Quadsville

Show to see - SupernauT, voted the Midwest's best rock cover band in USA Today, will be at Uptown Neighborhood Bar and Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr., Bettendorf, to celebrate the club's second anniversary.

The band will take the stage for the free show at 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/supernuatband or www.uptownbargrill.com.

For teens - The Davenport Public Library will celebrate Banned Books Week with an open mic night.

Teens are invited to recite original poetry, rap, monologue or perform a song. The event is at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, Fairmount Branch Library, 3000 N. Fairmount St., Davenport. For more information, visit www.davenportlibrary.com or call Christie Vogt at (563) 326-7832.

For the family - Families can listen to three scary stories on the lawn of the Colonel Davenport House on Arsenal Island and take a tour of the historic building.

Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for children or $10 per family. Lawn chairs and blankets are encouraged. The tours begin at 5:45 p.m. with the story time at 7 p.m.

For more information, call (309) 786-7336 or visit www.davenporthouse.org.

He said what? -Singer/songwriter Gary Jules on how his failures dwarf his successes:

"A lot of the songs you write you think, 'Wow, that's the best song I ever wrote.' And it's not all the time that everybody else things that, too. I sort of got used to clipping the wings of my expectations a little bit so as not to set myself up to be disappointed."

In the past two weeks, I've talked with three unsigned acts that passed through or are headed to the Q-C on a touring circuit.

Without label backing, getting their songs on the radio is close to impossible, but all have reached widespread audiences through licensing deals on television programs.

Gary Jules, who will play at Huckleberry's Pizza Parlor this Sunday, made the Billboard Top 100 chart after his song "Falling Awake" was featured on "Grey's Anatomy." When the folks at Billboard figured out he accomplished the feat without any radio airplay, a label, manager or publicist, Jules said they just started laughing.

"Two days later a writer for Billboard called back and did a whole article about it because it was sort of like a new door had opened," Jules said. "The idea that you could have a song on a television show and that people who watched that television show could immediately go and download that song and that song could subsequently end up on a more traditional record-buying list was amazing to them."

Five Times August's Brad Skistimas tours colleges almost exclusively, partly because he likes not having to compete with the bar atmosphere for attention, but mostly because he has secured multiple licensing deals with college-friendly shows such as MTV's "Laguna Beach" and "Real World." Skistimas has had so much success with licensing deals, that he became the first unsigned artist to sell his CD at Wal-Mart.

"For an artist like me, it's a great way around radio because a lot of artists on my level can't really get on the radio anymore because it's so corrupt and controlled," said Skistimas, who has tried in vain to schmooze his way onto the radio by performing at radio stations and buying the crew lunch. "Getting exposure on TV shows is really a great benefit to how we do things."

Pictures of Then also has had success with licensing agreements and just signed a new one to have their songs featured in upcoming shows on MTV. For them, the money that comes in from the agreements helps keep them afloat while on tour.

"Any licensing opportunity obviously comes with a payoff, and in terms of the payoff, it affords us the opportunity to put gas in the van or to do some promotion for the shows or for the record," said Tim Greenwood, of Pictures of Then, who added that licensing is also about adaptation. "Music is so accessible nowadays that really regardless of how good the music is, the band is not really ultimately going to make it unless they're capable of kind of adapting to the situation that the Internet revolution has brought about.

"So many bands are much more accessible than they ever were and there's so much music going on in the world, that the Internet has really kind of made all the old rules not apply."

But for all the good licensing deals have brought unsigned, up-and-coming acts, Jules says the practice really peaked about two years ago when "Falling Awake" boosted him onto the Billboard charts. Jules released his first record on a traditional record label in 1998, and since then has been putting out music on his own by utilizing the Internet.

"I think I've got it down in that I've finally figured out that things are constantly changing," Jules said. "In the absence of the traditional music industry, everybody sort of wants to know what's going to take the place of that industry and for a while people thought it was going to be licensing, when the truth is, is that nothing is going to take the place that the old industry left. Licensing is going to be licensing, and it's not going to be the be-all-end-all."

