<h3>Up and coming country star, Levi Riggs, talks about his role model, and his passion to help people.</h3>
<p>You may know <strong>Levi Riggs</strong> as the singer for &#8220;F-150&#8221; or the upcoming tune &#8220;Tailgate Time&#8221; but we here at CMNB wanted to make sure you got a closer look at the many sides of Levi.</p>
<h3><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-2142" style="border: 0pt none; margin: 6px;" title="leviriggs" src="http://www.countrymusicnewsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/leviriggs.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="257" /></h3>
<p>Whether through the lyrics in the songs he writes and performs or the causes he supports or the way he leads his life, chart-climbing country singer Levi Riggs has a passion to help people. And his role model is football’s <strong>Drew Brees</strong>, all-pro quarterback of the Super Bowl Champion<strong> New Orleans Saints</strong>.</p>
<p>“I have great appreciation for the way Drew leads his life, using his talents and opportunities to benefit other people,” says Riggs. “It’s amazing to see what Drew has done both on and off the field to raise the spirits of an entire region following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Through his Brees Dream Foundation, he has been very generous with his time and resources in helping young cancer victims in San Diego, under-served children and scholar athletes in Indiana and people of all ages in New Orleans.”</p>
<p>While it might seem strange for a country singer to emulate a football star, this one makes a lot of sense … Riggs and Brees have much in common.</p>
<p>Both were star quarterbacks of their high school football teams (Drew in Austin, Tex., and Levi in Danville, Ind.,) both graduated with academic honors from Purdue University (Brees in 2001 and Riggs in 2007), and both are men of strong Christian faith.</p>
<p>They have also shared the stage each of the last three years at an annual fund-raising dinner sponsored by the National Football Foundation’s Joe Tiller Chapter of Northwest Indiana, providing scholarship funds for high school students headed into their first year of college.</p>
<p>While Brees has become a best-selling author this year with proceeds going to charity from his book “Coming Back Stronger,” Riggs has performed at several charity concerts that have benefited the NFF scholarship fund along with providing dollars for Holistic Hardware, Food Finders, Heifer International, and the Purdue Haiti Team to help build homes in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.</p>
<p>“I grew up as a Drew Brees fan, watching him perform at Purdue and trying to emulate his success on the field,” says Riggs. “I knew back then that he was a great guy and always seemed to do the right thing both on and off the field, but it wasn’t until more recently that I learned about his great generosity and inspiring attitude.</p>
<p>“I know I’m just getting started, but if I can achieve in my lifetime what Drew’s accomplished in the last year,” adds Riggs, “I’ll be very happy.”</p>
<p>Later this month, Riggs will release his next single, “Tailgate Time,” with a bit of a football theme, just in time for the start of the 2010 gridiron season and a few months after his first single, “F-150,” rose as high as No. 19 on the New Music Weekly Country Music Chart. Perhaps this 25-year-old rising star is on the way to having his own “super success” and surpassing even Brees in terms of the impact he could make on society.</p>
<p>Most of Levi’s live singing performances include his six-member band and are tied in with county or community fairs and festivals or concerts that benefit 501 c-3 foundations and other charities.</p>
<p>Riggs and his wife, Brittany, live in Lafayette, Ind., where he is also the lead singer for The Overtones, a Christian quartet, and works full-time for Syngenta’s Garst Seed Company as a sales manager covering West Central Indiana.</p>
<p>Prior to his 23rd birthday, Levi completed work on his first country CD, releasing it independently in September of 2008. “God put those songs on my heart,” says Riggs, who wrote the lyrics for many of the songs on the CD. “You can go through some trying times as a young adult. I think songwriting provides a God-glorifying way to deal with situations and feelings that many young people face in their lives. I pray that my message in song helps accomplish that for those who hear my music.”</p>
<p>Riggs’ popularity continues to escalate.</p>
<p>More than 156,700 fans have listened to Levi&#8217;s songs on MySpace since the web site launched last April. He’s been busy with numerous interviews for television, radio and print. But Levi is at his best on stage, where he performs with great energy and passion.</p>
<p>“I love performing in front of a live audience,” adds Riggs. “To me, there is no better feeling in the world than seeing the faces in the crowd. There is power in the air that no one can deny when members of the audience are clapping, crying, and singing.”</p>
<p>Riggs attended Purdue (2003-07) and was an honor student every semester before graduating with a degree in agricultural sales and marketing. As a student, he sang tenor for the world-famous Purdue Varsity Glee Club for four years, performing more than 400 times throughout the United States and abroad. He also was an Agricultural Ambassador, a National Agri-Marketing Semi-Finalist for 2007 and a member of the Purdue Homecoming Court the same year.</p>
<p>In high school, Riggs led his football team to conference and sectional championships in 2002, played basketball, ran track and performed the lead role of three musicals, picking up the nickname “The Singer Quarterback.” He was born in Danville and spent his early years in Minnesota and Texas before returning to his hometown at age 11.</p>
<p>For more about Levi Riggs, visit <a title="Levi Riggs" href="http://www.leviriggs.com" target="_blank">http://www.leviriggs.com</a>Country Music Photo Gallery</p>