Michael E. Gerber is miffed and he doesn't care who knows it.

The best-selling author of the "E-Myth" book series says the American Dream has been waylaid - no different than if it had been besieged by robbers in a dark alley - and Gerber is intent on rescuing it.

The way Gerber sees it, the issue is our confusion about the American Dream and what every one of us believe to be true about it. And it's time to get it back on track, says the fiery 78-year-old small-business guru who vaulted to fame in 1986 with his original "E-Myth" book and has been engaged in realizing a dream of his own over the past 40 years.

"Somehow we've forgotten our roots and why there was an American Dream to begin with," Gerber says. "We've lost track of the reason why millions upon millions of people came here to try to make a better future for themselves. We've also forgotten that the dream never was a political one, but a personal one for each and every one of us.  It's the politicizing of it that's created all the trouble."

Gerber (www.michaelegerbercompanies.com) has a great deal of experience in how to restore faith in the American dream. He has worked with tens of thousands of small business owners over the past 40 years.

The trick, Gerber says, is giving small business owners and aspiring small business owners a splash of cold water to wake them up to see that the American Dream isn't dead, nor is their business. Instead, what they are missing is a lack of commitment to their own dream.

To bring his point home, Gerber began a nationwide campaign this year in Riverside, Calif., where the city's mayor, Rusty Bailey, helped launch Gerber's first city-sponsored Dreaming Room.

Gerber invented the Dreaming Room, which he describes as an "entrepreneurial incubator," in 2005, and has been delivering it to individuals worldwide ever since. It's a program where the unemployed, underemployed, self-employed or small business owners who find themselves stuck in their current unworkable circumstances join together, led by a facilitator.

In an intense, small-group setting they go through a step-by-step process where they create, collaborate and test ideas to develop or improve their current circumstances by inventing a new business.

Once developed, the concept for that new business is then put to work, with Gerber's team helping the new entrepreneur apply Gerber's entrepreneurial principles to design, build, launch and grow their new company.

Riverside was just a first step in Gerber's vision for city-sponsored economic development initiatives in cities and counties throughout the nation and the world. Having launched Riverside, it's on to Fresno and the 14 counties surrounding that California city of 509,000 people. In May, Gerber plans a Dreaming Room for the 96 mayors of all the cities in those counties "to awaken the spirit of entrepreneurship in them."

"We will be teaching people how to make it on their own in Fresno, San Mateo, and every U.S. city who invites us in, you name it," Gerber says. "In the process of inspiring and leading them and mentoring them, something remarkable will happen. Each and every individual will understand, many for the very first time, that he or she and no one else is responsible for their circumstances."

Even as he makes more Dreaming Room plans, the prolific Gerber is still pounding out books, with three he's working on simultaneously. They are "Beyond the E-Myth," "The 5 Essential Skills of Extraordinary People" and "Making It on Your Own in America."

The latter title has become an overriding theme for him of late. For Gerber, economic development is all about the individual and how personal responsibility is the key to making it in America.

"It happens with the individual or it doesn't happen at all," he says. "Every single individual is accountable for their own economy - an 'economy of one'".

"Our economic problem has been created through the belief that big government can solve our problems. We then created a monster of a government that presumes to think for us. That's why our economy is in tatters. It's why the number of people on food stamps has grown exponentially. It's why the number of people who are impoverished has grown, and the number of unemployed has grown exponentially. It's also why our federal debts and deficits have grown beyond the pale."

"The way forward is to go back", Gerber says. "Back to those inspirational days when the nation took its first awkward steps, the Constitution was written and the Bill of Rights was tacked on like a brilliant afterthought".

"If it becomes a political discussion, it misses the point," Gerber says. "It was never political back then, it was existential. It was an existential reality to liberate each of us to follow our own path."

About Michael E. Gerber

Michael E. Gerber (www.michaelegerbercompanies.com) is an entrepreneur, thought leader, speaker and best-selling author whose modern classic, "The E-Myth: Why Most Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It," has sold more than 3 million copies. He is the founder of The Dreaming Room™, where entrepreneurs and others are provided the tools and facilitation to see, experience, develop and design their Dream, Vision, Purpose and Mission. His next book, "Beyond The E-Myth" is a passionate response to America's current inspiration deficit.

Featuring performers in grades K-4

The Young Footliters will present Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, as adapted by Kathryn Schultz Miller, this Friday April 17 at 7:00 PM and Saturday April 18 at 2:00 PM at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.  The production features performers in grades K-4 and is directed by Jean Grewe. Tickets are $5-$7 and are available online at www.coralvillearts.org, by phone at 319.248.9370, and in person at the CCPA box office (1301 5th Street) and Coralville Recreation Center (1506 8th Street).