ComedySportz Quad-Cities is holding auditions for improvisers to join their ranks.

ComedySportz is an improvisational theater where two teams of actors compete for laughs by acting out scenarios created by the audience. The family-friendly show has been running since 1990.

Applicants must be at least 16 years old. Headshots and resumes are not required, but will be accepted. Auditions will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5. There is no cost to audition, but an improv workshop will be held prior to auditions at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4. Workshop admission is $10 and both events will be held at ComedySportz, 1818 3rd Ave., Rock Island.

For more information visit www.comedysportzqc.com or call (309) 798-7526.

Show to see - Indie rockers The Life and Times will perform at the Redstone Room in Davenport next week. The Life and Times frontman Allen Epley was also a member Shiner.

The show begins at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17. Cover is $10. Quad-City area band Head Held High will open the show.

For more information, visit www.redstoneroom.com or www.thelifeandtimes.com.

For the family - Families can watch "Hotel for Dogs" outdoors, play in bounce houses, scale a climbing wall, and enjoy face painting and live music at Movie in the Meadow.

The event is free and sponsored by North Ridge Community Church in Eldridge, Iowa. Activities begin at 5 p.m., with the movie starting after dusk.

For more information, visit www.northridgecc.com or call (563) 285-7819.

Check it out - The Cool Beanz Coffee House is new to Rock Island and will host a Fall Ball featuring the music of Double B, The Beat Boxcar Children, Jacob Larson and Smotz.

The all-ages show will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12. Cover is $5. Cool Beanz is at 1325 30th St., Rock Island.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/truelovedies.

He said what? - Brad Skistimas of Five Times August on his upcoming release, "Life As a Song," which features new recordings of old songs.

"I'm a lot more developed as a performer and singer and guitar player, and I wanted to have a chance to sing them (the old songs) with more passion and more thought and play them tighter on the guitar. Just as a whole, it's a lot more polished."

I don't have the pain tolerance to be a derby girl. I thought I would be able to last through an entire two-hour Quad-City Rollers practice, but that was before I discovered a fall to the tailbone can knock the wind out of you.

I'm told that falling on one's rear is normal for beginning skaters, and I was actually doing quite well before I lost my balance, flailed my arms and fell backward, even though I had been told several times to fall forward onto the protective gear.

The Quad-City Rollers are much more impressive skaters than myself. They whip about the track, knocking each other around, falling the correct way and then getting right back up to rejoin the pack.

The opening bout of their season, Saturday, Sept. 12, against the Cedar Rapids Roller Girls, is bound to be one entertaining and intense event. It will begin at 7 p.m. at the RiverCenter, 136 E. 3rd St., Davenport. Tickets are $9 in advance and $12 at the door. I'll stop writing now and direct you to a video of the ladies practicing, which includes footage of my graceful self hitting the surface.

Your list of must-see shows in the Quad-Cities in September.

The Brat Pack

There's nothing innovative going on here, but if you'd like to relive the sounds and sights of the '80s, the Brat Pack will deliver in their all-ages outdoor show at RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave., Rock Island.

The show starts at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 4. Cover is $6 for 21 years and older, $8 for those underage.

Cotton Jones, with Frontier Ruckus

The intimate Huckleberry's Pizza Parlor will provide an appropriate space for Cotton Jones, whose melancholy, soulful tunes tend to both calm and sadden. You can check out Daytrotter.com's exclusive recordings of Cotton Jones here.

Bluegrass band Frontier Ruckus opens the show with their lyrical, storytelling music. Learn more about them by reading the Quad-City Times Go&Do preview article here.

The all-ages show begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9. Cover is $5 at Huckleberry's, 223 18th St., Rock Island.

Pronto, with Pictures of Then and Jim the Mule

Pronto is the side project of WILCO's Mikael Jorgensen. Their album "The Cheetah" is due out Tuesday, Sept. 8, from Contraphonic Records. This is a great chance to see Jorgensen in a 300-seat setting at RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave., Rock Island.

