that will have June 13th at the Morgan County Fairgrounds in Martinsville. And it’s Scottie McCrary, American Idol winner, Josh Turner, Lori Morgan, and Big Country will open. That’s June 13th.
Kim Cole: Is that a Friday or a Saturday?
Rob Helms: It’s a Saturday. It’s a Saturday.
Kim Cole: We’re glad it’s not Friday 13th. Yes.
Rob Helms: But with RD Productions, we do national acts. I mean, we bring in national acts, local, regional, tribute. We do a little bit of everything.
Kim Cole: Sure.
Rob Helms: Because what you said before, we have a mixed bag of concerts. This year, RD Productions will produce over 70 plus concerts. 27 of those are free to the public.
Kim Cole: That’s incredible.
Rob Helms: Free to the public because of our sponsors. No way of doing it without them.
Kim Cole: Right.
Rob Helms:
And our free concerts are in Martinsville at the venue, outdoor. We also have Pioneer Park in Mooresville and Bargersville at the Embargo Plaza, downtown Bargersville. We have the Fall Foliage Festival free entertainment stage, which this year, again, I believe will be held at the Fairgrounds because of construction downtown Martinsville.
Rob Helms: We also have July 4th at Jimmy Nash City Park. With the fireworks, we’ve been doing that a while. At Mooresville, we’ll do their July 4th. So that’s where our free concerts lay. And then our ticketed ones are, like I said, June 13th at Martinsville. And then we’ve got Drink at the Creek. That’s one of the facilities. It’s just a blast there. If you’ve never been to Cedar Creek Winery Brewing Company and Distillery, concert or not, you should go out and visit that place. It is kept up beautifully.
Kim Cole: I do agree.
Rob Helms: I don’t drink, but I’ve heard that their drinks are good, but we do bring in lots of…
Kim Cole: And their food.
Rob Helms: Yes, their food is very good. Cauliflower pizza is killer, I think.
Kim Cole: Yes, I agree.
Rob Helms: But we’re doing 10 concerts out there this year, and we call that the Drink at the Creek Concert Series. And then we have what we call the MET, the Martinsville Entertainment Theater, which me and you and some of your staff members… Was it last week or two weeks or whatever it was?
Kim Cole: Recently. Yeah.
Rob Helms: We took a tour and we filmed it and put it on Facebook and all that good stuff. But the facility there is absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous.
Kim Cole: Yes, it is.
Rob Helms: It hosts 330 people. We’ve got 24 concerts there. We’ve still got 20 left. Our next one is in March.
Kim Cole: March what? March 14th.
Rob Helms: It’s an Elton John and Billy Joel tribute.
Kim Cole: Wow. That’s going to be awesome.
Rob Helms: We just had an Eagles tribute. And if you missed that one, you missed a great one. But we have those concerts. And then I’ve got our new facility. This will be our second year down in Spencer at a venue that we’ve partnered up with Paul and Anthony Lauck. It’s called Tier 10 Music and Sports Park. Yep. And we’re bringing eight concerts there.
Kim Cole: That’s great. That’s a great location.
Rob Helms: Yeah. And six of those are ticketed. And they’re basically what we do at Cedar Creek, tribute acts, food vendors, beer, wine, alcohol sales. And then we also have a 4th of July concert down there.
Kim Cole: Oh, my gosh.
Rob Helms: I got three 4th of July concerts.
Kim Cole: Well, how do you handle all that? I mean, how do you do that, Rob?
Rob Helms: I’m not sure yet, but we’re working on it. Kim, what are you doing on July 4th? I need you to help me emcee one of these shows. But no, we’re July 4th. We’re down there. But we’ve also got a big concert, national act down there with country artists. She’s had a lot of hit records, Jodie Messina, Montgomery Gentry featuring Eddie Montgomery, the Kentucky Headhunters and Dylan Carmichael. That show is August 22nd. So that’s our concerts and what we call the ultimate sponsorship package, all those concerts. And we’ve also got two more in Terre Haute. We call it Wine on the Wabash.
Kim Cole: Okay. Wow.
Rob Helms: Wine on the Wabash. That’s in June and September.
Kim Cole: Wow. So you are really expanding.
