50 Ways to Fight the Flood

Some folks here want to build a wall. I don’t think that’s the answer – it just sends the problem to the next community and screws them that much more. But we can’t keep going the way we have been. It’s unsustainable. I’m talking about the flooding in downtown Davenport and Moline that’s inundated several…

Naked and Screaming: An @mnhanson Exhibition

I never meant for any of this to happen. My 30s were supposed to pass in a windowless cube where I’d earn a modest salary with health insurance and maybe even a dental plan. Art would be a memory. Years into my uneventful employment, my co-workers would be scandalized when I got loose at a…

New Ragged Refreshes QC Music Industry Hub

Ragged Records continues to expand its QC presence with a second store on the other side of the river in Rock Island. Ragged Records and Music, like the original, has its own identity. Unique and unpretentious, you’ll not only find thousands of albums – from current top artists to obscure electro-folk acts featuring knock-off Muppets –…

New Festival AlertSSSS. Plural.

…including benefits for local non-profits! I feel fortunate to have returned to the Quad City Area at a time when so many motivated, ambitious young people are building up and taking control of their community and culture. I already covered the brand new BirdFest over at Travel Iowa. This is a project from GoldBird Recordings,…

The Biggest Little Venue on Two Continents

Rio de Janeiro, London, Berlin, and Rock Island. All of these places have something in common: venues that consistently host international artists and cultural virtuosos. Rozz-Tox QC is the only intimate Midwestern venue (outside of a few spots in Chicago and Minneapolis) that consistently brings in acts from all over the world. Every continent is…

Dunk Me at the Lowland Block Party

Twice the size it was last year, the 2017 Lowland Block Party marks the second go-round for the event and the beginning of its partnership with the All Senses Festival. Last year was like watching an infant take its first steps; this year, we’re teaching the kid to swear (just kidding – it’s a family-friendly event)….