Touring in support of his 2025 release Roadkill Poetry, a work whose title song was praised by Lightning 100 as "a cathartic, introspective road trip through an alt-country landscape," touring singer/songwriter Austin Sawyer brings his musical project Drumming Bird to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on September 27, his latest recording inspiring Xavier Newswire to state, "Give Drumming Bird a chance, and you'll find a new indie artist to brag to your friends about.

With his 2022 debut Wellswood hailed by Americana UK as "an impressive and arresting debut" boasting "powerful, dramatic, and poetic story songs from the dark underbelly of the southeastern U.S.," New Orleans-based singer/songwriter Thomas Dollbaum headlines an October 1 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, PopMatters adding that the artist "fuses vivid lyric imagery with eclectic musical choices on his impressive debut album."

A Quad Cities-based tribute act dedicated to free-spirited and energetic concert experiences from the Stop Making Sense era, the tour de force of musicians known as Heads in Motion play the final concert in Bettendorf venue The Tangled Wood's 2025 Summer Concert Series, this September 27 show with the 10-piece ensemble celebrating Oscar, Grammy, and Tony Award winner David Byrne and his iconic rock outfit Talking Heads.

In their powerful tribute to American spirit and local legacy, the Knox-Galesburg Symphony will open their 2025-26 season with a powerful performance of Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait at Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre, the September 27 concert event presented under the direction of Richard Cangro, and featuring actor Steven Duchrow portraying Carl Sandburg as narrator – a nod to Sandburg’s Grammy-winning 1960 performance.