Rob Helms: Yeah. The Wine on the Wabash, we started out in 2018. Okay. It’s been with us for a while. It’s very successful. I have partnered with the radio stations over there. We have great entertainment. It’s at Fairbanks Park. Obviously, it’s right on the Wabash. We fence it in. We have food and alcohol and adult beverages and all that good stuff. It’s just a great time. It really is. A lot of great music.
Kim Cole: That’s August?
Rob Helms: That is in June. That’s June 20th and September 19th. I call it Wine on the Wabash 1, Wine on the Wabash 2. But lots of entertainment.
Kim Cole: Okay. So, let’s start with let’s talk about your 4th of July shows. So you’re going to be Martinsville, Mooresville and Spencer. So, tell us about that.
Rob Helms: All right. So, July 4th at Jimmy Nash City Park is where really, to be honest with you, this is where RD Productions got started because I had been asked, you said at the beginning of this that we’d been in business over a decade. Well, I’ve been doing the free entertainment stage at Jimmy Nash City Park. And when I say do it, getting the entertainment lined up for it before RD Productions was ever a thing. So I’m looking, it’s probably close to 20 years we’ve doing the entertainment there. So, we bring in a stage, we bring in the entertainment and then the fireworks show is unreal. Our entertainment this year, let me make sure I don’t screw this up, is Powerhouse, which is a blues rock band and Rose O’Neal. Oh wow. The Rose O’Neal trio. Yeah. So, they’ll perform right up until time of the fireworks. We’ll start the entertainment at 7. We used to start it earlier, but it’s so hot. People get at the park later. And when you get there, if we have good weather, you could possibly have four to 5,000 people up there easily. And the fireworks show is great. And that’s the same scenario at Pioneer Park. If you’ve never been here, great fireworks show. Now there this year, we’ve got Michael McCartney and the L.A. Grace Trio, which is L.A. Bells. If you know any Bells, there’s a gazillion of them and she’s part of that family. But that show also starts at 7 and goes right up till the time for the fireworks. So, it’s all in the same plan now. Where I will be will probably be at Martinsville, but I’m not sure yet because I’ve got three July 4 shows. But I have help. I have people that will help me emcee the show. And then who’s playing out your Spencer venue? Spencer is a band called Bonita. They’re from down in that area. Great classic rock band. Great classic rock band. And the opener is a bluegrass band. They’re called Blue Flame. So, we mix it up, have a little bit different genres of music. And you know how much that costs? Nothing. It’s free to the public. And that’s with their that’s fireworks. Everything is free. Wow. That is that is thanks to our sponsors for the community.
Kim Cole: OK, so sponsors. Tell me about some of your sponsors.
Rob Helms: Oh, my. That’s a long list.
Kim Cole: I know. Do you have a list?
Rob Helms: Yeah, but I don’t have it on this. But I can think of some of the top dogs that have been with me for a while. Yeah. Community Foundation of Morgan County, number one.
Kim Cole: Thank you.
Rob Helms: Greg Hubler Chevrolet. He furnishes me a truck. He gives us money to help do all this. He we will have the very first day of ticket sales, which is cool for that contract. I was telling you about June 13th, March 28th. We have our first day of ticket sales at Greg Hubler.
Kim Cole: Oh, that’s great. So, you go there for old school. OK. Oh, that’s go there. Oh, the karma. Yep. The old karma music.
Yeah, that was awesome. So, you go to Greg Hubler on March 28th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You save 25 percent on all tickets you buy. That’s so and the ticket prices are one hundred dollars, 50 and 25. OK, so you can see Scotty McCrary, Josh Turner, Lori Morgan and Bigg Country if you want to sit in the back in the silver section for eighteen dollars and seventy-five cents.
Kim Cole: Wow. That’s a bargain.
Rob Helms: If you go there to Greg Hubler and buy your tickets, they’re on sale March 28th and they’re on sale.
Kim Cole: I think it’s a Saturday.
Rob Helms: Yep. Correct. OK. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then at 2 p.m. they go on sale online worldwide full price. So, the only way to save is go to Greg Hubler. OK. But going back to Greg, what a great sponsor. He’s been with me. They do a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff. But Greg Hubler, Wes Knox, Paul Lauck, New Start Home Realty Home Bank. We’ve actually named the Home Bank Christian Concert Series. I almost forgot to mention that the Home Bank Christian Concert Series. . Yep. Starts in November. And goes through April of 2027. So, our concert series, if you’re a sponsor for our production, you get almost 16 months of advertising. Of being a part of what we do.
