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Letter to the editor: Rob Sand and Josh Turek are dead wrong about trans...
Opponents of the state law banning trans girls and women from sports teams in Iowa schools protest on the UI Pentacrest, March 11, 2022. — Jason Smith/Little Village By Kent Williams, Iowa City...
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Review: Stop/Time Festival unfurled an array of exuberant, vulnerable and...
Evicshen performs at Gabe’s during Hancher Auditorium’s Stop/Time Festival on April 4, 2026. — Jason Smith/Hancher Auditorium On April 3 and 4, Hancher Auditorium held its inaugural Stop/Time...
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Andre Perry hopes Stop/Time celebrates the ‘spirit of innovation’ Iowa City...
From left: Pieta Brown (Zak Neumann/Little Village); Jeffrey Lewis, Duncan Cruickshank, via the artist; Ambrose Akinmusire, via the artist; Evicshen Lorenz Van Berckelaer, via the artist; Collage by...
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After four decades, the Minnesota Orchestra makes a triumphant return to...
Minnesota Orchestra performing at Hancher Auditorium. — Photo by Jeremy Mims courtesy of Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra, under new Music Director Thomas Søndergård, performed at Hancher...
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Review: Alto and bass flutes converse at a masterful recital by Rose Bishop...
Rose Bishop and Heather Neuenschwander performing at the James Theater — courtesy of the artists Rose Bishop and Heather Neuenschwander, two classical flutists who recently released the duo album...
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Review: ‘Cello goblin’ Rushadicus and Iowa City’s Weapon X brought an...
Rushadicus performing at Public Space One. — Kent Williams/Little Village The music that is popular, the artists that are famous and the commercial music industry that promotes them exist in a...
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Review: Orchestra Iowa conjures an anti-fascist classic in masterful...
Orchestra Iowa Principal Pianist Miko Kominami performs. — photo via Orchestra Iowa on FacebookOrchestra Iowa (previously the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra) presented their next-to-last concert of...
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Review: The Sam Ross Quartet and Michael Sarian channel Miles Davis and early...
The Sam Ross Quartet performs at the PS1 Close House on May 9, 2025. — Kent Williams/Little VillageThis is the first in hopefully many reviews I will write in the near future covering local, live...
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Review: Iowa musicians were weird, angry and confident as ever on Day 3 of...
Supersonic Piss at Mission Creek Festival 2025. — photo by Cat DooleySaturday, April 5 was a packed final day of Mission Creek. As the dust settles on the 2025 fest, let’s take a look back at some of...
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Review: From rapt silence to cathartic screams, Mission Creek’s Day 2...
Mannequin Pussy headlines Mission Creek Fest 2025. — Dawn Frary/Little VillageNight two of Mission Creek, in contrast with the first night’s containment at Hancher, encompassed many venues around the...
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Review: Mission Creek 2025 kicks off with the glorious Kim Gordon, Rachel...
Kim Gordon — photo courtesy of Kembrew McleodOpening night of Mission Creek! At Hancher! My last Mission Creek was 2019, officially the Before Times of Iowa City public culture. Venues have closed, or...
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Album Review: Ion Alexakis — ‘Broken Glass’ EP
It’s crazy to think that hip hop is 50 years old. It’s global, ubiquitous. Including in Iowa. Ion Alexakis — though much younger than hip hop — has been active musically in Iowa City for years, working...
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James Tutson is a fool for soul music
James Tutson rehearses with Tyler Carrington on drums and Erik Lehmann on keys. — Kate Doolittle/Little Village James Tutson “Fool for You” album release show For James Tutson, music is a lifelong...
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Album Review: Wax Cannon — ‘Teeth’
TEETH by Wax CannonIn Eliza Gilkyson’s “Solitary Singer,” she croons, “He sings his best when nobody’s listening.” Wax Cannon reminds me of that song. A housepainter (David Murray) and a hospital...
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Letter to the editor: Contemplating the life of Joseph Dobrian
The author photo of Joseph Dobrian, featured on the cover of his 2021 book ‘I Didn’t Mean to Be Kind: Commentary on Religion, Politics, and Other Taboo Topics.’ — photo by Dawn Frary, via...
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The importance of being Colleen Ernst
Ernst’s husband Bill Radl holds up an epitaph on the back of her work. — Danforth Johnson/Little VillageColleen Ernst did not blend in, even in 1980s Iowa City. She was imposingly tall, with brightly...
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Bo Ramsey, Joe and Vicki Price set to make the Ideal Theater feel like the...
Joe & Vicki Price Live @ OctopusYoung musicians tend to dominate the press and public consciousness. The talent and the energy of youth will always be compelling, but if we’re talking about music...
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Album Review: Anthony Worden and the Illiterati — ‘Plain Angels’
Plain Angels by Anthony Worden Anthony Worden makes music that an archivist of 20th century music would make. His early albums were heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground. Since then, he’s...
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Album Review: Swampland Jewels — ‘Swampland Jewels’
The Swampland Jewels by The Swampland Jewels Swampland Jewels, led by Iowa City music veteran Nate Basinger, is a band that’s found its niche, combining music from Louisiana’s musical tradition with a...
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Album Review: William Elliott Whitmore —‘Silently, The Mind Breaks’
If you’ll permit a strained simile, Will Whitmore is like Iowa’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark. He’s never been anything short of ridiculously excellent, and he makes it look — or sound — easy. I’ve...
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