Other Sources: Free live music shows

"I want to see Iowa bands, but I don't know any.  And I'm afraid if I go to a show, they'll all suck! Then I'll have wasted my money!"

I have two things to say to you!

One - Don't be such a wimp! Most shows featuring local bands are only five dollars!

And two - There are a lot of places to check out local bands live for FREE!!

As I am writing this in my hometown of Des Moines, our arts festival - which featured 3 stages of music filled mostly by Iowa artists - was two weekends ago. Our town's annual Jazz in July - featuring local and national acts - is just beginning. And this weekend is 80/35 - featuring four stages with local and regional artists.

And you know what else is in common about these three besides the fact that they feature Iowa artists and bands? They're FREE! (Yes, 80/35 is not free, but those two stages are!)

I did a cursory look around Iowa on the internet to see what free festivals featuring local artists I could find. I put the ones I found below, but I'm sure I could find plenty more if I wanted to make the time.

It seems many towns and wineries have a free music series, where they have a local band play once a week for FREE. Also, many towns have local bands play at their town's festivals, again for FREE!

And to help you, below is a list of all the free music festivals and music series in Iowa that I found in my not very deep search! I'm sure you could find more and one near you if you don't see anything nearby on this list! So get out there and discover a band you're dying to see again!

The festival and series with free music that feature Iowa artists and bands (that I could find):

Ames
Roosevelt Summer Sundays Concerts
http://www.summersundays.org/

Ames
Maximum Ames Music Festival - certain events
http://maximumames.com/
http://maximumames.com/events/

Anamosa

Thursday Night Music in Wapsiana Park

https://www.anamosachamber.org/events-festivals/thursday-nights-music-wapsiana-park

Cedar Falls
Cedar Basin Jazz Festival
http://www.cedarbasinjazz.org/

Cedar Falls
Live to 9
http://liveto9.com/

Cedar Falls
Sturgis Falls Celebration
http://www.sturgisfalls.org/
http://www.sturgisfalls.org/Entertainment

Cedar Rapids

AsianFest

http://www.asianfest.org/

http://www.asianfest.org/schedule.htm

Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids BBQ Roundup

http://mcgrathamphitheatre.com/bbq-roundup/

Cedar Rapids

Five Seasons Chamber Music Festival

http://www.fiveseasonschambermusic.com/

Cedar Rapids

Make Music Cedar Rapids

http://makemusicday.org/cedar-rapids/

Cedar Rapids

St Ludmila's Kolach Festival

http://www.stludmila.org/kolachfestival

Cedar Rapids

Three One Nine Music & Arts Festival

http://www.319fest.com/

Clear Lake
Lakeside DixieFest
http://showcase.netins.net/web/dixiefest/

Davenport
Celtic Festival and Highland Games
http://www.celtichighlandgames.org/
http://www.celtichighlandgames.org/pages/Performers

Davenport
Friday Live at 5
http://rivermusicexperience.org/Venues/Courtyard

Davenport
River Roots Live's Junior Jam Stage
http://www.riverrootslive.com/

Davenport
Street Fest
http://www.downtowndavenport.com/play/festivals/street-fest

Des Moines
80/35 Music Festival's Kum & Go Stage, Nationwide Stage, Generation Z Stage, and IPR Stage
http://2016.80-35.com/
http://2016.80-35.com/lineup.phtml

Des Moines
Des Moines Arts Festival
http://desmoinesartsfestival.org/
http://desmoinesartsfestival.org/livemusic/

Des Moines

Ingersoll Live

http://metroarts.org/event/ingersoll-live-presented-mediacom/

https://facebook.com/IngersollLive/#!/IngersollLive/

Des Moines
Jasper Winery Summer Concert Series
http://jasperwinery.com/events-list/

Des Moines
Jazz in July
http://metroarts.org/programs/jazz-in-july/

Des Moines:
Music in the Junction
http://www.valleyjunction.com/event/farmers-marketmusic-junction/
https://www.facebook.com/musicinthejunction/

Des Moines
World Food and Music Festival
http://worldfoodandmusicfestival.org/
http://worldfoodandmusicfestival.org/about/entertainers/

Des Moines
Zenith Chamber Music Festival
http://zenith.wordpress.drake.edu/
http://zenith.wordpress.drake.edu/2016-artists/

Dubuque
Music in the Gardens
http://dubuquearboretum.net/special-events/music-in-the-gardens/

Dyersville

Downtown Friday Nights

563-875-2311

Fort Dodge
Soldier Creek Winery's Sunday Vineyard Vibrations
http://dubuquearboretum.net/special-events/music-in-the-gardens/

Grinnell

Music in the Park

http://www.grinnellarts.org/music-in-the-park.html

Iowa City
Friday Night Concert Series
http://www.summerofthearts.org/festival-menu/concert-series/about.aspx
http://www.summerofthearts.org/festival-menu/concert-series/schedule.aspx

Iowa City

Iowa Arts Festival

http://www.summerofthearts.org/festival-menu/arts-festival/about.aspx

http://www.summerofthearts.org/festival-menu/arts-festival/schedule.aspx

Iowa City

Iowa City Jazz Festival

http://www.summerofthearts.org/festival-menu/jazz-festival/about.aspx

http://www.summerofthearts.org/festival-menu/jazz-festival/schedule.aspx

Iowa City

Iowa Soul Festival

http://www.summerofthearts.org/festival-menu/iowa-soul-festival/about.aspx

http://www.summerofthearts.org/festival-menu/iowa-soul-festival/schedule.aspx

Iowa City

Iowa Women's Music Festival

http://iwmf.weebly.com/

Iowa City
Mission Creek Festival - certain shows are free
http://www.missionfreak.com/

Iowa City

MusicIC

http://www.musicic.org/

http://www.musicic.org/schedule/

Marion
Marion by Moonlight
http://uptownmarion.com/upcoming-events/annual-festivals/

Marion
Uptown Getdown
http://uptownmarion.com/upcoming-events/annual-festivals/

North Liberty

North Liberty Blues & BBQ

http://northlibertyblues.org/

http://northlibertyblues.org/schedule/

Omaha
Rockbrook Village Friday Night Concerts
http://rockbrookvillage.com/event/friday-night-concert-series

Sioux City
Saturday in the Park's Abe Stage
http://saturdayinthepark.com/
http://saturdayinthepark.com/2nd-stage/

Solon

Beef Days

http://beefdays.com/

http://beefdays.com/2016-schedule-events/

Swisher

Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery's Bourbon & Blues Festival

http://www.crwine.com/

West Branch

Hoover's Hometown Days

http://www.hooverdays.org/

West Branch

Music on the Village Green

319-643-5888

Labels: festivals, free live music, free music, free music festivals, free music series, live music, music festivals, music series, Other Sources

Playlists: An Iowa 4th of July Playlist

Well, the article I was working on was taking longer and more research than I expected, so it's not going to be done until next week. So for this week, I cobbled together this playlist of Iowa artists singing about America. Happy Independence Day!

Iowans singing about Iowa:
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2015/01/episdoe-1-iowa-pride.html

Iowans rapping about Iowa:
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2016/06/playlists-iowa-pride-hip-hop.html


Labels: 4th of July, alternative music, alternative rock, America (subject), folk music, Fourth of July, hardcore, hip hop,Independence Day, novelty, playlists, punk, rap, Spotify, United States (subject)