The defining characteristic of the self-titled EP from the Quad Cities band the Effie Afton is a pillowy softness - from the singing to the playing to the layer of gauze over the whole affair. Its four songs over 17 minutes are on the somnambulant side, even on the up-tempo "Great Divide" and the standout closing track, "Say Goodbye." But in a sly trick, this vibe masks a striking evolution over the course of the EP.

With its adventurous selection of 20th and 21st Century American music along with a broader sampling from the standard repertoire, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's upcoming season represents a sharp contrast from its most recent one. Music Director and Conductor Mark Russell Smith said in a phone interview that the challenge was "finding the right balance between the familiar and unfamiliar."

He has succeeded in both selection and placement. The award-winning contemporary American music has been sprinkled among stalwart European masters, resulting in imaginatively diverse, bold programming spanning 250 years in the six Masterworks concerts.

This year, the orchestra will present works by American composers in four of the six programs and feature two world premieres of music commissioned by the Quad City Symphony organization. "This is what I like in a season," Smith explained. "Giving composers a forum for their work" and providing a "variety, and that's what the audience likes."

On paper, the Wallflowers' 2012 album Glad All Over has the whiff of trying to recapture past glories.

It was the band's first album of new material in seven years, a hiatus that included a rote best-of compilation, a couple tours, and two solo albums by frontman/songwriter Jakob Dylan.

But talking to Dylan last week - and, more importantly, listening to the album - it's clear that the band and its leader aren't crassly trying to capitalize on fondness for the quadruple-platinum Bringing Down the Horse (and its chart-topping single, "One Headlight") from 1996. As the All Music Guide correctly summarized, with Glad All Over the Wallflowers "now feel the freedom to mess around, and they've come up with one of their loosest, liveliest records that not-so-coincidentally is one of their best."

So the long absence of the Wallflowers - headlining River Roots Live on August 17 - can be explained by Dylan wanting the band to survive and thrive. He obviously views it as his band - less in the sense of belonging to him than being his primary musical outlet.

The 2013 River Roots Live festival will be held in conjunction with the Rib Festival on Friday, August 16, and Saturday, August 17, in Davenport's LeClaire Park. Rib vendors will serve food starting at 11 a.m. Admission is free for children 10 and under, free for everybody before 5 p.m., and $5 after 5 p.m. For more information, visit RiverRootsLive.com.

You'll find the music schedule below, along with links to new and old River Cities' Reader interviews with performers.