Dave & Ashley Niedbalski

Riverfront Park concerts return this month, thanks to a multi-pronged effort supported by Dauphin County.

The Dauphin County Live Concert Series is being operated by Midstate Shows, an imprint through independent concert promoter Grand Rising Curations. Grand Rising Curations founder and CEO Dave Niedbalski also runs music festivals throughout the country, including Pilgrimage (in Tennessee) and Iron Blossom (in Virginia).

Niedbalski, who grew up in Chambers Hill in Swatara Township, spent more than 14 years with Live Nation and launched Grand Rising Curations in the wake of the pandemic.

“I had a strong desire to be an independent promoter with a fan and artist-focused mindset,” he said, adding that his team is mostly made up of former Live Nation folks who share his vision.

Niedbalski said that the new series is an evolution of what Frank Schofield built running the former HU Presents Summer Concert Series, sponsored for several years by Harrisburg University.

“We have known each other for over a decade and were trying to find a way to work together on the Riverfront concert series,” Niedbalski said. “And when the HU series went away, it was a natural fit for Frank and me to bring it back to life as a continuation of what he built.”

The series will feature country artist Russell Dickerson on July 29, indie mainstays The Head and the Heart with support from Wilderado and Marfa on Aug. 2, and The Marley Brothers—Damian “Jr. Gong” and Stephen Marley—on Aug. 3.

Organizers anticipate 10,000 to 12,000 attendees over the course of the three planned concerts, according to Niedbalski.

In February, Dauphin County commissioners voted to approve $250,000 in county tourism funds to support the concert series.

“We started this with HU Presents, and as that was discontinued, the commissioners felt a need to continue these shows,” said Schofield. “We know how magical Riverfront Park is and certainly want to keep that going.”

This year, the goal is to lay a foundation going forward, so that the series evolves and becomes multi-genre, Niedbalski said.

“Next year, you’ll see more shows and more genres,” he said.

Schofield echoed this.

“We’re going to grow bigger next year and just continue what we started,” he said.

Beyond the financial support from the county, Niedbalski mentioned that the city has been supportive and that other partners include The Millworks, Ace Beverage, Faulkner, Enders Insurance and others.

Niedbalski no longer resides in central Pennsylvania but wants current residents in the area to have a great time at these shows.

“There’s always been a lure to come back and bring something to the city that wasn’t there when I was growing up,” he said.

The Dauphin County Live Concert Series runs July 29 to Aug. 3 in Riverfront Park, Harrisburg. For more information and ticket details, visit midstateshows.com.

The Head and the Heart, in the Park

This month, the Head and the Heart will play in support of their sixth studio album, “Aperture,” on Saturday, Aug. 2, as part of the Dauphin County Live Concert Series.

The band sold out Riverfront Park in 2023 as part of the previous HU Presents summer concert series.

Kenny Hensley has been playing piano in the band since the group started picking up traction in Seattle in 2009.

“We’ve been through a lot, and this is the closest and tightest we’ve been in a while,” he told TheBurg. “If there was ever a chance to see us play, now’s the time. These shows are going to be more positive and fun than they’ve been in a long while. I’m really excited for people to come hear these live.”

We recently had the chance to do a video interview with Hensley. Here are some snippets from that conversation (answers have been edited for brevity and clarity).

TheBurg: “Aperture,” which came out just a few weeks ago, feels stripped back. Can you talk to me about the process with this album vs. previous albums?

Hensley: We intentionally went into this record wanting to approach it like our first couple records. [We] didn’t use a producer, not on a major label where we’d had people wanting to direct what we were doing. We were able to start from scratch together without outside sources telling us what we should be doing. We wanted to do it all together, authentically.

TheBurg: Yeah, I noticed on “After the Setting Sun,” there are a lot more familiar piano sounds on this. The piano, especially on “Down in The Valley,” sounds like such a sister song, which is refreshing since on more recent albums, like “Living Mirage” (2019), that didn’t seem like such a big part of it.

Hensley: It’s funny you say that. “Living Mirage” was the only album I’m not on, because I took a year off in 2018. Not a lot of people know that.

TheBurg: Is there a post-mortem or pre-recording meeting that you guys have for what direction you’d like to go sonically?

Hensley: We were ready to get back in a room and do it together, not adding a ton of extra layers, sitting on it for a while. We went into it wanting to write songs we could perform live without all this extra production. “Finally Free” was a cool [recording] experience. Charity [Rose Thielen, guitar and vocals] directed what everyone was doing. John [Jonathan Russell, guitar and vocals] was sitting at the piano, playing random chords. Chris [Zasche, bass] was on drums. I just sat down next to John and started playing with him on the piano, and we just tracked for 30 minutes. The song made the record before we had a chance to nitpick. Love the authenticity of it.

TheBurg: What have been among your favorites from the new album to play live?

Hensley: “Finally Free” is one of them. We [John and I] sit on the piano bench together and do it like we did in the studio. It’ll be a first for us [to do it like that live]. “Fire Escape” and “Beg, Steal, Borrow”—upbeat, fun, nonstop the whole time with a lot of piano. I’m really excited to get out there and play these new songs for people to hear live. They’re sounding great.

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