The Soul Searchers - 2 p.m. The Des Moines Register calls them "the band that's obviously meant to play the blues." Since the early '90s, the Soul Searchers have done just that for fans across Iowa.
Douglas Ewart works with his hands, and that's not just because he's a musician. The Chicago-based Ewart not only composes and plays but builds his own instruments, creates artwork for performances, and designs and makes the costumes for himself and his band.
A.C. Reed: 1989 Aaron Moore: 1997 Albert Collins: 1993 Algia Mae Hinton: 2001 Alley Gaiters: 1986 Alvin "Little Pink" Anderson: 2002 Alvin Youngblood Hart: 1998, 2002 Andy Bush: 1993 Ann Peebles: 1992 Ann Rabson: 1999, 2004 Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets Featuring Sam Meyers: 1988, 1995 Anthony Gomes: 2001 Archie Edwards: 1993 Armstrong, Bogan, & Armstrong: 1989 Aron Burton & Jack Johnson: 1995 Audrey & The Blue Kats: 1991 B.
Magic Slim is somebody who refuses to be denied. He started out playing piano, but in a cotton-gin accident he lost a finger on his right hand - "the main finger," he said - and couldn't manage the instrument. Also when he was a child, he built a guitar with baling wire from a broom, and "my momma beat my ass," Magic Slim said in a recent phone interview.
Deacon Burton & the Victory Travelers - 2 p.m. Starting in 1991 with the Blind Boys of Alabama, top-notch gospel choirs have been featured at Mississippi Valley Blues Festivals. The Mississippi Valley Blues Society learned about the Victory Travelers thanks to Otis Clay.
Some bands are not cut out for the recording studio. They're great live, but when they get in that soundproofed room by themselves, they can't translate the energy. Often, the performances on studio CDs are too dry, and they reveal deficiencies in the songs that an audience isn't going to notice at midnight with a few drinks in them.
Mark Brenny of Brenny's Motorcycle Clinic has been building the annual Sturgis on the River festival into the Quad Cities' best showcase for local bands. And this year he's topped himself. For last year's event, Brenny booked roughly 40 bands on three stages.
With the Blues Festival just two weeks away, it's crunch time for the Mississippi Valley Blues Society (MVBS). There are travel, lodging, security, and logistical concerns to address, contracts to finalize, and volunteer lists to compile.
Dreams certainly do come true for new country music trio Sugarland, which will play on Saturday, June 11, at Quad City Live. The band's debut album, Twice the Speed of Life, recently went gold and has had two top-15 singles.
At Gumbo Ya Ya, the food might be hot, but the music is always hotter. (Quite a feat for an event serving Cajun sausage and spicy boiled shrimp.) That truism will certainly apply to this weekend's annual Mardi Gras in the District festival, at which nine bands will deliver crowd-pleasing performances of Cajun, zydeco, blues, funk, rock, soul, hip-hop, R&B, and reggae music.

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