With his most recent work The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store named one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2023, National Book Award and Library of Congress Prize winner James McBride takes part in the latest virtual Illinois Libraries Present program hosted by the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries, the February 4 event A Conversation with James McBride finding its subject in fascinating conversation with interviewer Heather Marie-Montlilla of PBS Books.

With the artist's most recent release Leather praised by Entertainment Focus as “a cohesive and emotionally charged album,” country-rock singer/songwriter Cody Johnson brings his national "Leather Deluxe Tour" to Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK on January 25, his most recent laurels including a 2023 CMT Music Award for his single “'Til You Can't" and last year's Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year.

Described by PopMatters as “a winning songwriter who manages to mix humor with traditional country sentiment without falling into hokey pastiche,” Nashville's Alex Williams performs a headlining engagement at Davenport's Raccoon Motel on January 24, his 2022 album Waging Peace lauded by Saving Country Music as "a seasoned and sensational specimen of Outlaw-style country music rendered in the modern context."

Touring in support of their 2024 album Mudglimmer, a recording whose title track was lauded by Flood magazine as "a patient and unyielding jazz-funk-rock exercise landing somewhere between Tortoise and Pavement," the indie artists of The Slaps headline a January 29 engagement at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the group's 2022 album Tomato Tree additionally hailed by Under the Radar as "showcasing the band’s winding instrumental sprawl and effortless chemistry."