After an unplanned summer off, one of the area's most eagerly anticipated day-long festivals returns on July 10 in the sixth iteration of the Dawn & On Music Festival, with the area musicians of The Dawn hosting bluegrass, funk, roots, reggae, and plenty of rock in nine exhilarating concert sets – from nine much-admired local and regional acts – held in Rock Island's Schwiebert Riverfront Park.

A frequently touring drummer and bassist, a pair of former contestants from The Voice, and a founding member of Grace Potter & the Nocturnals are among the talents scheduled for a special July 6 evening at the Rust Belt, with the East Moline venue hosting Cameron Avery, Ray Boudreaux, Preston Polh, Matthew Burr, and others in a Charity Concert for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley.

Described by Jazz Times as an artist who “cooks up a brilliant marriage of blues, jazz, gospel, and soul,” New York Blues Hall of Fame inductee Bruce Katz and his Bruce Katz Band play a June 20 concert sponsored by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society, showcasing the talents that led the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to declare, “This tight ensemble hits all the marks with deadly aim.”

Two legendary forces in country music – as well as artists who were born fewer than seven months apart – will be celebrated at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center when the Maquoketa venue presents Cash & Cline: Country Royalty Tribute Show, a June 19 stage sensation boasting Johnny-and-Patsy hits performed by Benny Wheels and Lori Gravel.