With Monroe County having enjoyed plenty of staple events through the summer, the season is closing out with a bang once again as Songs4Soldiers promises a spectacular concert for its 12th year.

As it has each year, the concert takes place at Bolm-Schuhkraft Park in Columbia, with this weekend’s line-up offering folks a rockin’ time.

Starting at 6 p.m., Friday’s performances include national country artist Craig Morgan in addition to The Joe Stamm Band, Clusterpluck and Andrew Lee.

The festivities continue Saturday starting at 3 p.m. with well-known national rock act The Wallflowers, Jimmy Griffin and the Incurables, Dazed N Confused STL, the Yacht Rockers, Kent Ehrhardt and the Blue Moon Blues Band and the Mississippi River Rats.

Featured on the event’s side stage both days is local cover act Tim Berg & The Kurtz Family Band.

As ever, all proceeds for the volunteer-organized event go toward assisting combat veterans and their families, with the S4S website proudly declaring over $1.5 million spent on a wide variety of aid for veterans in need.

S4S founder Dustin Row again spoke with the Republic-Times in advance of the hometown favorite event to discuss how everything has come together.

With plenty of work done well in advance to make sure everything goes smoothly, Row has high hopes.

“I’m feeling really good, and that is solely because I have such an amazing team at this point of people who help do it,” Row said. “Everybody is super seasoned and knows their job and what to do.”

Row has previously offered high praise for his team of volunteers that work hard through the year to make sure the benefit concert can come together, with many of those volunteers having been with the S4S organization for years now.

As Row said, it’s thanks to their hard work that the event has already been successful in at least one way.

“We had a record year for sponsorships again, and everything’s just lining up really well,” Row said. “At this point, you throw the rest of it up to the weather and fate.”

Row noted that, especially in the Midwest, a good forecast indicates exceptional ticket sales just before an event.

As Row has shared a number of times, S4S stems from a small charity event he and his former band Where’s Charlie performed at Tiny’s Pub & Grill before jumping to the Schnucks parking lot and ultimately becoming S4S.

This year, Row spoke more about what it’s like to take part in the annual Columbia festival, not just as an organizer, but as a performer as well.

“There’s one band that plays Songs4Soldiers every year, and that’s my band Dazed N Confused,” Row said. “For the young musician side of Dustin, it would be impossible for event-producer-Dustin to have all this cool audio equipment and stage and not play on it. I can’t help myself.”

He offered more insight on what it’s like to be on both the organizer and performer sides of a concert, recalling how he was able to do some touring following his military service.

Those experiences gave him some excellent notes on the dos and don’ts of event production, which has likely contributed a great deal to the positive responses S4S has received from artists.

Talking on the event’s success over the years, Row acknowledged the excellent performances the concert has brought to Columbia but suggested that people’s support for S4S isn’t just about the artists.

“Our success for our event I don’t believe is because of the artists at this point,” Row said. “I think it’s because it’s a well-organized event and really respectful volunteers that run it give people a warm feeling.”

Reiterating the excellent work done by his team of volunteers, he added that S4S’s lengthy tenure is likely due to the fact that it’s all volunteer-run, helping to reassure people that all the proceeds really go toward helping people.

When it comes to assistance from S4S, it comes in a wide variety of forms. As a graphic on their website shows, proceeds and donations go toward everything from funeral expenses to home repairs, with many donations put toward rent and bill payments.

Regarding a more unique charity, Row discussed how S4S has had a hand in sending at least one veteran to Ambio Life Sciences, a retreat center in Mexico specializing in therapy involving hallucinogenics.

He described how one veteran who received support from S4S, a former Top Gun pilot, was at a truly desperate point and managed to get admitted into the retreat but couldn’t afford the travel costs, prompting S4S to step in.

The organization having paid for his trip, Row said the experience changed his life in a matter of days. He further remarked this sort of therapy is being studied by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

With the community anticipating another big concert this weekend, Row offered a reminder that S4S is one of the best experiences someone can have donating to charity.

“It’s the coolest, easiest way ever to raise money,” Row said. “You could send a donation to a charity, you can do whatever you like as far as supporting a charity or donating or whatever, but I think that we have created a really cool way of… ‘Yes, here’s my $30 to get in, here’s my ticket, and I’m gonna have a few beers and get some good local food.’ We actually create a really fun thing for you guys to do to raise money.”

Advanced tickets for the event cost $30, with $50 for a weekend pass. At the gate, the cost is $35 for the day and $65 for a weekend pass. Kids ages 12 and under get in free, as do veterans with a free veteran ticket and military ID.

For more information, visit songs4soldiersstl.org.