Kim Cole: Sure. And being able to provide help you provide the community with a lot of great entertainment. Much is free and or affordable. Very affordable. Great. A great way to spend your free time. So, the tell me about the Christian Concert Series. Where are those concerts?
Rob Helms: Christian Concert Series is held at the Home Bank Christian Concert Series. It’s held at Hoosier Harvest Church in Martinsville. It’s right there off 252. Pastor Page and his staff have been nothing but open arms for us to bring in. And our Christian Concert Series is five concerts. One day I hope to expand that. But right now, for twenty-six to twenty- seven, we’re going to have five. With national acts on each one.
Kim Cole: Tell me about your timeline.
Rob Helms: I don’t have the national act. I don’t have them all booked yet. So I can’t tell you that’s a hidden secret till they’re all booked.
Kim Cole: OK. Do you have any booked that you could tell us about or no?
Rob Helms: No. I do have a few booked, but I cannot tell you.
Kim Cole: Cliffhanger. You’re going to have to come on a third then.
Rob Helms: But we still but we are still in this year’s people that were a sponsor last year still have Home Bank Christian Concert Series for this past season. I can tell you that. So, like in I don’t know when this will air, but like tomorrow night, we have a Christian comedian, Mickey Bell, and downpour. And then on March 28th, Jason Crabb is the headliner. Phenomenal. He’s one of the best singers I’ve ever heard in my life with Joseph Habedank.
Kim Cole: That’s a big statement.
Rob Helms: And then in April is our closing concert for that season with the Sidewalk Prophets. If you’re contemporary, but if you know anything about contemporary Christian gospel or Christian music, they’re big.
Kim Cole: Yeah. And that’s neat. I love them.
Rob Helms: Yeah. The Sidewalk Prophets. They’re they’re very good. And that’s in April. April 25th.
Kim Cole: OK. So, kind of back to the the big dates that everybody needs to remember. March 28th, they need to go to Greg Hubler, which is in Canby up off of 67. Yep. And they’re going to have 25 percent off tickets.
Rob Helms: We’re going to have 25 percent off. So, and when you get there that day, if you want to buy 100 tickets, there’s no limit. We’ve had people buy a lot. There’s no limit. We take 25 percent off of whatever that amount is.
Kim Cole: OK. Will you be there that day?
Rob Helms: Oh, yeah. Yeah. It’s a big day for us. I mean, we’ve sold. Sure. Up there at Greg Hubler, we’ve sold seven, eight hundred tickets before.
Kim Cole: Wow. And that morning. I’m assuming.
Rob Helms: So it’s old school. Like I mean, my my people, my staff will be there with the credit card readers. We actually will hand you a physical ticket, you know, that day, like like you used to get. Yeah. Because my sponsors are on it. Sure. And they pick up those tickets. They’re off on their way. No e-tickets that day. No. Now we’re doing e-tickets when you buy online. I mean, you can you can ask for a mail or we’ll call or whatever, but we’ll have e-tickets. But that day it’s all physical tickets because you have to come there in person. I’ve had people call me. It’s so funny. Is there any way I can get that twenty five percent off? But I just can’t make it there. No, I don’t mean it bad. But the reason one of the big selling points would I, you know, propose this to Greg Hubler was I’m going to bring a lot of people here. Right. And they’re going to on that first day of sale. They’re going to see a lot of cars. Yeah. They’re going to see trucks, cars. They’re going to they’ve sold stuff to. Oh, what I mean is like there’s been people that have sold or bought stuff while they were there and there’s no pressure to do that. That’s not that’s what’s going on. But, you know, so we do it.
Kim Cole: Yeah, sure. It’s like when you’re out and about and you go get lunch. So, yeah.
Rob Helms: But, you know, the one thing I’d like to touch on that I take great pride in is that our staff, the people that have been with me, I’ve got people that have been with me day one. My ticket manager, her and her husband have been with me. The whole time. Yeah. My production manager, my my stage managers day one.
Kim Cole: Well, they must have a good boss.
