By late summer 2026, concertgoers at Common Chord’s Redstone Room will enter a reworked venue on the ground floor in the historic Redstone Building at 2nd and Main streets, Davenport.
The 22-year-old nonprofit organization (formerly River Music Experience) is working to move into a more accessible and visible first-floor location (last home to The Garrison restaurant) for the popular Redstone Room and the organization offices.
Common Chord will remain in the 1892 Redstone Building, moving from the 15,720-square-foot, second-floor space – which will be vacated and put up for sale.
The newly renovated first-floor space (to be bought as part of its “Music on Main” campaign) over the years has been home to several restaurants; the high-end Garrison operated there from October 2023 to March 2025.
“This move marks a bold step into Common Chord’s future, freeing resources to continue the rapid expansion of our education and community programs,” said Tyson Danner, executive director of Common Chord, who noted Wednesday the group has explored moving out of its second floor for more than three years.
It owns a total of 40,000 square feet (including the lower level, which used to house the Bix Museum, now is just for storage), and Estes Construction owns the building’s top two floors.
“We felt ready. We always knew the building was too big and it was too expensive,” Danner said. “We've got everything else sorted out. Let's solve the problem, this missing piece. So we were doing a lot of that work, financial analysis. We were scoping out other properties in Rock Island and Moline.”
“We were looking everywhere, and then this restaurant closed and they listed the space and it was like a no-brainer,” he said, adding Common Chord owns the adjacent former café space (last occupied by The Lemonade Stand restaurant), which also is for sale. “All the pieces just popped right into place. And to be able to move into the right size of space without leaving your own building, like what a perfect solution. And then we've got the summer series out in the courtyard.”
Community Stage) is available for sale.
Common Chord hosts the free Live @ Five Summer Concert Series next to the building, which runs June through August.
The current Redstone Room (250-seat capacity) will have its last show Aug. 12, 2026 and the new concert venue on the first floor (a little larger and not as narrow, about 15% more seating capacity) will open Aug. 20, 2026.
“But we didn't want to leave Davenport and we found the perfect solution where we don't have to,” Danner said.
Common Chord offices will be on the first floor, including in the former Garrison speakeasy space. The glass windows on the building east side will be replaced by glass louvered doors, to allow easy access in and out, he noted.
“It is bigger, but it feels bigger because of the windows,” Danner said. “You've got more breathing room in this space and the ceilings are two feet higher. So that makes a big difference with the way we hang the PA and everything too.”
One advantage of the old restaurant space is the existing bar will be retained for the Redstone Room.
“Certain shows, some kind of shows, people like to stand in front of the stage and then you're sitting at a table behind a bunch of standing people,” Danner said. “We'll have a section that's open for dance floor kind of standing area. And then most of the rest would be tables and we'd still have the short tables and then the tall tables in back.”
Tuesday, April 14 marked the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Redstone Room as part of the River Music Experience, originally opened as a museum of American roots music. The two-floor facility created for RME, now known as Common Chord, is a large space intended for displaying exhibits.
Since then, the organization redefined their mission as a community music organization. A new, right-sized and right-cost facility at ground level in the heart of downtown Davenport will strengthen the organization’s reach, accessibility, and impact, a Common Chord release says.
“Right now, you can walk around, you can walk along this street on a Friday night at 9 o' clock and have no idea what's going on upstairs,” Danner said Wednesday of the Redstone Room, which doesn’t have any exterior lit sign. “And versus now, you walk along here, Friday at 9 o', clock, you're going to look in the window, there's going to be a band and check 200 people having a great time.
“It makes all the difference for our awareness to the public, let alone people who just want to walk in and check it out and actually encounter the space,” he said of the plan, which may include a vinyl outdoor Redstone Room sign. “We talk all the time about accessibility in our programs, but we're in a space that like, is a barrier, a direct wall in the way of real accessibility. Not just physical accessibility, dealing with elevators and stairs, but just ease of access of someone just visiting or downtown for the weekend and oh, I'm gonna go check that out. That looks cool.”
"We owe our success to our community’s support,” said board president Sue Ramsett. “After years of planning, now is the time for us to move forward with momentum, and we could not be more excited to bring this new resource to our downtown community.”
As the Quad Cities’ community music organization, Common Chord presents concerts by local and touring artists in the Redstone Room and in partnership with community sites.
The youth educational and enrichment programs provide access to musical experiences through local school districts and community partners.
These programs serve more than 55,000 community members through more than 600 concerts and educational programs each year.
Common Chord’s educational programs for K-12 students in Scott and Rock Island counties include InTune Music Mentoring, the Jerry Brown Acoustic Music Clubs for youth and adults with disabilities, instrument loans to schools and students, RiverCurrents field trips for local fifth-grade students, and week-long rock and blues camps for teens.
The nonprofit has six full-time staff and several part-time, including four InTune mentors, Danner said.
