The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band will close out the 29^th Mississippi Valley Blues Festival on Saturday July 6 on the Bandshell in Davenport's LeClaire Park.  Sponsored in part by Wieblers Harley-Davidson of Davenport, Shepherd's set will show why Guitar World named him the world's #3 blues guitarist?right after B. B. King and Eric Clapton.

Still barely in his 30s, the Louisiana-born axeman and songsmith has been selling millions of albums, throwing singles into the Top 10, shining a light on the rich blues of the past and forging ahead with his own modern twist on a classic sound he has embodied since his teens. He met Stevie Ray Vaughn at 7 and shared the stage with New Orleans legend Bryan Lee at 13.

From 1995 on, Shepherd took seven singles into the Top 10, and holds the record for the longest-running album on the Billboard Blues Charts with Trouble Is.   Shepherd has been nominated for five Grammy Awards, and has received two Billboard Music Awards, and two Blues Music Awards.

In 2007, he released a critically-acclaimed and two-time Grammy-nominated DVD-CD project, 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads. The film and album document Kenny Wayne Shepherd as he travels the country to jam with and interview the last of the authentic blues musicians, many of them now gone. As they tour the backroads, Shepherd, with members of the Double Trouble Band, play with a host of blues greats including Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, blues harp master Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Cootie Stark,  John Dee Holeman, Etta Baker, and Henry Townsend with Honeyboy Edwards.  There's also a concert session with the surviving members of Muddy Waters' and Howlin' Wolf's bands, including luminaries such as Hubert Sumlin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, and Pinetop Perkins.

"It's exciting to have such a name and talent as Kenny Wayne Shepherd at the BluesFest," said Bob Covemaker, co-chair of the committee that books acts for the festival.  "His energy is perfect for drawing in more young people, the future of the blues."

Kenny Wayne Shepherd is one of 27 acts on two stages at the Blues Festival, which begins at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday July 4 and runs through July 6.  Free workshops by festival artists are scheduled for all three days, and BlueSKool for the kids runs Friday and Saturday.

Discount advance tickets are available until June 30 from Hy-Vee stores in the Quad-Cities, Clinton, and Muscatine, by calling the Mississippi Valley Blues Society at 563-32-BLUES, or online at www.mvbs.org.  Gate admission is $20 per day, with children 14 and under free if accompanied by a paying adult.

Besides the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, this year's artists include, Mighty Sam McClain, Walter Trout, Southern Hospitality, John Primer (who will receive the RiverRoad Lifetime Achievement Award), C. J. Chenier, W. C. Clark, The 44s, Anthony Gomes, Samantha Fish, and Davina & the Vagabonds?among a total of 27 acts on two stages.

Also this year the festival will see the first-ever Mississippi Valley Blues Challenge.  Three bands from within a 175-mile radius of the Quad-Cities will compete in the final round on July 5, with the winner playing a full set on July 6 at the festival and representing the Mississippi Valley Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January 2014.

Now heading into its 18th year in 2013,  Rock Camp USA is one of the country's top summer music camps, offering participants a once in a lifetime experience.  Rock Camp USA was founded in 1995 by renowned Austin, TX guitarist Dave Sebree, who also founded the Austin School of Music the same year.  Each camp is two weeks long and culminates with our young rockers giving a live performance, in a professional live music venue - such as the Redstone Room at the River Music Experience (RME) right here in the Quad Cities.  2013 marks RME's 8th year as a national affiliate of Rock Camp USA.  

Rock Camp USA in the Quad Cities is sponsored by Mediacom/OnMedia, West Music Company, and HAVlife Foundation, and is produced by the River Music Experience (RME).

The Rock Camp USA experience goes far beyond just learning how to play a few rock songs with friends and other players, but delivers life lessons about working with others towards a common goal of creating, rehearsing and performing music as an artistic unit.  Students rehearse for two weeks, record their dress
rehearsal, and then perform live to a full house in the Redstone Room for family, friends and fans.  The icing on the cake is when they receive a professionally-edited DVD of the show from Mediacom, as well as when the concerts air on Mediacom Connections Channel 22!

Rock Camp USA activities include :

Forming a band - picking your own material - rehearsing like pros - option to write your own original songs

- refining your skills - taking home a CD recording of your dress rehearsal and a DVD of your final concert
performance - improving teamwork abilities - working with seasoned area musicians and veteran Rock Campers - and performing live in a state-of-the-art venue.

Rock Camp USA franchises across the country have included: Austin, TX, Fort Worth, TX, Rio Grande Valley, TX, Davenport, IA, Chicago, IL,  New York, NY, Poughkeepsie, NY,  Miami, FL, and Hawaii.  