According to director Jean Grewe, "It has been a total joy and blessing working on this show!  The kids are acting, building the sets, and working as running crew; they have really been involved in every part of the show, and are having a great time doing it!  And the parents have really stepped up as well - costumes, props, set, working backstage, helping in the Green Room, you name it, they did it!"

Performing in Pinocchio creates a special, age-appropriate experience for young performers.  The children receive valuable experience in putting on a production: they learn about the rehearsal process, what a performance is like, how to project and speak clearly, how to pay attention and focus on the show, and how to work as a team.  They also have a lot of fun creating a show with other kids.

Young Footliters is a program of the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts offering children and teens fun, creative, and educational theater arts opportunities in a safe, positive, and professional environment.  Young Footliters aims to produce quality productions and classes that promote responsibility, confidence, leadership, cooperation, and arts appreciation.

Rock Island, IL: SHAZAM! Kids who sign up for summer art, drama, and math programs at Rock Island Library can be real superheroes when they return to the classroom in the fall.

Library summer learning programs helps prevent the "summer slide," a term for learning losses that occur when reading and other academic skills aren't used. Add Arts Education Partnership research that indicates that art and drama helps children do better at mastering reading, writing, and math, and there are some supersized reasons to take advantage of the library's Every Hero Has a Story summer reading and education events.

Registration opened April 15 for Super Charged Art, Faster than (the speed of) Math, and Secret Identity Drama Club at the Rock Island Main Library. Details for the weekly programs include :

Super-Charged Art: Meets Tuesday, June 16 to July 14, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, in the Main Library Community Room. Art can be your superpower, too, with a little help from art mastermind Gloria Burlingame. This class reinvents major works of art, often with a book connection. Works will be displayed at the library until July 14. Enrollment open for children going into 3rd through 8th grades.

Faster than the Speed of Math: Meets Tuesday, June 16 to July 14, from 3:15 to 4:00 pm, in the Main Library Community Room. Faster than the speed of sound! Able to jump high buildings in a single bound? How do superheroes do it? Join us for some super-powered math projects with tutor Elizabeth Russell. Enrollment open for children in second to 6th grades.

Secret Identity Summer Drama Club: Meets Mondays and Wednesdays, June 15 to July 8, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Main Library. What's your alter ego? Practice the acting skills you need to keep a secret superhero identity by putting on short skits and improvisation exercises with friends, under the direction of Angela Rathman. Enrollment open to children in 4th grades and up.

Registration is required. To sign up via the online calendar, register on the first date of each program. Registering once enrolls participants for all sessions. Participants may also call the Main Library Children's Room at 309-732-7360.

Summer art and drama programming is presented with funding from the Geifman Fund for Art and Drama of the Rock Island Public Library Foundation.

For information on any of the programs and services mentioned, visit library locations or the website at www.rockislandlibrary.org, follow Rock Island Library on Facebook or Twitter or call 309-732-READ (7323).

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Sunday 26 April, 5:00 p.m.

Redstone Room, Davenport

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society, Central Iowa Blues Society, Southeast Iowa Blues Society, and South Skunk Blues Society present the 2015 Iowa Blues Challenge (IBC). The IBC is a cooperative effort among the four organizations to select a solo-duo and band participant to represent the State of Iowa at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN, in January 2016.

The Final Round of the IBC will be held in Des Moines, IA on May 16, but first each solo/duo and band, made up primarily of Iowa based musicians, must surmount a Preliminary Round. The Mississippi Valley Blues Society Preliminary Round of the IBC will be held at the River Music Experience, 129 N. Main Street, Davenport, IA on Sunday, April 26 starting at 5:00pm. Admission price is $8 for ALL Blues Society members and $10 for non-members. Three (3) bands and three (3) solo/duo acts will be competing with only one (1) solo/duo act and one (1) band moving on to the final round in Des Moines.

The 2015 Mississippi Valley Blues Society Preliminary Round participants are:

Down the Drain (Band)   5:00pm

Dan Peart (Solo/Duo)   5:45pm

Zach Harris Band (Band)  6:20pm

Myers Brothers (Solo/Duo) 7:05pm

Concreteslim & the Sidewalks (Band) 7:40pm

Rowdy Rooster (Solo/Duo)  8:25pm

Each solo/duo group will play a 20-minute set and each band will play a 30-minute set with 5-8 judges critiquing each act on blues content, vocals, originality, talent, and stage presence. The criteria for the 2015 Preliminary Round are similar to the standards that each group will face if they move on to the Iowa State Final Round and the International Competition.

Bands and solo/duo acts moving on to the Iowa State finals will also have a chance to win cash prizes, recording time, opportunities for paid performances, and money to help with travel expenses for 2016 International Blues Challenge.

