The River Cities' Reader is proud to present the official guide to the 2014 Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, taking place July 3 through 5 on Second Street between Main and Ripley streets in downtown Davenport.

Here you'll find the complete festival schedule, new interviews with six of the performers, older interviews with four additional artists, biographies (from the Mississippi Valley Blues Society) of all 27 acts, and more: ticket and general information, a letter from the Mississippi Valley Blues Society president, and biographies of workshop and BlueSKool presenters who won't be performing on the Tent or Bandshell stages. You can also pick up a copy of the official blues-festival guide in the June 26 issue of River Cities' Reader.

More information and tickets are available at the Mississippi Valley Blues Society Web site.

The Mercury Brothers, 6 p.m.

Congratulations to the Mercury Brothers for winning the 2014 Iowa Blues Challenge! The Quad Cities band first beat out the competition in a local round and then in the final round in Des Moines for the opportunity to represent the entire state of Iowa at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis next January. This band is tight and professional, and includes some of the best musicians in the Midwest.

Make sure you bring your dancing shoes for this set by the best band in Iowa! The Mercury Brothers play original blues, R&B, soul, and roots music as well as covers that sound like their own. They pull from deep repertoire of artists from the Blasters to The "5" Royales.

Winter Blues All-Stars, 3 p.m.

The Winter Blues All-Stars is composed of talented young musicians selected from the River Music Experience's Winter Blues program. The annual Winter Blues program features vocal and instrumental workshops (guitar, bass, harmonica, keyboards, and drums), as well as a concentration on blues composition and improvisation. These sessions are open to musicians from eight to 18 years of age and are led by Ellis Kell of the River Music Experience and Hal Reed of the Mississippi Valley Blues Society, with other veteran blues musicians from the region as special guests.

The Westbrook Singers, 3 p.m.

TheWestbrookSingers.com

The Westbrook Singers are an extraordinary family group that is committed to spreading God's message through music - in a style that is both contemporary and traditional. The origin of this seasoned group dates back to the mid-'70s, when 11 siblings came together to complement a ministry that began with their father some 20 years earlier. Thus, the children of Bishop Charles B. and Barbara Westbrook came to be known as The Original Westbrook Singers.

Over the years, the group has changed in its makeup but not in its focus. Today, only four of the siblings continue in performance roles, though appearances by other siblings are not rare. They are Brenda Westbrook-Lee, Delores Westbrook-Tingle, Gary Westbrook, and Cynthia Westbrook-Bryson.