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Explore the vibrant event scene and make the most of your time next 30-days in Rock Island. From music to history and more, we have the biggest event range and best discovery experience, there's something for everyone.
Cairo-based Maurice Louca’s genre-defying music bridges psychedelic Egyptian shaabi, cosmic jazz, and free improvisation. He co-founded Lekhfa, performs with The Dwarfs of East Agouza, and leads the 10-member Elephantine ensemble. Fera is the latest album from Egyptian composer and multi-instrumentalist Maurice Louca, released on Simsara Records in May 2025. The nine-track record centers on polyrhythmic grooves and vibrant acoustic textures; violin, synthesizers, custom-built microtonal guitars, and percussion. Jack Lion’s members unearth the early ’00s interest in connections between jazz and electronic music and refashion it for this current era. Striking a balance between jazz composition, down-tempo break-beats, and hazy atmospherics they have made their mark as one of Iowa City’s headiest and most adventurous bands.
Advocacy 101 helped us understand the rules and importance of advocacy. Advocacy 201 is about learning how to do it confidently and effectively.
Dress like a Garden Fairy and bring your wings! Join us as we flutter through the gardens on a scavenger hunt for hidden fairies and the message they have!
ALASH are masters of Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. What distinguishes this trio from earlier generations of Tuvan throat singers is the subtle infusion of modern influences into their traditional music. One can find complex harmonies, western instruments, and contemporary song forms in Alash’s music, but its overall sound and spirit remain decidedly Tuvan. For this show Alash will play two sets with an intermission. *this show is supported by the Illinois Arts Council
The trio of **Yea Big, Jon Byler Dann, and Nakatani** (winds, double bass, and percussion respectively) first performed together a couple years back when YB booked the Nakatani Gong Orchestra (which YB and Dann both performed in) and arranged with Nakatani for the trio to open the concert. YB and Nakatani had met and played together the previous year as part of YB's improvised music series in Bloomington, IL. The night they first performed together, the trio resonated and made plans to do it again. On Nakatani's subsequent tour the trio not only performed together again but also set aside a day for a recording session. The results of that session can be heard on their newly released CD, To Lower the Fever of Feeling, out now on Yea Big's new label, Black Flag Bonsai Club. This Spring, Nakatani's nationwide tour will find the trio performing together at four Illinois dates. **Ishmael Ali** and Bill Harris will play an amalgamation of music celebrating Ali's solo release Burn the Plastic, Sell the Copper. The duo will shift through different modes, incorporating acoustic improvisations, poetry, electronics, and singable tunes.
Emily Rach Beisel is a Chicago-based improviser, composer, educator, curator, and woodwind specialist whose work is celebrated for its visceral intensity and innovative blend of techniques. Beisel's music centers on the bass clarinet and incorporates voice, electronics, extended techniques, and other wind instruments creating a complex and nuanced soundscape in which the origins of sounds are often obscured. A Light Among Many is an ambient doom-drone act, originally from Denver, Colorado and fronted by Frank Binder. ALAM has played multiple national tours and released four full-length albums in the past ten years. Drawing influence from Sunn O))), Bell Witch, Boris, and Primitive Man, ALAM is all about dark ambient textures mixed with messages about mental illness and recovery. Though largely considered a solo project, Binder has recruited guest musicians in the past and is currently performing alongside Quad Cities noise music extraordinaire Alex Mahaffey.
ELI WINTER is a composer, self-taught guitarist, essayist, and Houston native. His music synthesizes aspects of folk, rock, jazz, and devotional music, maintaining a waggish disregard for genre constraints emblematic of Chicago, his adopted hometown. His new album, A Trick of the Light, is an elegantly crafted and vibrant collection that finds the bandleader at the height of his powers: the dazzlingly intense arrangement of Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell’s “Arabian Nightingale” that opens the album, Winter’s muscular, dreamy originals, and his daring arrangement of Carla Bley’s “Ida Lupino.” His trio features Chicago improvisers Sam Wagster of Fruit Bats (pedal steel guitar) and Tyler Damon of Circuit des Yeux (drums), with performances at prestigious music festivals like Primavera Sound and Big Ears, and collaborations with a wide range of artists live and on record, including Danny Brown, Quadeca, Yasmin Williams, jaimie branch, Caroline Rose and Ryley Walker. MARC HANS SHOWALTER is a visual artist & folk musician from Rock Island, Illinois. The last 25 years playing live at coffee shops, record stores, house shows & public libraries. Marc Hans Showalter has 10 releases available of Free Folk, Experimental improv, Primitive Guitar instrumentals.