Darlingside: Friday, April 19, 8 p.m.
Rude Punch: Saturday, April 20, 8 p.m.
Songbird Jazz Quartet: Sunday, April 21, 6 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
This year, Easter weekend at the Redstone Room will showcase a thrillingly wide range of musicians and genres, as the Davenport venue hosts headlining sets with the folk-pop quartet Darlingside on April 19, the Quad Cities-based reggae talents of Rude Punch on April 20, and an Easter-Sunday concert with the Songbird Jazz Quartet performing as April 21 guests in Polyrhythms' Third Sunday Jazz Workshop & Matinée Series.
With its music described by NPR as “perfectly crafted” and “exquisitely arranged, literary-minded, baroque folk-pop” by NPR, Darlingside originated in 2009, released the self-produced EP 1 in 2010, and released its debut full-length album, Pilot Machines in 2012. Rolling Stone praised the release as having “a rich line in acoustic textures and chamber-rock dynamics,” and after band member Sam Kapala departed the group in 2013, the four remaining members of Darlingside – vocalists and multi-instrumentalists Don Mitchell, Auyon Mukharji, Harris Paseltiner, and David Senft – moved toward a performance set-up in which all four musicians clustered around a single condenser microphone. Since then, Darlingside has won raves for such albums as 2015's Birds Say and 2018's Extralife, with the band's 2016 performance at the Cambridge Folk Festival, according to The Daily Telegraph, earning them “an ecstatic reception” that “turned them into instant stars.” Their latest recording, the EP Look Up & Fly Away, was released earlier this year, a work that The Indy Review said “certifies their mastery of gorgeous folk harmonies and endearing songwriting.”
Based in Davenport, Rude Punch is composed of Brady Jager on lead locals and guitar, Adam Tucker on drums, Jack Hill on bass, and Colton Menke on lead guitar and vocals, and blends reggae, rock, punk, and pop to create original, high-energy music. Formed by Jager, Tucker, and Robb Laake in 2007, the initial Rude Punch trio was heavily influenced by bands such as Sublime and 311 – early pioneers of mixing reggae with punk, hip-hop, funk, and rock. Rude Punch released its self-titled debut album later that year, and quickly went on to share stages with acts such as Slightly Stoopid, Pepper, and Sublime with Rome while their popularity continued to grow through Midwestern concert and festival appearances. The area talents continued spreading musical positivity through 2009's Killin' It and 2015's Lovers Rock, and with the addition of Hill in 2015 and Menke in 2016, Rude Punch expanded its influences and built on their following, energizing fans and crowds with a continuous output of new songs and performances at festivals including Summercamp and Camp Euforia.
Composed of vocalist Bethann Gavin-Heidgerken, guitarist Craig Heidgerken, bassist Robert T. Rosenstiel, and drummer Dave Soliz, the Songbird Jazz Quartet creates an atmosphere Polyrhythms describes as “vocal jazz standards meets back alley jazz. The guitar, bass and drums rhythm sections create a soft, pillowy pocket for vocal renditions from the musical catalogs of Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Diana Krall, Julie London, and many more. This group creates an intimate, fun and light atmosphere to their performance as an attempt to remind us that jazz hasn’t always been exclusive to the concert hall.”
Darlingside plays its April 19 Redstone Room concert with an opening set by Lula Wiles, and admission to the 8 p.m. show is $16-20. Rude Punch performs on April 20 with additional sets by Reggae Rapids and Drama Major, with $10 admission to the 8 p.m. show. And Polyrhythms' 6 p.m. Songbird Jazz Quartet concert on April 21 will be preceded by a 3 p.m. “Jazz Demystifying” workshop, with admission $10-15 for the evening performance and $5 for the workshop, with students at the latter admitted free of charge. For tickets to, and more information on, all of the Redstone Room's events, call (563)326-1333 or visit RiverMusicExperience.org.