Fundraising in two phases
The $3.2-million “Music on Main” campaign (for the larger Redstone Room) has two phases: the first to support the facility move within the Redstone Building ($2.2 million) and the second to build a new $1-million endowment to ensure future sustainable growth.
“It's like a retirement fund, where you're drawing at a rate that preserves the principal and lets it grow,” Danner said of an endowment. “So you might be taking 4 or 5% a year or something. Hopefully, you're taking a little less than it earned in the year. So it's growing a little bit. But you're also funding programs. A million dollars in endowment funds adds 40 or 50 thousand to our revenue for each year of programs. If we can go higher, great.
“That's just what we intend to fundraise. So we can and manage to sell the second floor to an interested party. The proceeds from that would also be in our endowment,” he said. “But that's the next step. We've got to get through the capital part first. $2.2 million is more than this organization has ever raised.”
The campaign really started this past November, “and we've got sizable amounts coming, committed with givers,” Danner said.
“So now that it's announced, we'll be having a lot more conversations with prospects and donors to do the rest of the 2.2. But we've raised enough that the board was confident to go ahead and start the project…We've got a substantial amount raised and really good feedback from the conversations we've had.”
Common Chord had a major fundraiser April 11 at Redstone Room, the 3rd-annual Battle of the Businesses, a rock band contest among non-professional musicians who work at local employers.
“The first year we raised $8,000. Last year we raised 22, and this year we raised 57,” Danner said, noting the winners were a band from Lopiez Pizza.
“Most of the companies buy tables for their employees and friends to come to, and then the night of, we take pledges,” he said. “The winning band is whoever in the inspired the most pledges, which this year was Lopiez, their first year participating, and they won. But it's a fun, a friendly competition. Everybody has a good time. We really have the place packed, so we need the extra space to do it down here next year.”
The new fundraising is being led by Common Chord’s new development director, Margot Day, who started Feb. 4 in the new full-time position (they’ve had part-time development people in the past).
“We are thrilled to have someone with Margot’s nonprofit arts experience and community connections join our team,” Danner said. “As we continue to expand our reach and prepare for our next phase of growth, Margot’s leadership will prove invaluable.”
“Having someone with Margot’s nonprofit experience and in that full-time role is already, I mean, it's only been a couple months and it's already making a huge difference,” he added.
Day said about her new role, “I am excited to join the dedicated and talented team at Common Chord. I was drawn to the organization’s commitment to music education for area students. I look forward to building on this momentum and connecting with community members to share our story and our impacts through music.”
Day came to Common Chord after more than a decade of serving as the performing arts director at Quad City Arts in charge of the nationally recognized Visiting Artist Series (a position later eliminated after federal funding cuts to Quad City Arts). Under her leadership, the series — which continues on a smaller level — provided services to more than a dozen public and private school districts in eastern Iowa and western Illinois through 1,455 engagements by 112 performing artists and ensembles.
Her work in grant writing at the national, regional, and local level, plus her efforts in resource development, fostered the program’s growth and impact.
She also led a pilot professional development program to support Quad City area musicians and theater artists.
Events, such as venue rentals, concerts, and educational programs, will continue as scheduled in Common Chord’s second-floor location until renovations of the first-floor space are complete.
Managing the Bix Society as well
Since last fall, Common Chord also has taken the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Society under its large wing. That includes the annual Bix Jazz Festival, which will be July 30-Aug. 1, 2026 at Rhythm City Casino Event Center, Davenport.
Through the establishment of a committee known as the Bix Society Advisory Board, the former board members of the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society nonprofit have joined with Common Chord to continue these successful programs – and build them to be even stronger.
“On top of everything else we're doing, we also took on a new festival,” Danner said Wednesday, noting the Bix Museum (planning to open a new facility across 2nd Street) is a separate nonprofit. “But that's been really fun, I have to say, because it's such an iconic part of our music history locally. And that festival has been through a life cycle.
“At one time it was in LeClaire Park and 7,000 people were packed into LeClaire park on Bix race weekend,” he said. “Now it's up at the Rhythm City Casino. It's much smaller than it used to be. I think it's a good team up to make sure it's got another 55 years in it. So we're already excited. You know, we've got a committee, the former board members of The Bix Society, we created an advisory committee within our organizational structure, and then one of the members of that committee holds a board seat on our board of directors.
“So we've kind of created that structure, and that committee is off to the races about what we're going to do next year and how we could get that festival rocking and rolling,” Danner said.
“It's been a lot of fun getting that going, but a lot to learn for sure. The traditional jazz world is different just in terms of booking acts and how festivals work than what we do in a club venue, but it's been a lot of fun.”
Common Chord is a nonprofit working to build a more vibrant and welcoming community, fueled by music in all its forms.
Founded in 2004, the organization has continued to adapt and respond to community needs over its 22-year history. Common Chord provides accessible, inclusive music education programming and concert programs to more than 50,000 people each year.
For more information on the capital campaign and the new location for the organization, visit www.CommonChordQC.org/musiconmain.
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