Harmony Heroes to reunite at Rib River

January event will highlight popular venue and band

If you ever attended a Harmony Heroes show at Rib River Ballroom years ago, an upcoming event will be a blast from the past, as the band reunites to play again in the same space once known as their home base.

The Harmony Heroes, a five-piece Marathon-based band, officially ended their run back in 2009 after entertaining central Wisconsin for 28 years. The band, made up of Connie Heise-Hamann, Butch Cyzan, Ron Dul, Bill Ewert and Chris Marquardt, is coming together again to play on January 28.

Rib River Ballroom, a popular wedding landmark located off of Highway 29 just west of Marathon City, is now known as Rib River by Accentu, Inc., after it was purchased by Bill Fischer last year. According to Heise-Hamann, the venue was once known as the home of the Harmony Heroes, as the band played the majority of their shows there.

The recent remodeling of the space brought about some changes, including the demolition of the stage, which had “a lot of history,” according to Heise-Hamann. She recalled starting a tradition there by signing the stage. After a show one night, Heise-Hamann wrote her name, drew a little trumpet picture and dated her work, then encouraged the other members of Harmony Heroes to do the same. When they returned a few weeks later, inscriptions from other bands had been added.

“Over time, the whole wall was filled up with signatures from anybody playing there,” Heise-Hamann said.

When she went to an event at Rib River recently, Heise-Hamann inquired about what had happened to the boards with the signatures. Fischer told her not to worry, that he planned to incor- porate them into a piece of the refurbished space. According to Fischer, his father-in-law is working to put them all together to hang up in the room.

After that conversation, Fischer had his own question for Heise-Hamann — could she try to get Harmony Heroes back together for a show at Rib River? That night, she called the other four members of the band, who all agreed to reunite for the gig. Fischer, a Marathon native, said he has some memory of seeing the Harmony Heroes play at the fair in town when he was a kid.

“I remember my parents and my wife’s parents talking about how good they were,” Fischer said.

As the new owner of Rib River, Fischer has been focused on construction remodeling, which is through its first phase. He said there may be up to five phases of renovations, depending on several circumstances. In the meantime, Fischer and his staff have been hosting events like comedy nights and prime rib dinners when the venue isn’t booked for private events.

“We’re trying new stuff to serve the community,” Fischer said.

Back to rehearsal

Last Wednesday, the Harmony Heroes met for their first practice leading up to the event at Rib River. They have played together occasionally after their official exit, with the most recent occasion being in 2019 at Charlie’s Bar. Some members have also continued playing regularly in other capacities, but they have some work to do, according to Heise-Hamann and Cyzan, who said this upcoming job may be “really hard” on them.

“When you’re a brass player or a trumpet player, you just can’t leave it sit for a couple months and pick it up and play for four hours,” Heise-Hamann said. “You have to recondition.”

Harmony Heroes plays a variety of music, from polkas and waltzes to rock and a bit of country. While well-known for their musical talents, the band members were also widely recognized for their ability to delight an assortment of audiences.

“A big thing we’re known for is that we don’t only play music, we entertain,” Cyzan said. “… At times, members of the band would be out in the crowd. I was MC, so I would pick on people constantly. I’d drag them from their table and make them dance.”

The variety band, complete with trumpets, concertina, drums, guitar and more, recorded three albums and its “Green and Gold Polka” was a radio hit over the years. Eventually, life happened and continuing to play got more complicated. Between some health issues and members wanting to follow their kids’ journeys to college, the band decided to officially call it quits in 2009. The years they spent together were a big commitment, according to Ewert.

“We missed a lot of friends’ weddings and stuff like that, because when you’re booked, you’re booked,” Ewert said. “They were counting on us being there. When we had band practices, the family kind of took a backseat.”

Back then, Harmony Heroes regularly played 50 to 60 shows each year, with the majority of them being at weddings. The current members reminisced about spending late nights at Rib River Ballroom, at times playing well past their scheduled set.

“A lot of times we were booked four hours, but sometimes we played five,” Ewert said. “When the crowd was good, it didn’t matter.”

Nowadays, a lot of the local venues they played at no longer exist. They’re excited to be reconvening at a place they know so well and the talk surrounding the event has brought old fans and shared memories back into their lives.

“It’s such a good feeling to see and hear people in town say, ‘I’m so glad you’re going to be playing for this,’” Heise-Hamann said. “We’re still remembered. We haven’t been forgotten about.”

For now, the group is focused on their upcoming show. As for if they’ll continue to reconvene in the future, Cyzan said it’s up to their health.