Roots in music

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By Dawn Feddersen | Saturday, September 23, 2006 12:18 AM CDT | () comments

Photos by John Schultz/QUAD-CITY TIMES Doing a little square dancing to the music of the Nadas are Evan Bozarth, center, from Austin, Texas, and Sarah Vannatter from Houston during the opening night of the River Roots Live concert at LeClaire Park, Davenport. Music goes all day today starting at 11:30 a.m. and ending with The Black Crowes, who will play from 10 p.m. to midnight.

Musician Junior Brown plays his guit-steel instrument, a combination of an electric guitar and a lap steel guitar, on the main stage Friday night at River Roots Live.

The River Music Experience is no stranger to shaking the rafters in its historic downtown Davenport location. But once a year it needs a park, thousands of people and an entire river to soak up the sounds.

The second River Roots Live festival at LeClaire Park in Davenport continues today, offering up bands on two stages.

According to Lon Bozarth, president of the River Music Experience, the riverfront location is about more than just space.

“It’s part of our theme of educating and illuminating about how music spread through the whole U.S. The Mississippi River was a primary way that music was spread in the U.S.,” Bozarth said.

The River Music Experience is also hoping the event will attract a younger audience than other music festivals in the Quad-Cities.

“The Quad-Cities has a lot of music going on. Jazz Fest, Blues Fest, Bix Fest, but all of those typically attract an older audience. We thought the Quad-Cities needed something for a younger audience,” he said.

Kristen Ellis, of Nashville, Tenn., was in the Quad-Cities this weekend with her musician boyfriend visiting family and friends.

“We didn’t really know about this until we got here. We thought we’d come and check out some cajun music,” said Ellis, who spends a lot of her weekends watching live music in Nashville.

The headline act at the event is The Black Crowes, who will play today from 10 p.m. to midnight.

“They’re going to do two hours straight of melt-your-face-off music,” said Bozarth.

For those whose faces are left intact, there’s more to see than the bands. Living Lands and Waters, a local river conservation group, has parked its River Cleanup tugboat alongside the event.

A sight to see, it is loaded with piles of discarded junk the group has collected from the Mississippi River this year. Chad Pregracke, the group’s founder, thinks the boat sends a powerful message.

“Barges are typically a symbol of the neglect and mistreatment the river has experienced in the past. I think it makes a statement that we’ve taken this barge and turned it into a floating recycling center,” Pregracke said.

Proceeds from the event go to help support the River Music Experience, as well as Living Lands and Waters.

The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.