12 Aug 2026

Kim Sigafus: “Please Meet Singing Bird,” August 27

By Reader Staff

You’ve likely heard about the great Native American warrior Black Hawk who made the Rock Island area his home. On August 27, the Rock Island Public Library's Downtown Branch invites you to Please Meet Singing Bird, Black Hawk's less-memorialized wife whose life story is the subject of this presentation by Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Kim Sigafus.

12 Aug 2026

“The Mermaids,” August 21 through 20

By Reader Staff

Presented as the latest selection in the theatre's “Andy Bro Show New Works Commission,” the world premiere of composer Billy Reece's musical The Mermaids enjoys an August 21 through 30 run at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, treating audiences to a debuting stage experience as the final show in the theatre's 2026 summer season.

12 Aug 2026

“Everyday Lives, Extraordinary Voices: Ruth Suckow's Iowa,” through November 15

By Reader Staff

Inspired by her upbringing at the turn of the 20th century and considered “Iowa’s first feminist writer,” Ruth Suckow was largely forgotten until researchers rediscovered her story in the 1980s. Consequently, the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association, with the support of Humanities Iowa, has developed a traveling exhibition celebrating the life and work of this Iowa novelist and short-story writer who lived from 1892 to 1960, the exhibit Everyday Lives, Extraordinary Voices: Ruth Suckow's Iowa on display at Davenport's German American Heritage Center through November 15.

12 Aug 2026

“Ruth Suckow's Lost Story: Iowa's Great German American Writer,” August 23

By Reader Staff

Held in conjunction with the Davenport venue's new exhibition “Everyday Lives, Extraordinary Voices: Ruth Suckow's Iowa,” The latest event in the German American Heritage Center's popular “Kaffee und Kuchen” series, August 23's Ruth Suckow's Lost Story: Iowa's Great German American Writer, will find President of the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association Barbara Lounsberry exploring the extraordinary backstory of this too-little-known German-American writer.

04 Aug 2026

“McCarty-Tomlinson & Sherman,” through October 2

By Reader Staff

New works by a pair of gifted artists, working in vastly different mediums, will be on display at the Quad City Arts Center hrough October 2, staffers at the Rock Island venue proud to house paintings by Colleen McCarty-Tomlinson and marbled-paper works by Connie Sherman.

04 Aug 2026

Clay Walker, August 14

By Reader Staff

With his most recent album Texas to Tennessee hailed by Album of the Year as “a fun, lighthearted, and breezy country-pop project from one of neotraditional country's most underrated '90s artists,” the chart-topping Texan Clay Walker brings his "Doin' What I Love Tour 2026" to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on August 14, the artist having debuted six chart-topping hits and a dozen acclaimed studio albums over a career of more than three decades.

04 Aug 2026

Redstone Room Opening Night with Robert Randolph, August 20

By Reader Staff

With its special August 20 event celebrating the opening of Common Chord's new Redstone Room facility, the Davenport venue's staffers are proud to host the area return of River Roots Live favorite Robert Randolph, his electrifying blend of gospel and blues signaling the return of a space that has helped shape the Quad Cities music scene for decades.

04 Aug 2026

“Bluegrass on the Grass”: Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band, August 16

By Reader Staff

Transforming its gardens into one of the region's most memorable concert experiences, Rock Island's Quad City Botanical Center will host a special "Bluegrass on the Grass" music event on August 16, allowing guests, as surrounded by blooms, trees, and fellow music lovers, to experience an unforgettable night with the artists of Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band.

04 Aug 2026

I-ROCK 93.5: “7 Freakin' Years of Hard Rock,” August 20

By Reader Staff

Celebrating, per the event title, 7 Freakin' Years of Hard Rock, radio station I-ROCK 93.5 brings its annual anniversary party back to Eat Moline venue The Rust Belt on August 20, this year's entertainers boasting the hard-driving talents of Eva Under Fire, Alborn, Autumn Kings, and Left on Red.

04 Aug 2026

Goldpine, August 17

By Reader Staff

Hailed by Americana Highways as "very innovative and eclectic," the Americana artists of Goldpine, composed of married Nashville musicians Benjamin and Kassie Wilson, return to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on August 17, their 2025 album Three also lauded by Americana Highways as a work that "features powerful vocals, a unique sound, and a mix of raucous and subdued styles."

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