Delivering a unique blend of retro-bluegrass, traditional country, gospel, and Appalachian Mountain music, Joe Hott & the Short Mountain Boys bring their tour to Maquoketa's Ohnward Fine Arts Center on May 17, the group having shared stages with artists such as Rhonda Vincent and Vince Gill, and performing to-tapping tunes by Ralph Stanley, Hank Williams Sr, and original numbers written by Hott himself.

On May 17, a revered group of chart-topping, Grammy-winning rockers will be celebrated when Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse presents the six-piece tribute event Heartache Tonight: The Music of the Eagles, an evening of beloved, iconic hits sure to include such chart-toppers as "Hotel California," "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Best of My Love," "One of These Nights," and, of course, "Heartache Tonight."

Plenty of albums feature songs that are also love stories. Far fewer albums are themselves love stories.

The three live-music events scheduled at Rozz-Tox (2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island, IL) in May pair talented local artists with respectable regional bands, and, on May 18th, a topnotch, brand-new, international heat-seeker.

With his 2024 release Frank's Full Moon Saloon praised by Glide magazine as a "raw and intimate" recording that "seems to mark a new chapter" for the artist, Matthew Logan Vasquez returns to Davenport for a May 14 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the acclaimed singer/songwriter and guitarist also a member of the rock band Delta Spirit and the indie super-groups Middle Brothers and Glorietta.

Hisham Bravo Groover is nearing the close of his first season leading several QC orchestras. And the articulate, passionate conductor is earning key bravos along the way.

On May 13, the artist whom The Rolling Stone Album Guide calls “the world's most beloved heavy-metal entertainer” makes a special appearance at Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK with the Quad Cities return of Alice Cooper, whose 2023 recording Road was hailed by Classic Rock as "a cohesively themed album lathered in multi-tiered guitars, anthemic choruses, and high-density power riffage, tempered by road-honed dynamism and built for the stage."

Taking place on the night before Alice Cooper's triumphant return to Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK, four of the rock legends' bandmates will play a special May 12 concert event at the city's venue Rascals Live, with the super-group The Good Squad boasting the hard-driving talents of Chuck Garric, Ryan Roxie, Glen Sobel, and Tommy Henriksen.

Touring in support of their 2023 album Where Do We Go from Here? that Blabbermouth called "one of the more dynamic records in their collection" and that Louder Sound said boasted "chart-worthy anthemic stadium rock songs," the popular metalcore musicians of Asking Alexandria headline a May 10 concert at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, the British band's top-10 Billboard smashes including 2011's Reckless & Relentless, 2013's From Death to Destiny, and 2016's The Black.

Appearing as the final guests in Quad City Arts' 2024-25 Visiting Artist series, the gifted folk-rock quintet Jarabe Mexicano will perform an exhilarating concert event at Moline's Mercado on Fifth on May 8, the group lauded by cultural anthropologist and noted author Alejandro Lugo a team of musicians who are “truly excellent and bring new blood to the musical traditions they perform."

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