National sponsors include Fender, D'Addario, Sabian, Planet Waves, Vic Firth, PreSonus, and Evans Drumheads.  Fender Passport sound systems for Rock Camp USA rehearsals in the Quad Cities are provided by our friends at West Music Company.

This year you can register for Rock Camp USA - Quad Cities 2013 online at www.rivermusicexperience.org
...or visit the RME admissions desk for registration forms. Rock Camp USA - Quad Cities tuition is $425 per camper/per two-week session.  Deposit (applied towards tuition) is $200.00, with balance of $225.00 due thirty (30) days before session starts. Tuition is non-refundable without a medical excuse or family emergency.  Discounts are available for those attending multiple summer sessions, and for families with two or more campers participating in the same session.  Limited financial assistance is also available to those with a demonstrated need, courtesy of our friends at The Terry Lunardi Foundation, The HAVlife Foundation, The Moline Foundation, and also via the Karli Rose Kell Music Scholarship Fund at RME.  Submission of a separate financial assistance request form is required by those seeking assistance, and those forms are available online at www.rivermusicexperience.org and at the RME admissions desk.

For more information on Rock Camp USA in the Quad Cities, contact: Ellis Kell, Director of Rock Camp USA - Quad Cities,RME Director of Progr. & Community Outreach
RIVER MUSIC EXPERIENCE
129 Main Street, Davenport, Iowa  52801

Phone: (563) 326-1333, ext. 113  

Email: ellis@rockcampusa.com  Web Site: www.rivermusicexperience.org

The RME is a registered nonprofit helping build the Quad Cities music scene - through diverse live music and unique educational programming.

Strike out on the Inca trail as the Quad City Symphony Orchestra presents Caminos del Inka on June 1 at the Figge Art Museum. Accompanied by a choreographed visual slide show and documentary footage, QCSO principal flutist Jessica Waren-Acosta and harpist Marguerite Lynn Williams perform music from South America. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. with free hor d'oeuvres and a cash bar and guided tours of the Figge Art Museum. The concert will begin at 8:00 p.m.

An audiovisual presentation containing documentary style photos and video is choreographed to the music. These images enhance the audiences understanding of the cultural and historical aspects of the music. Caminos del Inka works closely with traditional musicians from the Americas to create the most acurate educational film. As a result of their work, people will be able to access and enjoy the rich music and more thoroughly understand the historical and cultural context.

 As part of a collaboration with the Figge Art Museum, docents will be giving tours of their Art and Devotion in Viceregal New Spain exhibit from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Focusing on the Spanish colonial period of present-day Mexico and Central America, this gallery includes a large collection of religious and devotional art. These works frequently were used in the religious rites and ceremonies of the liturgy or for private devotion. Indeed, an inextricable bond existed between the Church and the image-making traditions of Hispanic cultures.

Performing in this concert is Jessica Warren-Acosta, principal flute of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Warren-Acosta has concertized on three continents and appeared as a soloist with the Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Fort Worth, and Omaha Symphony Orchestras among others, as well as at numerous international music festivals including the Spoleto USA Festival where she gave the American Premiere of Pascal Dusapin's Flute Concerto, "Galim."

Joining Ms. Warren-Acosta is Principal Harpist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Marguerite Lynn Williams. Ms. Williams has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra member. She has been awarded prizes in numerous competitions including the American Harp Society's National Competition. She has appeared with the Chicago Symphony, Minnesota, Milwaukee Symphony, Ravinia Festival, Toronto Symphony, and San Diego Symphony Orchestra.

Seating is limited, so buy your ticket today by clicking here.

The Moline Public Library and Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities welcome folksinger Lil' Rev back to the area as he presents "Fiddler on the Roof Meets O Brother Where Art Thou?" on Wednesday, June 5th at 7:00 p.m.at the Moline Public Library, 3210 - 41st Street.  This program of Jewish and Yiddish folk music from the singer, multi-instrumentalist, and music historian is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact the library at 309-524-2470.

Through a colorful prism of American roots influence, Lil' Rev will perform Jewish Blues, Bluegrass (or as he likes to call it, Jewgrass!), Country Western (look out Kinky Friedman, here comes Lil' Rev!) and original songs played on the guitar, ukulele, mandolin, harmonica and banjo.  Lil' Rev will seamlessly weave a tapestry of Yiddish, Israeli, Chasidic, and American folk songs into a rich gumbo of story, song, and lore for the whole family.

This event is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities and Friends of the Moline Public Library.