Praised by The Soundboard Reviews as a band whose musicians “do justice to the concept of modern rock in a way so many of their predecessors have utterly failed at,” the alternative rockers of Badflower play an outdoor concert at East Moline's River Bend Park, the May 7 event boasting new compositions and hits from their album debut OK, I'M SICK, named by Loudwire as one of the 50 best rock albums of 2019.

Performing a livestreamed concert set spanning their works from 2011 to 2014, the Grammy-nominated indie-folk artists of The Milk Carton Kids – singer/guitarists Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan – headline a special April 29 presentation hosted by Iowa City's Englert Theatre, with the artists performing songs from their first three recorded collaborations Retrospect, Prologue, and The Ash & Clay.

Taking their musical artistry to another dimension through an animated multi-media concert experience, Bruce Hecksel and Julie Patchouli headline the latest virtual presentation by the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center: the kaleidoscopic art-and-music showcase Landscape of Guitar: The Animated Painting Concert Experience featuring Patchouli and Terra Guitarra, available for streaming on April 22.

Well, I, for one, am glad that groups of plucky young musicians get together and decide to make jazz fusion in the year 2021. As an avowed devotee of late-'60s through -'70s fusion as pioneered by the likes of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, I can’t help but smile when a contemporary band can hit with horn voices, electronics, and funk rhythms all at once. Iowa City’s four-piece band Wave Cage get there.