With the ensemble's ranks presently including two retirees from the University of Iowa jazz program and a current Augustana instructor of Physics, Iowa City's popular rock group the Beaker Brothers Band will perform in Common Chord's Live at Five series, the group's August 18 Davenport concert sponsored by QC Foot & Ankle Associates with Common Chord's Front Row members, Encore Society, annual donors, and sponsors also making the event possible.

Currently touring in support of his recording Set in Stone, the artist's first original album release in 13 years, country, blues, gospel, and Southern-rock icon Travis Tritt headlines an August 24 concert event at Davenport's Adler Theatre, the two-time Grammy winner's chart-topping smashes including “Help Me Hold On,” “Anymore,” Can I Trust You with My Heart,” “Foolish Pride,” and “Best of Intentions.”

With this year's weekend event held in conjunction with Rock Island's annual Family Fun Day and the area-wide Alternating Currents Festival, Polyrhythms will collaborate with the MLK Center, Rock Island Parks & Recreation, and the Rock Island County NAACP for the ninth-annual Bill Bell Jazz & Heritage Festival, an August 18 through 20 celebration of cultural heritage in the Quad Cities named after the late musician, educator, and East Moline native lovingly known as “The Jazz Professor.”

Boasting a potent mix of old-school blues traditions and modern-day flair, singer/songwriter and guitarist Kara Grainger performs in the Summer Concert Series at Rock Island's Schwiebert Riverfront Park on August 24, with the Mississippi Valley Blues Society co-presenting a night with this native Australian whose vocals, according to Rock & Blues Muse, "packed a punch," and who "played monster guitar solos that had the crowd whooping and clapping."