MOLINE, IL -- From April 11 to May 23, the halls of local libraries and non-profits throughout the Quad Cities region will resound with the beat of uniquely American musical genres, thanks to the grant-funded "America's Music" project.
Bettendorf, Davenport, Moline and Rock Island public libraries, in collaboration with Western Illinois University-Quad Cities and River Music Experience, will host the six-week series, which features documentary film screenings, scholar-led discussions of 20th century American popular music and live performances as part of "America's Music: A Film History of Our Popular Music from Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway." The project covers a wide span of musical interests, including blues and gospel, Broadway, jazz, bluegrass and country, rock and roll, mambo and hip hop.
Featuring 19 presentations, the local effort is one of 50 sites nationwide selected to host this program series, which is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor. Each screening and discussion session will examine an American musical genre in the context of key social and historical developments, giving attendees of all ages an opportunity to recognize the influence of these popular music forms on the cultural landscape.
The series will kick off at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11 with a live performance by Iowa Blues Challenge winners, The Candymakers, at the River Music Experience, 129 Main St., Davenport.
Discussions, along with a call for stories about memories of the Quad Cities musical landscape, will be led by program scholar Daniel S. Malachuk, associate professor of English at WIU-Quad Cities, and several faculty colleagues, including Everett Hammer (English), Nancy Schaefer and Tammy Werner (sociology), and Chelsea Clearman and Jill King, two students in the WIU-Quad Cities English graduate degree program. With help from his students, Malachuk will present some of the local stories collected at the final event in the series, "Celebrating America's Music in the Quad Cities," from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, May 23 at the WIU-QC Riverfront campus atrium. Attendees are encouraged to bring their stories about the great variety of music heard in the Quad Cities over the past 50 years. Musicians are encouraged to bring instruments, as the event will close with an open mic event of local performers.
A full list of performances and locations is available at americasmusicqc.com. For more information, visit americasmusicqc.com, email americasmusicqc@gmail.com or call (309) 524-2470.
"America's Music" is a project by the Tribeca Film Institute, in collaboration with the American Library Association, Tribeca Flashpoint and the Society for American Music. "America's Music" has been made possible by a major $2,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor. Additional funding was received from the Riverboat Development Authority, Sedona Technologies, UAW Local 2282, Friends of the Moline Public Library, along with in-kind sponsorships from the River Cities' Reader, WQAD-TV, STAR 93.5, WQPT Quad Cities PBS and WVIK Augustana Public Radio.
