Hi. Hello. I am an artist. You are an artist. And this is a conversation. So, technically it’s still Artists in Conversation… right?… This week’s feature has a little different slant to it. If you’re like me, 2020 took a toll on many aspects of your life and if you’re like me, you were always looking for some inspiration or something to keep you going. One of the things that helped me through were some projects, I guess (Circa’s Music on the Marquee comes to mind), but mostly… books. I wanted to share my top 5 books for artists for a troubling time, or anytime really. My... Read More

“Hey, have you ever heard the one . . .” And that’s how it would usually begin. With a mischievous grin, a conspiratorial wink, and then that little aside, voiced down as if imparting some ribald secret, which, let’s face it, he usually was. That’s how Ed “Jonesy” Jones would greet me pretty much every time I walked in to Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse in downtown Rock Island. Jonesy shuffled off to that spotlight in the sky on Tuesday, at age 92. He’d been retired from Circa for a few years, since 2014, although he was sorely missed. Jonesy was always one of my favorite elements... Read More

Rick Davis has long been known as an improvisational master of many hats and voices, and in his latest one-man show, “ChaRICKatures,” he’ll get the chance to use as many of both as he can in a show that finds the veteran local comedian presenting a show that even Establishment owner Patrick Adamson says is “really performing without a net.” Davis will eschew the usual practice of improvisation with other partners and instead will partner up with the crowd, playing an interesting game of presenting a handful of celebrities he’ll be impersonating and then having the audience suggestions... Read More