Delivering an enthralling blend of beautiful rhinestone costumes, hilarious comedy, and toe-tapping country, bluegrass, rockabilly, and gospel music, the stage spectacle Branson on the Road lands at Maquoketa's Ohnward Fine Arts Center on August 26, the only national touring show named for the famous city boasting musical performances by singer/songwriter/guitarist Debbie Horton and multi-instrumentalist Donnie Wright.

With the duo's self-titled debut album praised by the Austin Chronicle as "a kaleidoscope of avant-garde lyrics and grandiose soundscapes" boasting a "stunning command of lo-fi instrumentation," alternative/indie musicians Jane Ellen Bryant and Daniel Leopold bring their outfit Jane Leo to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on August 31, the lauded group, according to the Austin Chronicle, "primed to unleash their slick, lo-fi cool upon the Austin scene and beyond."

With the rising country star's song “The Light” featured in the season-finale of the popular Western series Yellowstone, singer/songwriter and new Atlantic Records artist Tanner Usrey headlines an August 29 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the Texas-based talent lauded by Bringin' It Backwards for "blending straight-shooting storytelling with country grit, rock ‘n’ roll energy, and Americana eloquence."

Lauded by The Daily Iowan as an ensemble that boasts "a seamless sound that makes classifying music by genre a thing of the past," the ever-popular reggae, rock, and dub musicians of Rude Punch headline a concert in Common Chord's Live at Five series, the local group's August 25 Davenport engagement sponsored by the IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union (IHMVCU) with Common Chord's Front Row members, Encore Society, annual donors, and sponsors also making the event possible.

With the ensemble's ranks presently including two retirees from the University of Iowa jazz program and a current Augustana instructor of Physics, Iowa City's popular rock group the Beaker Brothers Band will perform in Common Chord's Live at Five series, the group's August 18 Davenport concert sponsored by QC Foot & Ankle Associates with Common Chord's Front Row members, Encore Society, annual donors, and sponsors also making the event possible.

An insightful exhibition aimed at fostering dialogue about how University of Dubuque students practice and promote the tenets of IIED, the university's Bisignano Art Gallery is housing Student Perspectives on: Inclusion, Intentionality, Equity, & Diversity through September 8, the exhibit displaying framed questions posed to 15 students from a variety of vocational pathways and their responses to those queries.

Two venues in downtown Rock Island will co-host one exciting literary event when the Midwest Writing Center presents readings and a release party for the annual literary magazine The ATLAS, the latest volume of which will, on August 17, be showcased in a late-afternoon event at the Rock Island Public Library and an evening celebration at the neighboring Rozz-Tox.

An impressively wide and beautiful variety of paintings by a trio of Midwestern talents will be on display at the Quad City Arts Center through October 6, with the Rock Island venue showcasing oil paintings by Barbara Curtis of Urbana, Illinois; sculptural paintings by Amanda Mulcahy of Chicago; and oil paintings by Tim Olson of Dubuque, Iowa.

Held in tandem with the weekend's Bill Bell Jazz & Heritage Festival and Rock Island's annual Family Fun Day, the August 19 Pulling Focus Black Film Festival's Winner's Showcase finds the Azubuike African American Council for the Arts partnering with Polyrhythms and the MLK Center for the first time in this celebration of African American and Black Diasporic voices.

Armed with iconic hits such as “Hold On Loosely,” “Rockin' into the Night,” “Caught Up in You,” "Fantasy Girl," and "Back Where You Belong," the touring musicians of 38 Special bring their singular brand of exhilarating Southern rock back to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on August 18, continuing the legacy of the band's long history in the company of vocalist/guitarist Don Barnes, who began with the group in 1975.

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