BAND BIOS

DOWN THE DRAIN (BAND) - 5:00pm

Down the Drain has been together for four years, performing blues, rock, country, and funk in small towns surrounding the Quad City area. The original power trio of Levi Craft, Jim Drain, and Cooper Schou would often have Sarah Hanson sit in on gigs, but this is the first all four have worked together as a full musical unit. All four of the musicians originally met at RME programs when they were twelve and thirteen years old.

Levi Craft, guitar and vocals, has playing guitar and singing for five years now. Levi and Sarah competed in the Youth Showcase Act last year at the Blues Challenge in Memphis. Levi has been in school choir and musicals, and previously played bass in Animilia. Levi has been involved in the RME's Rock Camp and Winter Blues, and was a member of the Winter Blues All-stars. His musical influences include Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Eddie Van Halen.

Jim Drain, bass, is a senior at Moline High School. Jim has been playing the electric bass guitar and the double bass since fifth grade. Jim plays in the Moline High School Orchestra, jazz band, and pep band. Jim's activities outside of school include the River Music Experience's Rock Camp and Winter Blues All-Stars, and he also plays for local group Culture Coup, which focuses on funk/rock/reggae. Jim's bass playing is influenced The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, reggae, and funk music.

Sarah Hanson, vocalist, developed an interest in all forms of vocal music as soon as she realized she could manipulate the sound of her voice. She began singing in school and has since performed in various locations throughout the Quad Cities. Levi, a classmate, encouraged her to attend a blues workshop at the River Music Experience, where she met Jim and Cooper and began a great adventure with the Winter Blues All-Stars. She has been singing the blues ever since. She is influenced by the vocal stylings of Etta James, Shemekia Copeland, and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Cooper Schou, drummer, is a junior at Pleasant Valley High School where he is in the marching band, Wind Symphony, and two jazz bands. He has been playing drums for five years after starting on piano, and has been a part of both the RME's Rock Camp and Winter Blues programs, where he performed with the Winter Blues All-Stars for two years. Cooper has also been the drummer for the Sin City Orchestra for the past year and one-half. His influences include Snarky Puppy, Steve Gadd, and Buddy Rich.

Dan Peart (Solo/Duo)   5:45pm

Dan Peart, from Clinton Iowa, is a self-taught musician, a singer/songwriter who is a lifetime member of the Mississippi Valley Blues Society and a two-time finalist in the Iowa Solo/Duo Blues Challenge. For more information about Dan Peart, visit www.danpeartmusic.com

Zach Harris Band (Band)  6:20pm

The Zach Harris Band is a blues-rock group from Davenport, Iowa, comprised of 4 members: Randy Leasman on bass, Nick Vazquez on keyboard, Jamie Hopkins on Drums, and Zach Harris on guitar and vocals. They have been together since early 2014. During that time they have developed their sound as a band, and worked hard to develop a reputation as a band that plays soulful blues with conviction. Their sound is heavily influenced by Chicago and Texas blues, as well as old school Mississippi Delta Blues. Each member of the band brings to the table his own unique skill set and influences.

Jamie Hopkins has been focused on drums and music since his first paying gig at 14 on his dad's borrowed drums. Logging over 27 years of live performance Jamie has been a member of the EZ Money Band, Crusin', The Andrew Landers Project, The Ernie Peniston Band (Iowa Blues Hall of Fame), the Curtis Hawkins Band (featuring Manuel Lopez III) and the Candymakers. He can be heard on 2013?s Keep Workin' the Blues (Curtis Hawkins Band) and 2014?s Rediculicious (Candymakers). A career highlight included accompanying the legendary Westbrook Singers at the 2014 Mississippi Valley Blues Fest. Jamie also works for Vintage Sound 93.1FM the largest radio signal in the market playing blues in rotation or by request.

Nick and Randy, both being members of The Candymakers, are no strangers to the Iowa Blues Challenge. The Candymakers participated and won the 2011 Iowa Blues Challenge, eventually going on to reach the semi-finals in both the International Blues Challenge, and The Kings of Beale Street Competition. Since then The Candymakers have released two full length records, and played all throughout the Midwest. Nick got his start playing drums in 5th grade band. He moved onto guitar in high school and then began playing piano at age 20. His biggest influences are Dr. John and Billy Preston. Nick also received his B.A. In music from St. Ambrose University. Nick is also a piano teacher at River Music Experience in Davenport.

Zach first took an interest in music at a young age. The sounds of the electric guitar, namely when expressed by the hands of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, captured his attention. By saving money from odd jobs and chores, Zach purchased his first guitar at the age of 14. As a self-taught musician, he learned to hone his craft as a teenager by playing along with his favorite recordings. His influences range from BB, Albert and Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Derek Trucks, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Tomo Fujita, Greg Koch, Philip Sayce, Eric Gales, Sean Costello and Steve Gaines.

