COLUMBIA – A local benefit concert will raise money for veterans in the Greater St. Louis region and beyond.
On Sept. 5 and 6, 2025, community members are invited to Bolm-Schuhkraft City Park in Columbia for a two-day concert titled “Songs4Soldiers.” All proceeds will go to the Songs4Soldiers nonprofit, which works with VAs across the U.S. to help veterans with anything from housing to transportation to service animals.
“You can just expect a really cool, family-friendly concert,” said Dustin Row, founder of Songs4Soldiers. “I’ve played in a million golf tournaments. I’ve donated to a ton of charities, as we all do, right? As everybody does. But what’s cool about Songs4Soldiers is…for your money, we also give you a pretty good return on a pretty quality event. It’s not like you’re just donating to the charity and nothing’s coming back to you. You get to be here. You get to experience it. You get to have fun.”
The benefit kicks off at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5, with music by Craig Morgan, Joe Stamm Band, Clusterpluck, and Andrew Lee. The fun begins at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, with performances by The Wallflowers, Jimmy Griffin and the Incurables, Dazed N Confused STL, The Yacht Rockers, Kent Ehrhardt and the Blue Moon Blues Band, and Mississippi River Rats. Tim Berg & the Kurtz Family Band will play the side stage both days.
Tickets to the event cost $30 and kids 12 and under are free. Veterans also get in free. Row explained that affordability was an important part of the benefit.
“What we also pride ourselves on is that we are an affordable event,” he said. “Everything’s so expensive. Concert tickets are crazy and a beer at a concert is crazy, so we keep it pretty affordable. A lot of families come to the show. Veterans obviously get in free. We keep our food prices low. It’s fun.”
Row thanked the benefit’s sponsors, who make it possible for their prices to stay low. He added that no one on the Songs4Soldiers team takes a salary.
Brett Diehl, president of Morrison Plumbing and a veteran himself, expressed Morrison Plumbing’s pride in sponsoring Songs4Soldiers. He noted that the money goes directly to veterans, and he is pleased to support this mission.
“It’s always awesome when you find [an organization] that has the right kind of mission and just is really putting their money where their mouth is, and this organization is,” Diehl said. “We always try and do what we can. When you match up with one of the organizations doing it right, it’s just perfect.”
Row added that 75% of the organization’s work is focused in the Greater St. Louis area, and they prioritize “transparency and responsibility.” If a VA refers a veteran to Songs4Soldiers to help pay their mortgage, for example, the organization will check that everything is legitimate and then pay the mortgage directly.
It’s important to Row and his team to support veterans in any way they can, and you can help this mission by coming out to Songs4Soldiers this weekend. For more information about Songs4Soldiers and how to purchase tickets to the benefit concert, visit the official event webpage at Songs4SoldiersSTL.org.
