An annual holiday-music tradition returns to the area this month as the professional vocal ensemble the Nova Singers present their latest A Nova Christmas concerts, with exciting and moving arrangements of non-secular, classical, and traditional holiday favorites performed December 15 at Davenport's St. Paul Lutheran Church and December 16 at Galesburg's First Lutheran Church.

Composed of keyboardist Mike Maimone, guitarist Bob Buckstaff, and drummer Chris Pagnani, the Chicago-based rockers of Mutts play a Moeller Nights concert on December 15, showcasing the high-energy talents that earned this MusicExistence.com rave for their EP Fuel Yer Delusion: Vol. 4: “I seriously don't see who wouldn't go crazy for this band as they press the 'play' button.”

Performing thrilling four-part arrangements of such seasonal favorites as “Run, Run Rudolph,” “Ave Maria,” and “I'll Be Home for Christmas,” the do-wop vocal ensemble Under the Streetlamp visits Moline's TaxSlayer Center with their touring production “Hip to the Holidays!”, which features a collection of tunes from the group's live PBS specials and 2012 album Every Day's a Holiday.

Works by two Davenport-based artists will soon be on display in one Rock Island exhibit, as the Quad City Arts Center's Con/In-Fluence showcases prints, paintings, mixed media, and more by Steve Banks and Philip Laber.

Performing from a repertoire that includes such classics as “Uncle John's Band,” “Truckin,” “Alabama Getaway,” and the chart-topping “Touch of Grey,” the rockers of The Schwag return to the Rock Island Brewing Company on December 15, appearing locally in their 26th year as professional Grateful Dead tribute artists.

Described by Blues Blast magazine as “an excellent guitarist who uses the instrument to serve the music, not overpower it,” and praised for his “expressive, passionate voice,” Davy Knowles plays a December 15 Redstone Room concert as the latest stop on the Celtic rocker's cross-country tour.

One of the area's most adored holiday traditions returns to Davenport's Adler Theatre on December 9 and 10, when the professional talents of Ballet Quad Cities perform Tchaikovsky's holiday dance classic The Nutcracker in a presentation boasting new choreography by director (and BQC Artistic Director) Courtney Lyon and live accompaniment courtesy of Orchestra Iowa.

Headlined by the Christian rockers of Newsboys, the nationally touring Big Church Night Out makes a stop at Moline's TaxSlayer Center on December 10, featuring performances by the Grammy-nominated, chart-topping quartet plus more than a half-dozen additional contemporary-Christian entertainers.

In addition to his rock, blues, and gospel smashes, Elvis Presley recorded numerous renditions of popular seasonal tunes, and many of those hits will be heard when the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse hosts two performances of Blue Christmas: A Rock 'n' Roll Holiday Extravaganza starring touring musician and noted impersonator Robert Shaw.

In a concert co-hosted by the River Music Experience and Mississippi Valley Blues Society, Iowa-music legends Bob Dorr & the Blue Band will deliver high-energy entertainment in a December 9 Redstone Room set – the latest stop in the band's thirty-sixth year of professional performance.

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