Plainfield Magazine July 2020

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JULY 2020

Country Roots Levi Riggs Talks Local Upbringing and the Music Industry

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JULY WRITERS

COUNTRY ROOTS : LEVI RIGGS TALKS LOCAL UPBRINGING AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

“Success is just a stack of little victories you’ve achieved over time,” says Levi Riggs, a country musician from Hendricks County. Riggs lived in Danville for the first six years of his life before his father’s job took his family to Minnesota. A couple years later the family relocated to Texas, which he calls both a culture shock and weather shock. While living in the Longhorn State, Riggs developed an affinity for country music. While he was in the fifth grade, the family packed up once more, this time to return to Danville for good.

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5 Poking Fun: Local Comedian

Sensation & America’s Got Talent Finalist Ryan Niemiller Loves to Entertain

11 Country Roots : Levi Riggs Talks

17 Top 10 Hendricks County Trails 22 Finding Cheer During Difficult

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Local Upbringing and the Music Industry

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Local Comedian Sensation & America’s Got Talent Finalist Ryan Niemiller Loves to Entertain

So after graduating in 2006, he packed up his car and drove to L.A. When he arrived out west, he did an internet search on “how Being born with short arms, one might to get started in stand-up comedy” and went expect that Ryan Niemiller would be selffrom there. At just 24 years old, he claims conscious about his disability and do his the “ignorance of youth” helped him push best to blend into the background. However, past his fear of failure. ever since he was young, he has gravitated toward the spotlight.

“I think I’m wired backward to the way most Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided

“I watched a ton of stand-up comedy in high school and always wanted to try it,” Niemiller says. “But I mistakenly thought that you could only do it in L.A. or New York. I didn’t know you could start here in the Midwest.”

His dream simmered on the back-burner as he studied theatre at Indiana State.

people are,” Niemiller says. “I just had this feeling that it would all work out.”

He enrolled in an eight-week comedy class, which provided the basic foundation for stand-up. Mining material for his sets has always come easy.

“When you have a disability, a lot of stuff happens for you,” he says. He does what he calls “observational comedy” in which he “I love theatre, but I was getting tired of observes how people treat him or others and telling other people’s stories,” Niemiller says. works it into his set. He notes that stand-up “I was ready to tell my own.” comedy is one of the few art forms in which

JULY 2020

because if not, that could have affected my confidence and changed the trajectory of my career,” he says.

Niemiller lived in L.A. until 2009, at which time he bopped around from Terre Haute to Indianapolis to Pensacola, Fla., taking various “real jobs” to begin saving money to buy a house. He found, however, that as much as he liked having health insurance, he couldn’t stomach a desk job.

“My brain just couldn’t do it,” he says.

the only way you know you’re good is by performing in front of other people.

“If you want to learn guitar, you could spend 10,000 hours in your bedroom and know you sound pretty good before you ever let another set of ears hear it,” Niemiller says. “With stand-up, however, you may think your material is hilarious, but you don’t actually know until you do it for others.”

The first official show Niemiller performed was on October 2, 2006, at an empty coffee shop.

“I’d gone to an open mic to get a feel how it worked and found out that my teacher had signed me up to do a set,” Niemiller says. “I was totally put on the spot. I don’t know if it was performer’s pride or stubborn male pride, but I didn’t want to back down from a challenge.

He performed in front of four other comics and a barista and scored a few chuckles.

There’s a joke amongst comedians that it typically takes 15 years to become an overnight sensation.

“I beat that trend. It only took me 13,” he says with a snicker. His big break came in the summer of 2019 when Niemiller competed on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” (AGT), performing in front of judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Julianne Hough, and Gabrielle Union, along with 3,400 spectators at the Dolby Theatre. The experience didn’t faze him.

“That felt at home,” Niemiller says. “Now, if you told me afterward to go ask the girl

out who was sitting in the fifth row, that would be mortifying to me. Large crowds have always been easier than one-on-one interaction.”

Though he didn’t get teased much as a child, he suspects that’s because he learned, early on, that if he made the jokes first, people left him alone.

“It became my default,” he says. “Whether it’s fair or not, it’s kind of on me to make other people comfortable with me.”

It didn’t hurt that he had a natural affinity for easing tension through humor. Though he calls himself the “cripple threat of comedy,” refers to his fan club as “club nub” and regularly incorporates his disability into his sets, he admits that having a disability is difficult.

“As much as I’ve come to terms with it and made the best of it, it’s not what I would have chosen,” Niemiller says. “Yes, I use it in my comedy, but it’s not a crutch. It’s me talking about my life.”

