(Other coverage of River Roots Live 2011 can be found here.)

For the video promo for her song “Chase the Thrill,” Nikka Costa said she and the director “just got in my bathroom and went for it.”

Lest you think that something dirty happened, “went for it” in this case means re-creating the famous shower scene from Psycho, with Costa in the role of Marion Crane.

Also on her “Nikka’s Box” YouTube channel (YouTube.com/user/nikkasbox) is a Rocky-style training video and “Streaking Nikka,” in which the topless rock/soul singer (naughty bits obscured) encourages viewers to check out her new EP Pro*Whoa. “What’s a girl gotta do to get her music heard?” she asks.

Such is the existence of Costa, who will close River Roots Live with an 11 p.m. set on August 20. She is now operating independently after a successful music career as a child (she is the daughter of producer Don Costa) and well-reviewed albums as an adult on Virgin and Stax. (Entertainment Weekly called 2001’s Everybody Got Their Something an “intoxicating starburst of self-affirming R&B” and “an audacious, fresh-as-a-daisy debut,” while the All Music Guide said its follow-up features songs that are “muscular, funky, and imaginatively arranged ... .This is big, dynamic music that cries for a big audience ... .”)

(Other coverage of River Roots Live 2011 can be found here.)

For its second record, The Apache Relay – which will perform on August 20 at River Roots Live – initially tracked 10 songs in early 2010. But the band sat on the record – preferring a 2011 release to a late-2010 one – and that layoff prompted singer/songwriter Michael Ford Jr. to write new songs.

“I felt like in my heart of hearts that I had songs that needed to be on the record that hadn’t been written yet,” he said in a phone interview last week. “I felt like I had better in me. ... I wanted to write better songs.”

So in the fall they tracked a handful of songs – some new, some different versions of previously recorded songs – and the fusion of those two sessions is American Nomad, which Nashville Scene called “exuberantly tuneful” and “irresistibly idealistic.”

The final version of American Nomad only ditched two songs – “Sets Me Free” and “Lost Kid” took their places – but the band’s decision to hold off on the record is one indication of the The Apache Relay’s maturity. Even though the band is young – Ford is 23 – and has been around just two years, it seems and sounds far more experienced.

River Roots Live will take place on Friday, August 19, and Saturday, August 20, in LeClaire Park on the Davenport riverfront. The festival will feature 17 bands on two stages and will be headlined by Gin Blossoms (on Friday) and Blues Traveler (on Saturday). Admission is free, and the event also features Ribfest. Full event details are available at RiverRootsLive.com.

Below is the full entertainment schedule, with links to new interviews with Blues Traveler, Nikka Costa, and The Apache Relay – all performing on Saturday – as well as to previous River Cities’ Reader articles on some of the artists.

William Elliott Whitmore’s music is simple in structure, with basic chords and cadence. But the messages in his new album, Field Songs (released July 12), run much deeper. Pensive lyrics explore the relationships between human life and nature, and the universal connection between all living things.

But don’t mistake his songs for clichés. Whitmore’s sentiments are delivered with such candor and conviction that listeners might feel they’re experiencing the emotions firsthand.

Four photographers offered us their images from the 2011 Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, and here’s a sampling of their work, covering 18 Blues Fest acts. Many thanks to Cole Carrara, Steve France, Scott Klarkowski, and Norman Sands for sharing their work. (Sands’ full Blues Fest gallery can be found here.)

Eric Gales

Otis Clay

DelGrosso/Del Toro Richardson Band

Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers

Ryan McGarvey

Koko Taylor Tribute

Paul Rishell & Annie Raines

The Way of the Blues Revue

Chris Beard

The Candymakers

Linsey Alexander

The Paul Smoker Notet

Chocolate Thunder

Mississippi Heat

Peaches Staten

R.J, Mischo with Earl Cate & Them

Sherman Robertson

Studebaker John & the Hawks

The audience