Rob Helms: Well, it ain’t even that it’s just
Kim Cole: the boss is not a jerk. So, they want to try not to be.
Rob Helms: I’ve had my moments, but you know, and one thing it really means a lot to me is that my wife, she retired from her job. Now she’s helping me. And then my daughter is my social media director and had a marketing for me.
Kim Cole: Yeah. So, family business.
Rob Helms: Yeah. And I’ve got so many great people. I could go down a list that just have been with us. And in my business partner, I have a business partner. His name is Ken Fraley. He doesn’t like that. He would never do this ever. He doesn’t like any of this,
Kim Cole: But we can say his name.
Rob Helms: But what a great, what a great guy. And his family. Yeah. Just great people. If you know Ken and Kenja Fraley, great people. Love having him as my business partner. You know, he he says he likes to do that hillbilly math. He’ll go, well, that don’t add up if I’m doing my hillbilly math. You know, it’s but it’s just I mean, he’s he’s a very smart guy. But I just I’ve been the Lord has blessed me in lots of ways. He’s surrounded me with just wonderful people. Well, that have helped us tremendously.
Kim Cole: Well, and you’re obviously successful because you’re still doing it 11 years later.
Rob Helms: Yes. And I’m not going to lie to you. We’ve had years like it’s been off the chart. Great. And there’s other years where you you don’t you don’t win. I tell Ken, our business is like a baseball game because what you mean by that? I said, well, in baseball, you have singles. You know, so what I base that on the crowd was, OK, we made a little bit of money. OK, you have doubles. Oh, we made a little bit more. We did a little bit better. Triples. It’s getting really good. Home run out of the ballpark. Man, that was awesome. There’s something else in baseball strikeouts, you know, and you have those because it could be weather related. It could be people just didn’t like that act, didn’t sign up to get the tickets. But, you know, for the most part, you don’t get to stay in business for 11 years by losing money every year. I mean, so we’ve had to, you know, work around it. And I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t mean to expand this fast. And some days it’s a it’s a great thing. And some days I’m like, what have I done? Why am I doing?
Kim Cole: You mentioned, you know, having to deal with the weather as an as a challenge.
Rob Helms: Oh,it’s nervewracking..
Kim Cole: Yeah. that in the spring of twenty-five, we were having a lot of rain. And you were about to pull your hair out and eat it because you weren’t sure when you could get stuff rescheduled. But I mean, that’s the thing, you know, rain or shine, if you’re going, if you’re you’re doing it, people are out there. Yeah, people are out there. And that’s great.
Rob Helms: One year it was like two or three years ago we had one one rain out or not rain out, but like a just a postponement and fixed it last year. At one point, I think we’d had 11 rescheduled concerts because of weather. That is brutal. It’s hard to fix it. It’s hard to handle it. So I’m hoping that we get some really good weather because I feel great about our acts, you know. And the one thing I want to hit on, if we can, is that people ask me, why do you book the tribute bands? Well, one, they’re affordable, very affordable. Two, if you, a lot of these tribute acts take great pride. Some try to look like them, some don’t even care about looking like them, they just try to sound like them or they’re just really just tributing the music to itself and not really worrying about the look or the sound, just playing it, you know, playing the Eagles song or the Eagles or whatever it is. But in all fairness, people love classic rock. Now, I know there’s a young girl back here, she might not know who the classic rock people are.
Kim Cole: She’s not as” mature” as us, Rob.
Rob Helms: But have you looked at Lynyrd Skynyrd, and no disrespect, love Lynyrd Skynyrd, they don’t have one member. Foreigner is on tour. They don’t have one member that cut a record. So, in my eyes, that’s a tribute band. Okay. There’s a lot of those acts that are in that same situation. People have either retired or passed or whatever. But those acts that I’m talking about, they want a lot of money. A lot. I can bring tribute bands in that do a phenomenal job for a lot less money, make it affordable for the customer. And you still get almost the same exact experience. You’re hearing the songs that bring you back or took you back to what you remember. We just had a Phil Collins tribute a few weeks back. If Phil Collins was sitting here, I would tell him the same thing. It’s not in my CD collection. Nothing against it, but I like Phil Collins, but it’s not my cup of tea. But I’m a fan now because of that tribute band. They were incredible. Just incredible. The horn section, everything was precise. Oh, wow.