Niemiller, who recently turned 38, notes that one of the toughest parts of this career is the way it affects the timeline of his life.

“Being a touring stand-up comic puts strain on a lot of things,” he says. “When you’re 25, not married, no kids, on the road all the time with no health insurance, that’s easier to power through than when you’re 35 in that same position.”

For now, he’s riding the success of AGT

IF YOU WANT TO LEARN GUITAR, YOU COULD SPEND 10,000 HOURS IN YOUR BEDROOM AND KNOW YOU SOUND PRETTY GOOD BEFORE YOU EVER LET ANOTHER SET OF EARS HEAR IT. WITH STAND-UP, HOWEVER, YOU MAY THINK YOUR MATERIAL IS HILARIOUS, BUT YOU DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW UNTIL YOU DO IT FOR OTHERS.” - RYAN NIEMILLER

“I’m lucky that I got a couple of laughs JULY 2020

after placing third in the show and returning for AGT’s The Champion’s show in January 2020.

“If you make the finals on AGT as a standup comedian, your career gets a huge bump,” says Niemiller, noting that his social media following grew throughout the season but doubled between the semifinals and finals. When he made finals, the number of bookings he got quadrupled.

Growing up poor in a trailer park and not owning a bed until he was in college,

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Niemiller found comedy to be his ticket to travel. And travel he has, week after week.

Take last November, for instance. He performed 25 out of 30 days that month.

Calling himself a “road dog,” he says he has a reputation for doing 14-hour drives to get to the next gig.

Prior to the pandemic, his day-to-day was driving to shows, hotels, airports and more shows. But he made the best of it, exploring new places whenever his schedule allowed.

“I like to try local restaurants — find at least one place that’s unique to that location,” Niemiller says.

In the future, he hopes to return to acting, perhaps doing television, movies and podcasts.

“As much of a life-changing experience as AGT was, if I’m still the dude from AGT years down the road, I’ve screwed up somewhere,” Niemiller says. “I want there to be more.”

Niemiller, who currently lives on the southside of Indy, played several soldout shows at Avon’s Red Curb Improv Comedy Club earlier this year. He also appeared on WZPL’s Smiley Morning Show and the Pat McAfee Show. He loves performing locally as he says Hoosiers always have his back.

With 2019 AGT Champion, Kodi Lee

“A lot of people have been surprised that I still live here,” Niemiller adds. “They are trained to think that if AGT says I’m from Indiana, that must have been years ago.

Then they see me at Kroger and are like, ‘Oh, you’re actually here!’”

And he’s happy to be here, as he adores Indy’s small town and big city feel.

“There’s theatre, pro sports and great restaurants, but you don’t feel like you’re in this huge metropolis where you have to struggle to get around,” he says. “If there’s traffic in Indy, it adds 10 minutes to your trip whereas in L.A. it can legitimately add four hours.”

JULY 2020

Local Comedian Sensation & America’s Got Talent Finalist Ryan Niemiller Loves to Entertain

So after graduating in 2006, he packed up his car and drove to L.A. When he arrived out west, he did an internet search on “how Being born with short arms, one might to get started in stand-up comedy” and went expect that Ryan Niemiller would be selffrom there. At just 24 years old, he claims conscious about his disability and do his the “ignorance of youth” helped him push best to blend into the background. However, past his fear of failure. ever since he was young, he has gravitated toward the spotlight.

“I think I’m wired backward to the way most Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided

“I watched a ton of stand-up comedy in high school and always wanted to try it,” Niemiller says. “But I mistakenly thought that you could only do it in L.A. or New York. I didn’t know you could start here in the Midwest.”

His dream simmered on the back-burner as he studied theatre at Indiana State.

people are,” Niemiller says. “I just had this feeling that it would all work out.”

He enrolled in an eight-week comedy class, which provided the basic foundation for stand-up. Mining material for his sets has always come easy.

“When you have a disability, a lot of stuff happens for you,” he says. He does what he calls “observational comedy” in which he “I love theatre, but I was getting tired of observes how people treat him or others and telling other people’s stories,” Niemiller says. works it into his set. He notes that stand-up “I was ready to tell my own.” comedy is one of the few art forms in which

JULY 2020

because if not, that could have affected my confidence and changed the trajectory of my career,” he says.

Niemiller lived in L.A. until 2009, at which time he bopped around from Terre Haute to Indianapolis to Pensacola, Fla., taking various “real jobs” to begin saving money to buy a house. He found, however, that as much as he liked having health insurance, he couldn’t stomach a desk job.

“My brain just couldn’t do it,” he says.

the only way you know you’re good is by performing in front of other people.

