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Editorial: Quality music downtown
Op-Ed · July 20, 2017


Two weeks remain to the Summer Music Series also known as Music on the Village Green, and we want to encourage music lovers who have yet to take part to come down and absorb the sounds of great music.


The free, two-month series offers nothing but talented singers and musicians from around Eastern Iowa, and the selection of bands is a credit to sponsors West Branch Community Development Group, the City of West Branch and Herbert Hoover National Historic Site.

Each one of the performance groups is well-established with years of experience with bookings at much larger venues than West Branch has to offer, so our city is quite fortunate to find a place in their schedule.

The Awful Purdies have been performing for a decade with their rock-a-billy, Motown and modern folk. The Liberty Band of Iowa (Marion) plays brass instruments made 130 to 160 years ago, dresses in costumes and tells stories tied to the Civil War.

Soul Storm from the Quad Cities shook Village Green with rock, pop, rhythm-and-blues and soul music. The Bernemann Brothers played a convincing version of a Dire Straits cover in their mix of rock, blues and “Americana” meant to fit “like a favorite pair of blue jeans.” One-man-show Daniel Haughey and his guitar led the audience in Civil War folk music like “Goober Peas,” and “Jimmy Crack Corn,” reminding some of childhood songs learned in school.

And, most recently, Sheltered Reality brought its percussion-heavy, youth-dominated interactive high-energy show with a positive message for impacting one’s community.

The two shows that remain this Thursday and next, both starting at 7 p.m., are the Feralings and Cedar County Cobras, both returning to the Village Green gazebo by popular demand.

The Feralings, with ties to the Awful Purdies, bring a string-heavy modern folk with southern influence style and a set that includes covers like, “What a Wonderful World.” The Cedar County Cobras wrap up the series with rock-a-billy, dancing bluegrass, “brand new old-time country” and “gravel rock-and-roll.”

Watching the audience, we see many people clapping or singing along, some dancing and others even joining the performers.

We encourage anyone who appreciates good music to take time to check out the quality voices and music that come to the downtown Summer Music Series at the Village Green.