Kim Cole: So, the tribute band did it so great that it made it even a greater experience than when you remembered it.
Rob Helms: For me it did. I’m sitting right there on the side of the stage. I’m from here to you, from the horn players and stuff. It’s like, man, I appreciated it. But on the tribute acts, people like it. They bring it in. And when they quit bringing crowds, I’ll quit booking them. That is my number one rule. If you don’t bring people, I don’t book you.
Kim Cole: This is what I admire about you, Rob. This is a business. You have to figure out how to make it work. You obviously have. You’re still in business after 11 years. You’re still growing, but you’re still doing stuff for the community. For us at the Community Foundation, we want to support you because you are doing so much for our community.
Rob Helms: Well, I thank you for that. It’s humbling and great. It’s what we do. My wife brought this up about the free concerts because you just got to make it make sense financially. We were watching the crowd one day at the venue in Martinsville. She goes, you realize there’s some of these people that are here tonight that could never afford to go to any of those shows.
Kim Cole: You bet.
And we have all kinds of people that show up for these free concerts. Because they’re free and great entertainment. A lot of great local acts that are on these shows. I do my very best not to book bad bands. We have all kinds of different genres. I take great pride in it. I’m glad to help. I’m glad to be a part of the Morgan County and community. Like I said, we’re doing stuff in Johnson County also. Now also in Owen County and Vigo County. We got lots of stuff. I’m actually something else, we’re working on a thing in Illinois right now.
Kim Cole: That’s a whole other show. Real quick, tell us quickly about the, I know it’s the Mojo, Morgan County, Johnson County Alliance and the Umberger Plaza. What shows are there?
Rob Helms: We have eight shows there starting in May. They’re all on Thursdays. They’re all free. And I’m telling you, last year was the first year that Umberger Plaza opened up. If you go downtown Bargersville, it’s for the Bargersville Park and Recreation Summer Concert Series. We’re the company that books the entertainment, pays for it, the whole thing. But I’m telling you, they closed down the street right there on Baldwin Street. They got this big, long grass area. Beautiful. Our crowds were off the chart down there. If you’ve not been to Bargersville in a while, you understand. The housing additions are just going up like wildfire out there.
Kim Cole: It’s not just Reds over there anymore. Reds. Much has changed.
Rob Helms: Our band played Reds a lot. I love that place. But no, a lot of great things going on. And we invite people to come out and have a good time. Our motto on the free concert is bring your chairs, bring your friends and be ready to have a good time.. And I got to say this once again, thank you to Community Foundation for supporting us and all of our great sponsors. And I don’t have the list in front of me, but God bless you. Thank you so much for helping us. And all the people come out, obviously.
Kim Cole: We’re happy to get behind any organization that’s doing this much for the community. So, lots of free concerts in Johnson County, free concerts at the venue in Martinsville, and free concerts at Pioneer Park. If you’ve never been to Pioneer Park, people in Mooresville, it is beautiful. And people, I mean, even if you’re not from Mooresville, you need to go there because it is a great place.
Rob Helms: Honestly, Kim, I’m glad you brought that up. Pioneer Park might be one of my best concert venues, one of them, because the way it’s, where we have it in the back behind the swimming pool, if they ever build an amphitheater there, oh my gosh, it’d be off the chart because it’s just laid out perfect. You got plenty of parking. It holds probably three or 4,000 people up there. It’s a great venue.
Kim Cole: Great. It is a great park. Great venue. So how many free concerts are up there this year?
Rob Helms: Six, counting the 4th of July.
Kim Cole: Okay. Okay. So plenty there. All on Thursdays?
Rob Helms: All on Thursdays. All my free concerts are on Thursdays.
Kim Cole: That’s good to know. All right. So everybody, mark March 28th to go up to Greg Hubler to get your discounted tickets.
Mark all your calendar for Thursdays. Mark June 13th for the big concert. And go to rdproductionsllc.com and you’ll get all the information.
Kim Cole: Great. Thanks for joining me.
Rob Helms: Thank you guys very much for having me. I appreciate it.
Kim Cole: Being my guest, Rob, you always have an open invite to come here.
Rob Helms: Appreciate it. Love it. Thank you.
Kim Cole: Thanks everyone.