“If you want to learn guitar, you could spend 10,000 hours in your bedroom and know you sound pretty good before you ever let another set of ears hear it,” Niemiller says. “With stand-up, however, you may think your material is hilarious, but you don’t actually know until you do it for others.”

The first official show Niemiller performed was on October 2, 2006, at an empty coffee shop.

“I’d gone to an open mic to get a feel how it worked and found out that my teacher had signed me up to do a set,” Niemiller says. “I was totally put on the spot. I don’t know if it was performer’s pride or stubborn male pride, but I didn’t want to back down from a challenge.

He performed in front of four other comics and a barista and scored a few chuckles.

There’s a joke amongst comedians that it typically takes 15 years to become an overnight sensation.

“I beat that trend. It only took me 13,” he says with a snicker. His big break came in the summer of 2019 when Niemiller competed on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” (AGT), performing in front of judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Julianne Hough, and Gabrielle Union, along with 3,400 spectators at the Dolby Theatre. The experience didn’t faze him.

“That felt at home,” Niemiller says. “Now, if you told me afterward to go ask the girl

out who was sitting in the fifth row, that would be mortifying to me. Large crowds have always been easier than one-on-one interaction.”

Though he didn’t get teased much as a child, he suspects that’s because he learned, early on, that if he made the jokes first, people left him alone.

“It became my default,” he says. “Whether it’s fair or not, it’s kind of on me to make other people comfortable with me.”

It didn’t hurt that he had a natural affinity for easing tension through humor. Though he calls himself the “cripple threat of comedy,” refers to his fan club as “club nub” and regularly incorporates his disability into his sets, he admits that having a disability is difficult.

“As much as I’ve come to terms with it and made the best of it, it’s not what I would have chosen,” Niemiller says. “Yes, I use it in my comedy, but it’s not a crutch. It’s me talking about my life.”

Niemiller, who recently turned 38, notes that one of the toughest parts of this career is the way it affects the timeline of his life.

“Being a touring stand-up comic puts strain on a lot of things,” he says. “When you’re 25, not married, no kids, on the road all the time with no health insurance, that’s easier to power through than when you’re 35 in that same position.”

For now, he’s riding the success of AGT

IF YOU WANT TO LEARN GUITAR, YOU COULD SPEND 10,000 HOURS IN YOUR BEDROOM AND KNOW YOU SOUND PRETTY GOOD BEFORE YOU EVER LET ANOTHER SET OF EARS HEAR IT. WITH STAND-UP, HOWEVER, YOU MAY THINK YOUR MATERIAL IS HILARIOUS, BUT YOU DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW UNTIL YOU DO IT FOR OTHERS.” - RYAN NIEMILLER

“I’m lucky that I got a couple of laughs JULY 2020

after placing third in the show and returning for AGT’s The Champion’s show in January 2020.

“If you make the finals on AGT as a standup comedian, your career gets a huge bump,” says Niemiller, noting that his social media following grew throughout the season but doubled between the semifinals and finals. When he made finals, the number of bookings he got quadrupled.

Growing up poor in a trailer park and not owning a bed until he was in college,

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Spend more time with your family & friends & less time watering your lawn

Call us for a FREE estimate to install your new irrigation system.

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Niemiller found comedy to be his ticket to travel. And travel he has, week after week.

Take last November, for instance. He performed 25 out of 30 days that month.

Calling himself a “road dog,” he says he has a reputation for doing 14-hour drives to get to the next gig.

Prior to the pandemic, his day-to-day was driving to shows, hotels, airports and more shows. But he made the best of it, exploring new places whenever his schedule allowed.

“I like to try local restaurants — find at least one place that’s unique to that location,” Niemiller says.

In the future, he hopes to return to acting, perhaps doing television, movies and podcasts.

“As much of a life-changing experience as AGT was, if I’m still the dude from AGT years down the road, I’ve screwed up somewhere,” Niemiller says. “I want there to be more.”

Niemiller, who currently lives on the southside of Indy, played several soldout shows at Avon’s Red Curb Improv Comedy Club earlier this year. He also appeared on WZPL’s Smiley Morning Show and the Pat McAfee Show. He loves performing locally as he says Hoosiers always have his back.

With 2019 AGT Champion, Kodi Lee

“A lot of people have been surprised that I still live here,” Niemiller adds. “They are trained to think that if AGT says I’m from Indiana, that must have been years ago.

Then they see me at Kroger and are like, ‘Oh, you’re actually here!’”

And he’s happy to be here, as he adores Indy’s small town and big city feel.

