To help her cope with a traumatic, unprecedented year, Rock Island native Lissie Maurus turned to some of her favorite songs by female artists. The 38-year-old, internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter recorded five of them for a new EP of covers, “Thank You To The Flowers,” out now via Cooking Vinyl. Listen to or purchase the EP here. It features the new single, “Wrecking Ball” – a stunning take on the Miley Cyrus mega-hit – with a video produced by fellow Rock Island High School alum Ben Chappell. “Thank you to Miley Cyrus and the brilliant writers who created this unbelievable... Read More

Donovan Gustafson is bringing his acoustic magic to Mayne St. Pub and Grub, 202 W. Mayne Street, Blue Grass. Get some grub, some pub, and some great music at 9 p.m. Friday! For more deets, hit this link.  Read More

Juan Carlos Mendoza has sung in some pretty prestigious places – including New York City’s Juilliard School, and the Lyric Opera and Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. But recording two recent recitals at the Muscatine Art Center may be among the most meaningful so far in the young tenor’s career. Mendoza, a Mexican-American 34-year-old, is a Muscatine native and last month he filmed two solo programs in the 1921 music room in the Muscatine mansion at 1314 Mulberry Ave., as a partnership with Moline-based Living Proof Exhibit (LPE). The first 20-minute program — accompanied by Jessica... Read More

QC Beats, an online audio streaming service, is taking submissions from local musicians the entire month of October. Thanks to the partnership of the Davenport Public Library, River Music Experience, and St. Ambrose University, QC Beats was created to showcase original music from Quad City musicians. Building a collection of featured local artists will expand the reach of our vibrant creative community by elevating musicians and connecting them with the larger community. QC Beats will also help support local musicians by paying them a $100 honorarium and feature artist biographies, upcoming show... Read More

QC Scene was on the scene yesterday for Record Store Day at Moline’s CoOp Records, to celebrate the release of Einstein’s Sister’s first record in almost two decades. Given that we’re living in the time of covid, and social distancing, the pictures of crowds weren’t anywhere near as packed as they were for Einstein’s last record release, three years ago, performing to celebrate the reissue of their excellent album “Learning Curves” on vinyl. So, we’ve decided to give you two pictorials — one from yesterday’s record release, and one... Read More

The next round of QC Beats, a local online audio streaming service, is taking submissions from Quad-Cities musicians the entire month of October. Thanks to the partnership of the Davenport Public Library, River Music Experience, and St. Ambrose University, QC Beats was created in early 2019 to showcase original music from Quad-City musicians. “Building a collection of featured local artists will expand the reach of our vibrant creative community by elevating musicians and connecting them with the larger community,” according to a Davenport library release. “QC Beats will also help support... Read More

Lewis Knudsen, a Rock Island-based singer/songwriter, had one of his original tunes debut last fall on the Hallmark Channel and he didn’t even know until a couple weeks ago. “The way it works with composition, there are so many libraries, so many songs. I have a good relationship with this library, but they don’t have the bandwidth to let every artist know,” he said Thursday of Gramoscope Music, which works with artists nationwide to place shows in TV and film. Knudsen had a two-year-old song, “I Need To Get Free,” as one of eight songs on the soundtrack for Hallmark’s “Love, Fall... Read More

Saturday in the Arts is a comprehensive, in-depth look at a personality, issue, or trend in the Quad-Cities arts and entertainment scene, running every Saturday morning on your site for fun, free, local entertainment and features, QuadCities.com.   Hannah Holman has a dream and it’s tantalizingly close to coming true. The passionate principal cellist for the Quad City Symphony Orchestra – of which she’s been a member since 2001 – has spent years planning and forming the Quad City Music Academy, which is now a registered nonprofit organization with an accomplished local board of directors... Read More

MACOMB, IL – A Western Illinois University music major has been named the only United States finalist in an international violin competition. Madalyn Pridemore, of Macomb, a sophomore violin performance major, is one of 21 finalists in “The Violin Doc” International Online Festival. She is one of four finalists in her category, advanced violin for musicians between the ages of 16-20. Within each category, the grand prize winner will be awarded an instrument based on their category. All participants receive an individual, online masterclass and attendance at an online workshop by... Read More

Fourteen years before Aug. 6 was burned into the world’s memory (with the 1945 U.S. atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, killing more than 70,000 people), that date marked another impactful death. Davenport native and jazz legend Leon Bismark (“Bix”) Beiderbecke died Aug. 6, 1931 at age 28, from alcohol abuse and lobar pneumonia in his Queens, N.Y., apartment. His mother and brother Burnie were on their way to New York but arrived too late. Bix’s body was returned to Davenport with services on Aug. 11, 1931 at Hill & Frederick’s Funeral Home, and burial at Oakdale Cemetery,... Read More