MUSIC WITH A MESSAGE: Kingdom Bound concert set for Aug. 20-21 in Riverview Park

Aug. 8—CLINTON — When John Dail was growing up in Erie, Illinois, he loved listening to 1980s rock and going to concerts.

Now, some three decades later, Dail is the organizer behind Kingdom Bound, his first two-day Christian music festival in Clinton's Riverview Bandshell. Set for Aug. 20 and 21, a total of 13 acts are set to perform, six on Aug. 20, with Jordan Feliz as the headlining act, and seven on Aug. 21, ending with headliner Vertical Worship.

"Looking at the band shell, it's the perfect spot to do something like this," said Dail, who explained how the evolution of his faith ultimately brought him into assisting with, and later organizing, Christian music concerts.

While growing up, Dail said, he was marginally involved in church, but did attend some youth group events. Two events that happened while he was in college would inspire him to begin growing in his faith.

It was while attending Blackhawk College in the Quad-Cities in 1989 that he saw Whiteheart, a Christian version of Def Leppard, in concert. It was his introduction to Christian music.

Soon after, he met Stacey Sikkema, of Fulton, Illinois, the woman who would become his wife in 1990. An incident that happened to Stacey while she was driving from Erie to Fulton when they were dating changed Dail's way of thinking.

"Before we got married, I was still living at home in Erie," he explained. "Stacey drove to Erie to see me and when she drove home, she hit a deer. It was before cell phones. She walked to the nearest farmhouse to seek help, to call me. She knocked on the door and knocked on the door and the farmer finally came to the door and asked what was going on and she said, 'I hit a deer.'"

"You were lucky tonight," the farmer said. "Because I've got dogs that usually are outside that definitely would have not let you come to the house. But I put the dogs away tonight because I had a dead animal in the field and didn't want the dogs messing with it.

"That was kind of an a-ha moment for me that God was protecting her that night," he said.

His strengthening faith, growing love of Christian music, as well as his involvement in attending and making connections in the Christian music concert world led him to connect with the founders of Awesometown in Fulton six years ago.

At that time, Awesometown was using the former Trinity Church for programming. Encouraged by organizers with New Anthem, whom Dail had been assisting with Christian concerts in the area, Dail pitched the idea of bringing in a Christian artist or two for a concert at Awesometown. The founders of Awesometown agreed and Dail signed Jordan Feliz, known for his song "The River", to perform. The church was packed.

Dail knew the area was hungry for the music he wanted to bring to town. He has since gone on to organize three to four concerts a year. Then he felt called to do something more in the form of what has become Kingdom Bound.

"I felt it on my heart about a year and a half ago," he said. "I'd been doing this for a few years and felt God was telling me to find something a little bigger. Let's reach a bigger market, let's reach a larger crowd."

Business, churches, and individuals have become involved. He has a voluntary team of 40 people that he pulls from that will help him throughout the concert — setting up, tearing down, driving vans for artists, running merchandise tables, and assisting with crowd control. Food vendors are lined up, and there will be bounce houses and entertainment for the children.

"It's two nights of family fun and entertainment with a better message," he said.

Tickets are $25 total for both nights, with group discounts for groups of four or more. People who buy 10 tickets at once get a group discount plus a free ticket. Tickets are only available online at https://visitclintoniowa.ticketspice.com/kingdom-bound-music-festival.