“There’s theatre, pro sports and great restaurants, but you don’t feel like you’re in this huge metropolis where you have to struggle to get around,” he says. “If there’s traffic in Indy, it adds 10 minutes to your trip whereas in L.A. it can legitimately add four hours.”

JULY 2020

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Levi Riggs Talks Local Upbringing and the Music Industry Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided by Jeremy Ryan

“Success is just a stack of little victories you’ve achieved over time,” says Levi Riggs, a country musician from Hendricks County.

Riggs lived in Danville for the first six years of his life before his father’s job took his family to Minnesota. A couple years later the family relocated to Texas, which he calls both a culture shock and weather shock. While living in the Longhorn State, Riggs developed an affinity for country music. While he was in the fifth grade, the family packed up once more, this time to return to Danville for good.

AvonMagazine.com / JULY 2020 / AVON MAGAZINE / 19

encouraged him to step out of his comfort zone.

“We bumped heads at first,” Riggs says. “I remember she made me stand up and sing.”

Back in Indiana, classmates took notice of Riggs’ musical talent and encouraged him to pursue singing. However, he was more interested in sports.

“I was all about football, basketball and track,” Riggs says.

During his sophomore year at Danville Community High School, Riggs broke his ankle in two places during football season.

At that point his choir director, Erin Slavens, now a teacher with Avon schools,

his audition, on that song.”

Riggs still loved sports but couldn’t deny his appreciation for music, which is why he acquired the nickname, “The Singing Quarterback.”

Slavens spotted raw talent and was eager to mold it. She told Riggs not to take his talent for granted, and that while he was sidelined from sports, he might as well focus on music. He reluctantly agreed and ultimately landed lead roles in three of the high school’s musicals.

Riggs gravitated to iconic stars like Johnny Cash, Elvis and Roy Orbison, appreciating their blend of country and rock-and-roll music. He also enjoyed the harmonies of groups Alabama and the Eagles. After graduating from Danville Community High School in 2003, Riggs studied agriculture at Purdue University. While there, he joined the Purdue glee club, which performed every weekend.

“I remember one audition when Levi came up on stage and sang ‘Danny Boy’,” Slavens says. “It was mesmerizing. His tone was so clear. It was very musical and it was perfectly in tune. He later joked about how he had just decided, five minutes before

“The primary focus of the club is to be ambassadors for the school,” says Riggs, who went

Levi’s Favorites

Favorite song: Elvis’ “How Great Thou Art” Favorite contemporary artists: Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Zach Williams, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.

Favorite part of touring: Building relationships and friendships, and hearing fans tell me that my music impacted them.

Favorite piece of advice: Erin Slavens used to tell me, “You better use your talents. They can be taken away.”

JULY 2020

from milking cows to belting out tunes at glee club gigs.

Though it was a huge commitment - the club did 100 shows per year - he fell in love with performing.

During his junior year at Purdue, Riggs saw “Walk the Line”, a film about Johnny Cash’s life.

“Everything I envisioned in my head, I saw on the screen,” Riggs says.

The following year Riggs scheduled his classes in the morning so he could spend afternoons recording songs at a studio in Lafayette. He then began pitching songs in Nashville, Tennessee, to promoter Jerry Duncan, who worked with George Strait and Martina McBride. His first song, “My Best Friend’s a Girl”, did well on Spotify in 2012. He released a fulllength album, “She’s Everything”, in 2016.

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Riggs will never forget the first time he heard his voice playing on the radio airwaves. He was driving home from work in Lafayette when, all of a sudden, his song started playing.

“I had all my windows down and the song blaring,” Riggs says. “That was the coolest moment ever.”

Riggs admits that he’s always nervous about how listeners will perceive a song.

He knows that some will be fans and some will not.

“You have to be vulnerable and just put it out there,” he says.

Riggs graduated from Purdue in 2007.

Since then, he has split his time between Nashville and Danville, devoting part of his time to music and part to farming.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Riggs was packing venues with upwards of 1,500 JULY 2020

fans. In the spring his touring schedule came to a grinding halt. As of now he has no definitive timeline as to when touring will resume, but he’s set to perform at the 2020 Kentucky Derby, which is scheduled for September 5.

“My rock-solid foundation is here in this town and this community,” Riggs says.

“Music in itself is a very hard business, but I’ve been fortunate to be able to pursue music and agriculture careers hand in hand,” says Riggs, noting that many of his friends in agriculture attend his concerts.

“Levi led the singing of it as they brought the two of us on stage,” Slavens says. “He always had a star quality.”