Myers Brothers (Solo/Duo) 7:05pm

The Myers Brothers are lifelong residents of Davenport, Iowa. They were born and raised on the Mississippi listening to good blues and performing at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival and River Roots Live, Davenport, as well as multiple festivals, private parties and events.

Kellen Myers is the oldest brother, at 17 years old, a senior at Davenport Central High School where he is an honor student, in National Honor Society and Student Council. He has played the piano since age 2 and started composing his own music at a very young age, winning his first national composition contest at age 5. He has since won several state titles and honorable mentions as well as local composing awards. He has played piano, guitar, harmonica, bass, organ, percussion, and sings in addition to his composing. Kellen has been actively involved with high school music in choir, band, orchestra, show choir pit band, jazz band and recently won best jazz soloist at All State Jazz Band.  Kellen plans to study music and music composition at Augustana College, Rock Island, IL next fall.

Logan Myers is the younger of the brothers at age 14. He has played drums since age 3. He has been active in school music in choir and band and enjoys playing music with his brother. When he is not active in school or gigging, Logan travels and plays baseball for his high school and for the Quad Cities Hitmen Elite 14U. He had the opportunity to pitch at the Elite 32 in Disney World Orlando last summer and continues to work hard as a stand out on his teams.

The Myers Brothers are currently working on their next CD project- due to release in 2016.

Concreteslim & the Sidewalks (Band) 7:40pm

Concreteslim & the Sidewalks drive outside the lines of traditional blues with blues shaped by a lifetime of bumps and bruises into an original sound that draws traditional fans and younger audiences driven by the rhythm.

William Dale Rigsby became Concreteslim on a blues journey that ran coast to coast and then some before arriving back in his hometown in middle America on the Mississippi River. Slim has written and performed as long as he can remember, beginning in his Army years tending a Florida missile silo. The songwriter's folk and jazz bent drove a duo that performed for years in Tucson, Arizona, and later his solo act in southern California.

"My songs are days, weeks and chapters of my life, the ones where everything went right and the ones where everything went wrong."  "Bad Day," "Apologize" and "Two Holes" are some of the stories that Concreteslim transforms into songs that get listeners moving and thinking. Find the songs on Reverbnation, where 10,000 fans have pushed Slim to the top of the Reverbnation local charts.

Bassist Tim Rockstroh anchors the Sidewalks. "He believes in me and is willing to put in the extra work to present original music, not just covers. He's more than just a bass player. He drives the sound."  Drummer Danny Tapp became a Sidewalk member after a year of touring the west coast as part of a songwriting duo. Originally from the Missouri Ozarks, Tapp hooked up with Slim in 2014 and drove the band's latest live recordings from John Taylor's Ca' d'Zan studio.

Rowdy Rooster (Solo/Duo)  8:25pm

Guitarist, Songwriter and Performer Billylee Janey has been compared to such greats as Clapton, Beck, and Hendrix. Even though these guitar heroes have been an inspiration to him, Billylee's own soulful and passionate love for music clearly and creatively sets him apart, giving him his own unique style and personality. Billylee picked up his first guitar, a German Framus, at an early age. It was during the "British Invasion" that he was taking his first steps in another direction; a direction that would lead him down paths into the music that would shape his future - the blues, jazz and rock. Billylee recorded his first record in 1972 and another in 1973 which included "Pontiac Blues" by Sonny Boy Williamson.

In 1975 he recorded a full scale album titled  No Rest for the Wicked with his blues-rock trio, Truth 'N Janey. No Rest for the Wicked has achieved near cult status internationally, and has been recognized in the book by Martin Popoff,  The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal Volume I: The Seventies. Billylee Janey has played B B King's in Memphis, Buddy Guy's Legends during the Chicago Blues Fest and the Mississippi Valley Blues Fest. Billylee Janey has worked over 600 major shows in the US and Canada.

Other accomplishments: Head Flyman for David Copperfield, where Janey incorporated guitar stunts and tricks in his live show. He also worked the ABC Network's farm crisis with the Donahue Show and over 600 arena shows for jazz, blues and pop rock including Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn and George Thorogood. Janey was a part of production on the feature film Miles From Home starring Richard Gere. Janey played on stage with Buddy Guy, Little Ed and was the backing band for Bo Diddley shows in 2000. Today, Billylee continues to test the waters with his solo career and his newest release Tear It Down - on the Electric Mud label. While he is staying busy these days with performances, recordings and many a late night writing and composing, Billylee hasn't forgotten what this is all about for him. "I want to share with people what I feel in my heart, continue to give something new to the people who support live music and challenge myself."   Billylee has spent many years teaching guitar at West Music.

Freddy Jones has been playing blues harmonica since 1967. Musicians Freddy has played with include : Son Seals, Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater, Sonny Rhodes, Eddie Kirkland, Johnny Rawls, Little Ed & Blues Imperials and Bo Diddley.