Ingrid Michaelson It has been a furious two days, as late this Monday we confirmed what is just one of a number of flood-benefit shows that we're looking at staging here in the Quad Cities over the next month. We've been talking with some great bands about coming in here and donating their talents to help out those who lost a lot in the recent floods here in Iowa. All door proceeds for the show will go to local flood victims.

Buddy Guy - Skin Deep Special guests abound on two new CDs and a seven-inch single from a blues legend, a former pop superstar, and a one-hit Scottish songwriter. On tour now with George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Buddy Guy has just released Skin Deep on the Silvertone Records imprint. Featuring songs "Smell the Funk" and "Lyin' Like a Dog," the Chicago blues powerhouse is joined by Eric Clapton, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, and Robert Randolph.

Ani DiFrancoThe Ani DiFranco appearing at the Capitol Theatre on Saturday might not be the same Ani DiFranco who became something of a legend over the past two decades.

The old Ani averaged a record a year from 1989 through 2006, toured incessantly, and was a punkish-folk, feminist, do-it-yourself, and bisexual icon.

The new Ani has a nearly-18-month-old child and a "baby daddy" (her words, referring to producer Mike Napolitano), and will be releasing her first studio album in two whole years in September: Red Letter Year.

Daytrotter We're busy as always this week, bringing in a number of bands that will be playing this week's Pitchfork Festival in Chicago. The sessions that we'll be recording here in Rock Island include visits by Candle, Bear Country, The New Year, The Icy Demons, Jennifer O'Connor, Secret Machines, The Dutchess & the Duke, the Prairie Spies, Ani DiFranco, and Supergrass.

Samantha Crain - The Confiscation Right up there with such perfect-moment masterpieces as Tori Amos' Little Earthquakes, Mazzy Star's She Hangs Brightly, Suzanne Vega's self-tiled album from 1985, and Milla Jovovich's critically underrated The Divine Comedy from 1994, this coming Tuesday's first glimpse at a 21-year-old Choctaw native is as powerful, immediate, and gripping as it comes. With a voice like Billie Holiday's trippin' kid sister raised on T.Rex demos and Radiohead ballads, Samantha Crain's The Confiscation: A Musical Novella is a stunning introduction to a refreshing, metaphysical artist that demands attention. There must be something special about the mothering Oklahoma creek water that produces so many amazing singers/songwriters, from Woody Guthrie to the Flaming Lips. Tastefully packaged in a cardboard Digipak that mimics an old family photo album, the five-song EP is on the hip, old-timey Ramseur Records imprint - the perfect home for her national debut, also releasing the long awaited Second Gleam from the Avett Brothers next week.

 

Natalia Zukerman Natalia Zukerman might as well have been born on the road. She is the child of two classical musicians who traveled a lot. (Her father is violinist, violist, and conductor Pinchas Zukerman.) She said last week that she got on a plane for the first time when she was six weeks old, and "I've learned to pack and unpack since I was a little kid.

"Having a regular, stay-at-home home life, that's the challenge for me and my family," she continued. "I love that it's something that is definitely in my blood. My grandfather was a klezmer musician and a gypsy of sorts. Traveling troubadour is part of my DNA."

She's carrying on the tradition.

Daytrotter It's a relatively calm week at Daytrotter headquarters this week, but the few things that are happening are exciting.

Joe Strummer - The Future is Unwritten The Future Is Unwritten , last year's beautiful love letter to the life and passion of Joe Strummer, has just been released on DVD, packed with bonus material not seen in the original film. Even if you don't subscribe to the motto that The Clash was "the only band that ever mattered," I can't see how any beating heart couldn't tear up at director Julien Temple's salute to the purity and soul of a man who, despite his fame, walked with the common bloke in humble soles shared by Woody Guthrie and Bob Marley.

We here at Daytrotter have been overjoyed with the response to the last two Daytrotter Presents shows at Huckleberry's -- Amos Lee/Shelley Short and Justin Townes Earle/David Vandervelde. We have to thank everyone for coming out, and if you were one of those people, bring two others with you for the next one.

We promise to continue bringing in high quality acts -- putting together diverse bills that you're only going to be able to see here. The next two shows that we have upcoming promise to be just as eclectic.

Mississippi Valley Blues Festival cover To blues it may concern:

Peace and blues to you all, and welcome to the 2008 IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival. Come hell or high water, the fest must go on! This year's Mississippi River flood only strengthened our resolve to bring you the best in blues, even if we can't be in LeClaire Park.

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