Rubber Soul releases 2023 schedule

Those searching for a country music fix need to look no further than Rubber Soul Productions, which has three shows scheduled in the coming months.

The music kicks off Feb. 19, headlined by Sunny Sweeney and Doug Kershaw. The second concert, which takes place March 19, is headlined by Jesse Daniel and Moe Bandy. Finally, the third concert will be held April 23 and will be headlined by Bobby Osborne and Darrell McCall. All three concerts will be at the Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School auditorium and will start at 4 p.m. All six acts will provide country-style music.

“Six national touring artists are going to be making an appearance at the Wittenberg-Birnamwood auditorium in the coming months,” said Rubber Soul Productions Director Rob Wyman. “It is pretty exciting. We don’t always have opening acts, so I wanted to dig a little deeper and get some lesser known acts on the bill and get them some exposure here in Central Wisconsin.”

Wyman said that he wants to bring lesser known artists to the area, not only to fill the concert schedule, but also because he wants to keep a good balance of traditional country music, not pop-country music.

“When you only do three shows a year, sometimes it takes too long to get some of these up-and-comers,” said Wyman. “It is important for me to represent the old, classic country — the artists that people in their 30s remember listening to with their grandparents.”

Hosting concerts here in the past, Wyman said that he has only heard a positive reaction from the public in regard to the music.

“We had a really good base of concert-goers as we built this program,” said Wyman. “Obviously the pandemic kind of shut things down, and I feel like last year was kind of a rebuilding year to try to get people back.”

This year, though, Wyman said that there a few shake-ups, including adding more acts and pricing tickets differently.

“This year we have an opening act for every show, and we are also offering a 20% discount for season ticket holders,” said Wyman. “I am trying to use those two items to bring back and continue to build a strong base of season ticket holders to move forward. It is a lot easier for me to continue this, knowing that I have the support from people going forward in the form of season ticket holders.”

When buying tickets for the concerts, those looking will be shown three packages — a red package for $60, a white package for $50 and a blue package for $40. Season ticket packages, where interested parties can buy seats for all three shows, are also split into colors, with a red package for $144, a white package for $120 and a blue package for $96.

“(The packages) are the location of the seats in comparison to the stage,” said Wyman. “Those seats up front are more expensive than the seats in the back, and the seats between them are in the middle of those two ticket ranges.”

Talking to artists who have performed in the past, Wyman said that the general consensus has been that they enjoy performing at the auditorium, citing the amount of space on stage, the sound quality in the building and the small-town feel from an area like Wittenberg.

“For a lot of these country artists, this the way that they got started — playing in high school gyms or auditoriums out in the country,” said Wyman. “It is kind of neat for them to come full circle.”

To ask questions or buy tickets, Wyman can be reached at 715-584-4203 or at rubbersoulrob@yahoo.com. Tickets can also be purchased online at RubberSoulProductions.com.

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com