First off, a mea culpa. Last week, we congratulated Chad Elliott on winning the Iowa Blues Challenge and advancing to the national competition in Memphis this January. But Elliott didn’t do it all on his own, and congratulations need to be given to his partner on stage, Bonita Crowe. The

We’ve been nothing short of foolish for not mentioning it before now, but congratulations are due to central Iowa’s own musician/artist/renaissance man Chad Elliott for being the 2013 Iowa Blues Challenge Champion. Elliott will move on from here to Memphis this January to compete in the International Blues Competition. Give

The Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC) has announced the date and speaker lineup for its “Music University” event this fall. The event will be held on Oct. 19 at the Harmon Fine Arts Center of Drake University from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Guest speakers include (among others) Imagine Dragons

Hey, did you know there’s a fair in town this week? True story. And while, statistically speaking, every person in the state will head through the Iowa State Fair’s turnstiles at least once in the next 11 days, there is still plenty of non-fair related things happening to keep you

The Des Moines Music Coalition is accepting band submissions for this year’s Little BIG Fest until Monday, Aug 5. This year’s festival will take place in the East Village on Nov. 15 and will be headlined by New Orleans brass ensemble, The Soul Rebels Brass Band. Any local bands interested

Vaudeville Mews will be home to the inaugural “Shoot the Chutes,” presented by PBR. Scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 24, the event will feature 13 bands on two stages, as acts occupy the stage inside Mews as well as the outdoor stage at the PBR bar between Mews and Royal Mile.

Maximum Ames Records has announced the lineup for this year’s Maximum Ames Music Fest, taking place Sept. 26-29. Headliners for the event include seminal English rockers The Zombies, alt-punk groundbreakers The Meat Puppets, Murder By Death, The Hood Internet and Iowa music legends Greg Brown and Bo Ramsey. For more

We are knee deep in festival season here in the capital city. 80/35 just put a bow on its sixth installment, and now we’re just two weeks away from Rock Cornstalk, taking place at Blank Park Zoo Field. Line-up includes Adam Gontier, Thousand Foot Krutch, (HED)PE, Taproot, Smile Empty Soul,

The Civic Music Association has announced three new board members for the 2013-14 season. Coming on board for new three-year terms are Joel Fortney, Mary Kay Tamasi, Richard Hodges, Sheila Navis and Eric Ferring. The new board members were sworn in at the Civic Music Association Annual Meeting held on