Appearing locally as part of a July/August tour that will also take him to Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, the Austin-based singer/songwriter Walker Lukens plays a Daytrotter concert on July 6, the artist having been called “one of the best songwriters in Texas” by the Free Press Houston, “wonderfully inventive” by NPR World Cafe, and even, according to his hometown newspaper the Austin Chronicle, “a non-sexually-intimidating version of Prince.”

Lauded by PopMatters.com for their “trademark wry humor and ability to speak the truth about matters of the heart and the large disappointments and slender victories life offers,” the Americana, folk, and pop three-piece Bombadil headlines a Moeller Nights concert on July 7, the trio's most recent album Fences a work that, according to NoDepression.com, “provides an abundance of musical wealth with an economy of means.”

One of the most significant events in the history of American travel will, on June 28, be explored at the Putnam Museum & Science Center when the venue hosts a special free screening of the documentary East Meets West: The First Railroad Bridge to Cross the Mississippi – the first public showing of the film since its River Action-hosted area premiere last August at the Figge Art Museum.

Scultpures and paintings by Iowa- and Illinois-based talents will fill the Quad City Arts Center from June 29 through August 17, as the Rock Island venue houses Dean Kugler's Relics and Erik Ohrn's Momentarily Present – exhibitions boasting works by two gifted artists who use figuration to communicate ideas about psychology, internal states of being, and the solitary nature of existence.