Photo courtesy of Pop Rocks. The band will be Headlining the festival, and performs several impersonations in a mix of music genres. Below: Photo courtesy of Whiskey Rich. They will perform before Pop Rocks and sing an array of country covers and originals.

MARSHALL — The 2024 Sounds of Summer is nearly here and will bring live music, parades, tournaments, food and more.

The festival will begin on Aug. 22 and run through Aug. 25 at the Schwans parking lot, across from Carrows Cleaners. There will be a concert Saturday evening with a lineup of Hope Rasmussen, Broken Oak, Whiskey Rich and Pop Rocks.

“Excited to see all the people come downtown again, and really getting to enjoy everything that we have to offer. From the food trucks, to the music, there’s really something for everybody,” President of the event committee Brock Klaith said. “Each one of them (musicians) is going to bring their own style to the night … There’s going to be a wider range of music, and it should hit everyone’s likes.”

Klaith has been President of organizing Sounds of Summer the last several years, and strives to bring in a variety of acts.

“I basically look at what is going to appeal, kind of hit every age group and fit the demographic of our area,” Klaith said. “It’s (Marshall) very unique in its music taste, in my opinion.”

Headlining the festival is Pop Rocks, taking the stage at 9 p.m. for approximately three hours. They are a group of singers and a backing band who impersonate performers of all genres and eras of music, showcasing an immersive entertainment experience.

There are six permanent members; three singers who do the impersonations and three full time musicians.

“A typical show consists of 290 minute sets with acts ranging from Katy Perry, to Ozzy Osbourne, Missy Elliot, to Garth Brooks,” Klaith said. “We’ll see 30 different costume changes throughout the night.”

Chad Higgins, the creator and agent of the group, started the experience himself with his wife and friends, and it grew into a worldwide act.

“We all realize that there’s a good chance that not actually Lady Gaga is on stage at Marshall’s Sounds of Summer, but I want people to suspend belief for that amount of time,” Higgins said. “It’s not done to make people laugh. It is done to make people go, ‘Oh my gosh, I got to see 30 different pop concerts in one night … I was able to forget about my troubles for a little while and soak in these 30 different artists, anywhere from Twisted Sister from the 80’s, to Dua Lipa.'”

Pop Rocks was originally formed in 2006 and has performed throughout the country, Europe, Middle East, South America and at major sporting league events. Their main objective is performing for military troops.

“In 2017, the band was lucky enough to be chosen to travel to the Middle East for Halloween and perform for the troops in the Air Force. That set in motion our mission,” Higgins said. “That is a core belief system, and something that we are very proud of doing … To work with armed forces entertainment, supporting the men and women of our nation’s military abroad.”

Pop Rocks so far has gone on 14 trips overseas, and will travel back to the Middle East this December to various military bases.

There has been a rotation of band members, but the current ones have been with the group for several years.

“We know that this (Sounds of Summer) is a well taken care of event,” Higgins said. “This is a high quality event. We’re looking forward to, what we know, will be thousands of people and great weather. Marshall’s got some really cool stuff.”

Higgins will also make an appearance on stage for a couple impersonations.

“They will be someone you’ll know and love throughout the night,” Klaith said.

Starting the night and taking stage first at 5 p.m. will be Rasmussen, a solo country artist.

“She’s going to be moving into the area soon, and she’s done a little bit of shows in Sioux Falls (S.D.) and Okabena. She’s just going to be new to new and upcoming to the area, and wanted to get kind of a feel for the Marshall music scene,” Klaith said. “I said, ‘What’s a better spot than to highlight her at one of our bigger events in town?'”

Broken Oak will follow, a folk rock and country band with Jake Moravetz, Matt Dvorak and Eric Rawe, hitting the stage at 6 p.m.

Moravetz is the lead singer and plays acoustic guitar and harmonica, Dvorak plays bass and Rawe plays guitar. They will perform a mix of classic rock and country covers, and possibly some originals.

“I’m from Marshall. I graduated here, was born here, but I ended up going to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and that’s where I kind of started playing a little more seriously,” Moravetz said. “I’ve been playing bars in this area, essentially since 2012-13 when I officially moved back … I’d go up to the bar owner or the manager and I’d say, ‘You don’t know anybody that knows me, but I’ll play you a song right now. If you like it, I’ll come back tonight and play.’ That seemed to work out really well for me.”

Moravetz said finding band members took time. He had two members with him for over a decade, but they ventured off and Dvorak and Rawe joined this year.

“It’s kind of a new start for the Broken Oak,” Moravetz said. “But overall, still have the same heart, and the inspiration is still there. We love doing what we’re doing, and if we didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to keep going out.”

Broken Oak has performed at the festival before and enjoys the atmosphere it creates.

“I’ve played Sounds of Summer before, and I’ve always really appreciated the crowd and seeing the personal interactions,” Moravetz said. “We’re a hometown group. Everybody that comes to watch us seems to come back … We’re happy to be out there, and we like to see happy faces.”

Broken Oak’s original music can be found on their Facebook and Youtube page.

Whiskey Rich, a country band, will follow and take stage at 7 p.m.

Now a full band, Whiskey Rich frontmen Chris Reynolds and Joe Cunningham both share a love for entertaining. Reynolds comes from northern Wyoming, where Cunningham is from Nashville, Tenn.

“Two years ago, (Whiskey Rich) opened for Tyler Farr at Prairie Jam. (We) had a conversation after that, and they’re here now,” Klaith said. “They’re bringing their full band. That’ll be exciting to get them back in Marshall after a few years.”

Whiskey Rich originally started with just Reynolds and Cunningham in South Dakota a decade ago, and they eventually turned into a full band.

“The crowds are always fun to play for. Entertaining people, seeing people sing the songs back, having a good time and just interacting with the crowds is always the number one best part,” Reynolds said. “I looked it (Sounds of Summer) up on Facebook, and it looks like their crowds are just humongous. So, I mean, obviously we’re looking forward to playing in front of the big crowd. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The two met in a unique fashion, both wanting to pursue music but still keeping their guards up.

Reynolds was playing a few shows in Sioux Falls, S.D. years back in a time where his original band fell apart, and he needed someone to join him to finish gigs he had scheduled. He put an advertisement out on Craigslist for a musician partner. Cunningham responded to the posting, who was living around the area at the time.

“He (Cunningham) goes, ‘Why don’t you come out to my house and we’ll just jam and see how it goes.’ It’s kind of unnerving to go to a stranger’s house in the middle of nowhere,” Reynolds said. “I’m like, I better throw a hunting knife in my pocket, just in case of funny business … I showed up to his house, and I didn’t learn this until years later after we had been playing together a long time, but he had a nine millimeter pistol in the back of his pants, in case I was a weirdo. We always say that I brought a knife to a gunfight.”

The band performs a mix of covers and originals, and they can be found on all streaming platforms at Whiskey Rich.

“We’ll do a lot of 90s country – Alan Jackson, Brooks and Dunn, George Strait type of thing, and then our original music is obviously country as well.” Reynolds said. “It’s a whole variety, but it’s country through and through.”

The Sounds of Summer concert is free to the public and people are allowed to bring their own lawn chairs as well.

“The main thing I want to stress is we got to thank our sponsors for everything,” Klaith said. “The community is a huge asset for us, and without them, we couldn’t do it.”