Once, the Rock Island Armory hosted the biggest shows in town. The bunker-like place on the Mississippi River could hold ice shows, circuses — and even Gen. Dwight Eisenhower.

Scots folk veterans still at the top of their game Just to set some context for folks who see me as some kind of heavy metal fiend, many of my primary school years saw me living with my elderly Great Uncle George and Great Aunt Euphemia, a delightful couple who were quite happy to let a boisterous wee boy into their home. Now the point of this childhood history is that my Great Uncle George ...

Not just another Brooklyn doo-wop group -- these guys knew how to adapt and survive. The 1950s were volatile years in pop music (although the same could be said of most decades). Everything seemed to be in transition, with early rock and roll evolving from RB, rockabilly, and other influences, and beginning to find an identity of its own. By the end of the decade a lot of popular acts began to ...

''It's all about attitude. It's a level of confidence, self-assuredness, control, and a little bit of danger.'' Lucie Idlout calls her new album Swagger, but does she have it? Sure she does: This Inuit rocker, she's as tough as a Courtney Love-cooked steak. When Idlout hits the stage, she does so as the unshrinking front of an all-male, ruggedly capable band. Musically, as she demonstrates on ...

Because it’s Friday AGAIN. And because traditions are important . In which I cover the good stuff and the hard stuff in my week, trying for the non-preachy, non-annoying side of self-reflection. And you get to join in if you feel like it. My gentleman friend has warned me — probably correctly — that sooner or later people may get sick and tired of me bitching about carpal tunnel and the whole healing process thing. And because he’s probably right, this week I’m going to do my best to fi