During Riggs’ senior year, Slavens went on maternity leave and the choir prepared a song for her daughter Olivia.

came full circle, when Slavens sat in the front row at Purdue’s Elliott Hall of Music for one of his shows.

“I feel blessed to have been a part of Levi’s journey,” Slavens says. “He’s worked very hard to get to where he is today. I’m very proud of him.”

In 2013 Riggs’ relationship with Slavens

Riggs, 35, has always enjoyed performing in his hometown with his band, all of whom he considers his extended family.

“We’ve loved and supported one another through all the highs and lows,” Riggs says. “We have a good time, and it’s been fun to see our families grow.

We all have kids about the same age.”

Riggs’ family consists of his wife Brittany, their children, Stella (8), Maizie (5) and Leland (2), and a baby girl expected this year.

Riggs, who has written songs for Brett James and Carrie Underwood, pens his own music. This spring he released “Cash Black”, a song he wrote after befriending a man who used to design Johnny Cash’s dark wardrobe.

Five years ago Riggs wrote a novelty song called “Tailgate Time”, which 13 NFL teams and a few college teams asked him to customize.

“People go to concerts to have fun, relax and get away,” Riggs says. “They laugh, cry and dance. Music takes you places mentally. It also has an ability to pull people together, even across languages, continents and countries. It’s like an instant glue.”

Riggs loves performing in Hendricks County because he knows he’ll see people who have always encouraged and believed in him, including former teachers and coaches.

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Finding Cheer During Difficult Times

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing

Let’s face it. These days, emotions are running high. And understandably so. In a society where we are used to Googling how to do life—e.g., “How to build a bird cage” or “How to get in shape,” we are suddenly at a loss since we can’t exactly type into a search engine, “How to navigate a COVID-19 existence.”

Because we have entered unchartered territories, we may alternate between moments of feeling fine and moments of total terror. Just so you know, if you awake in the wee hours of the morning thinking, “I don’t know what to do,” “I don’t know what to think,” or “I don’t know how to live,” you are totally normal. And that’s because our world suddenly feels inside out and backward. When we run into someone we know out in public, we can no longer greet them with a handshake or a hug.

That feels odd. And when someone has passed away, we aren’t allowed to attend the funeral to console the mourning. That’s also sad and unsettling.

When the coronavirus spiraled into our world like an F5 tornado, it wreaked havoc on life as we knew it. I don’t think that any of us conceived of the day when schools would shut down, followed by churches, restaurants, gyms, doctor’s offices, beaches, parks, movie theaters, retail stores, barbers, hair salons, amusement parks. We didn’t anticipate concerts, sporting events, parties and even the Magic Maker itself, Disney World, halting indefinitely. On top of that, in the blink of an eye, we suddenly went from shopping with abandon to feeling uneasy partaking in completely mundane tasks like pumping gas and cruising the aisles of a grocery store.

As we tiptoe back into safely resuming normal life, let’s give each other grace, kindness and the benefit of the doubt. The “we’re all in this together” mantra is meant to remind us that although we may be feeling lonely, disconnected, scared, frustrated or confused, we are not the only ones harboring such feelings.

Below are five tips for picking yourself up when you’re feeling down:

1. Explore nature. Inhaling fresh air, hearing the birds sing and watching the squirrels scamper brings true healing power. In today’s world where we are inundated with disheartening news stories, overwhelming statistics and heated opinions on social media, it’s smart to put down the phone and lace up your shoes. Stepping outside has never been more important.

2. Connect with a pet or a vet or a jet. Not to get all Dr.

Seuss on you, but the point is to try and get your mind off your own worries by focusing on something or someone else. That might mean playing with your dog or cat. It may involve dropping supplies at a VA center. Or it may be

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looking skyward to enjoy a flyover to boost societal morale.

The idea is to get outside your own head, especially if you tend to perseverate on negative or anxious feelings.

3. Listen to the music your parents used to play around the house when you were a kid. Trust me, it’s the closest

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thing you’ll get to a time machine, and transporting yourself back to a happier, simpler headspace is just what the doctor ordered.

4. Declutter a room. I know it doesn’t sound like fun, and it’s not necessarily fun while you’re in the midst of doing it, but wow — the joy you feel when a space is free of excess is truly exhilarating. Even my 9-year-old, whose room was an unmitigated disaster, admitted that when it was picked up and organized, he felt less oppressed. He even claimed he slept better in a clean room!

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5. Make a gratitude journal. In times like these, it’s easy

to focus on the losses, the negativity and the things we are missing out on. But a change in focus can quickly shift a gloomy mood. Doing this activity with your spouse or children is a great way to not only bond as a family but acknowledge the many blessings that surround us daily.

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