With the event's subject a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner whose 2001 novel Erasure was adapted into Cord Jefferson's Oscar-winning 2023 comedy American Fiction, Beyond the Page with Percival Everett will enjoy a virtual March 19 presentation in an event hosted by Illinois Libraries Present, the author's prize-winning James from 2024 hailed by the New York Times as "Everett's most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful."

A fascinating illustrated lecture focusing on the remarkable women who had a first-hand view of our nation's creation, The Founding Mothers of America will be presented at the Rock Island Public Library's Watts-Midtown Branch on March 12, with presenter and touring performer Laura Keyes sharing insightful tales of her subjects' history, bravery, and surprising legacies.

Rhythm, energy, and innovation will be celebrated in the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's fifth Masterworks concerts of the 2025-26 season, the March 7 and 8 repertoire boasting Leonard Bernstein's vibrant "Three Dance Episodes" from On the Town, Rebecca Burkhardt’s captivating Ballet for Cello and Orchestra, and, as fitting for the program's title, Ludwig van Beethoven’s spirited and uplifting Second Symphony.

A consistently popular performer touring in support of his March 8 release Homeaid, beloved Midwestern folk singer/songwriter Cody Diekhoff – better known by his recording alias Chicago Farmer – headlines a March 6 concert with his band The Fieldnotes at Davenport's Redstone Room, the artist a soulful crooner and guitarist who inspired No Depression to rave, “If the Midwest is looking for a voice, the search is over.”

Ole 60, March 6

Currently traveling the country in their “Smokestack Town '26 Tour,” Ole 60, self-described as “not your father's country band,” headlines a March 6 engagement at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, The Westview Wire giving the musicians' 2025 album Smokestack Town five our of five stars, and The Bluegrass Situation calling the ensemble "one of the most intriguing new acts in Americana."

Performing from a repertoire boasting such revered songs as "One Love," "Get Up, Stand Up," "I Shot the Sheriff," "Is This Love," and "No Woman, No Cry," the Legendary Wailers featuring Julian Junior Marvin return to East Moline venue The Rust Belt on March 7, the outfit's bandleader the Jamaican-born guitarist and singer who was invited to join Bob Marley & the Wailers a full 49 years ago.

Praised by Rolling Stone for “gutbucket rock & roll and soulful boogie” and by NPR Music for being “fresh, original, and truly pledged to rock and roll,” Adam Weiner a.k.a. Low Cut Connie headlines a March 6 solo concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artist's 2023 album Art Dealers hailed by Glide magazine as "a perfect mix of charm, love, and devotion with just enough sleaze and grit to keep it interesting."

A disparate night of musical genres will be heard at Davenport's Raccoon Motel on March 7, the artists' repertoires ranging from the country and Americana of Nashville-based Fabrizio to the emo and punk of Rockford, Illinois' Clementine.

With his compositions praised by Beatroute as "gnawing and building and growing in strength, crushing you like the weight of ice," composer, improvisor, and multi-instrumentalist V. Vecker headlines a March 7 OUTLETProgramme event at Rock Island venue Rozz-Tox, the artist performing music that makes you, per Beatroute, "feel trapped until the sweet release of melancholy pulls you under – the calm after the squall."

Dedicated to taking his audiences on a journey through the Golden Age of rock and roll, popular touring vocalist brings Chris Ruggiero brings his headlining tour to Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on March 6, the PBS and social-media sensation revered for breathing new life into the timeless music of the 1950s, '60s and '70s.

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