19 Jul 2005

Living History

By Jeff Ignatius
He helped create Southern rock music. He was instrumental in paving the way for today's jam bands. He is indisputably one of the greatest guitarists to ever live. His group was one of the inspirations for Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous.
19 Jul 2005

Bringing Artists Under One Roof

By Jeff Ignatius
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the eastern part of Davenport’s downtown was called Bucktown and known for its vibrant nightlife – including more than three dozen brothels. It will soon be home to a different – and perfectly legal – sort of commerce: the work of roughly two dozen artists.
05 Jul 2005

Is Your Property Safe from the Government?

By Jeff Ignatius
On June 6, Davenport Mayor Charlie Brooke vetoed a resolution that used the city's power of eminent domain to grant an easement for a sanitary sewer. The city council had decided by a 6-4 vote to condemn the property in question to assist a condominium project developed by longtime city-government critic Niky Bowles.
28 Jun 2005

Local Progressive Talk Show Debuts in Quad Cities

By Jeff Ignatius
Talk radio has long been dominated by conservative voices, but progressives are finding some friendly places on the radio dial. The Air America network was launched last year, and local AM station 1270 changed its format several months ago to carry its programming.
28 Jun 2005

No More Car Wash Blues

By Jeff Ignatius
On their debut album, Roughhousin', Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials performed a song called "Car Wash Blues," in which Lil' Ed Williams referred to the "mean old Jew" who was his boss. There was one problem: Ed still worked at the car wash, and he was petrified about what might happen to him when his boss heard it.
28 Jun 2005

The Original Blue Man

By Jeff Ignatius
Douglas Ewart works with his hands, and that's not just because he's a musician. The Chicago-based Ewart not only composes and plays but builds his own instruments, creates artwork for performances, and designs and makes the costumes for himself and his band.
28 Jun 2005

Undeterred and Aiming to Please

By Jeff Ignatius
Magic Slim is somebody who refuses to be denied. He started out playing piano, but in a cotton-gin accident he lost a finger on his right hand - "the main finger," he said - and couldn't manage the instrument. Also when he was a child, he built a guitar with baling wire from a broom, and "my momma beat my ass," Magic Slim said in a recent phone interview.
21 Jun 2005

Food for Thought ... and Action

By Jeff Ignatius
A.J. Wacaser is fond of a slogan by activist Jeremy Rifkin: "Eating is the ultimate political act." There's certainly a political component to the new Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign, which Wacaser is helping to coordinate.
21 Jun 2005

New Record Captures Wicked Liz at Its Best

By Jeff Ignatius
Some bands are not cut out for the recording studio. They're great live, but when they get in that soundproofed room by themselves, they can't translate the energy. Often, the performances on studio CDs are too dry, and they reveal deficiencies in the songs that an audience isn't going to notice at midnight with a few drinks in them.
14 Jun 2005

Ghostlight Continues on the Path to Professionalism

By Jeff Ignatius
Nobody expected Ghostlight Theatre's transition from unpredictable, infrequent troupe to respectable company to be smooth, and it hasn't been. Yet as it approaches the final show of its 2004-5 season - The Will Rogers Follies, running July 21 through 31 at Davenport North High School - Ghostlight can claim a few major accomplishments that count for quite a lot: It's still around, and it's made its budget.

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