Pictures of Then, which has had tracks from its debut album, "Crushed by Lights," appear on MTV's "The Real World" and "The Hills," will open along with local group Jim the Mule.

The show starts at 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18. Cover is $8.

Electric Junkyard Gamelan

Electric Junkyard Gamelan is returning to the Quad-Cities to promote its newest album, "Life On Marz." Band leader Terry Dame makes the band's instruments from everyday household items, but don't confuse the group with a noise band.

Electric Junkyard Gamelan's songs come complete with melodies and harmonies that are loosely based on Indonesian Gamelan music, with elements of funk and pop mixed in. Electric Junkyard Gamelan is sure to be a treat for the eyes and the ears.

The show starts at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at Mojo's Cafe, 129 N. Main St., Davenport. Admission is free.

Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, with The Uniphonics

RIBCO finishes a weekend of big names with Karl Denson's Tiny Universe. The band's namesake is the former saxophone player for Lenny Kravitz. For the Tiny Universe, Denson provides vocals, tenor saxophone, alto sax and flute.

Iowa City's fast-talking jazz, hip-hop and rap combo, The Uniphonics, will likely set the stage for an exciting evening.

The show starts at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, at RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave., Rock Island. Cover is on the pricey side at $20 for the all-ages outdoor show.

Family Groove Company, with Land of Atlantis

The Family Groove Company has performed at the Redstone Room for the past two New Year's Eve celebrations. At those shows, they mostly performed covers or classic songs from throughout the decades for a musical version of "Rock Star Celebrity Death Match."

But the death match will be left behind at their September performance and replaced with their originals based in rock 'n' roll while heavily influenced by jazz.

Doors open 8 p.m., with the show beginning at 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, in the Redstone Room, 129 N. Main St., Davenport. Cover is $8 in advance and $10 at the door.

Gary Jules with Becca Rice

Part of Gary Jules' claim to fame is appearing on two Billboard top-100 charts in January 2007 despite never receiving commercial radio airplay. His chart position stemmed from iTunes downloads after his song "Falling Awake" was featured on the "Grey's Anatomy" TV series. Jules also was featured on the "Donnie Darko" soundtrack and is on tour with Joshua Radin.

The Daytrotter Presents all-ages show starts at 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, at Huckleberry's Pizza Parlor, 223 18th St., Rock Island. Cover is $5.

Promise of the Real

The Promise of the Real features Lukas Nelson, son of Willie Nelson, on guitar. But the Promise of Real is not Nelson's father's music. The band pulls its influences from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Neil Young.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. with the show at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Redstone Room, 129 N. Main St., Davenport. Cover is $15 and the Redstone Room encourages the purchase of tickets in advance.

Show to see

The '80s are back at RIBCO as the Brat Pack takes the outdoor stage on Friday, Sept. 4. The retro glam band will perform the hits of the decade in full costume during an all-ages show.

Cover is $6 for adults and $8 for those 20 years and younger. The show begins at 8 p.m. on the plaza, 1815 2nd Ave., Rock Island. In case of inclement weather, the show will be moved indoors for a 21-and-older crowd only with an $8 cover charge.

For more information, visit www.thebratpack.com.

For teens

Teenage rockers FireSale will perform at Mojo's Cafe in the River Music Experience, 129 N. Main St., Davenport. The teens are working on a new album with a reggae sound.

The show is free and begins at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4. For more information, visit www.rivermusicexperience.org or www.myspace.com/firesalerocks.

For the family

The Backwater Gamblers will perform their final water skiing show of the summer at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 7. The award-winning team performs tricks and jumps on the Rock River at 44th Street, Rock Island. Admission to the show is free, but donations are accepted.

For more information, visit www.backwatergamblers.com.

He said what?

Alan Sweet of Mental Notes, on how the band's individual nature helps sharpen the music:

"We have a lot of fun just bantering and going back and forth, having a good time, play-fighting just to kind of get that tension of us three known that we're all our own person and we do our own music."

For more on Mental Notes, click here.