Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Cape Girardeau artists featured in outdoor concert series Tunes at Twilight

Monday, August 20, 2012
Jimmy Davis performs first concert of the fall for the Tunes at Twilight concert series Aug. 17 at the Commonplace Courthouse Gazebo. Photo by Nathan Hamilton

Fall season of Tunes at Twilight draws crowds of 400 to 600 Southeast students and Cape Girardeau community members

Tunes at Twilight is a free outdoor concert series in Cape Girardeau that provides the community with the opportunity to hear live music on Friday nights downtown. The 12-week outdoor concert series runs for six weeks in the spring and six weeks in the fall. Different artists perform an hour long concert each Friday night of the series at the Commonplace Courthouse Gazebo in downtown Cape Girardeau.

The series is planned by Old Town Cape, an organization that works toward the betterment and revitalization of downtown Cape Girardeau. Volunteers Larry and Jean Underberg have scheduled artists for the 12 years that the concert series has been an event. Old Town Cape project manager Nicholle Hinkle said that this event has grown substantially, and 400 to 600 people usually attend each concert.

"I think it's a great asset to the community of Cape just because there are so many people that attend. It has really become an iconic event," Hinkle said. "It started out kind of a small event, if you will, but people tell their friends and then they tell their friends, and then it's like a domino effect. People just keep coming, and it's a great event for the community to come downtown and enjoy every Friday night."

The music featured at Tunes at Twilight varies depending on the artists performing. It ranges from hip-hop to blues to folk and alternative. The artists usually are local, but some come in from other cities like Nashville, Tenn. Hinkle said that many groups of students from Southeast Missouri State University have come to the shows in the past.

"I think it's a great event for a Friday night," Hinkle said. "You can go enjoy some free music outside and then go downtown or whatever you want to do after that. They really do press the issue that it's a free concert because there are not really many free events these days in Cape Girardeau, or anywhere else for that matter."

The premiere sponsor of Tunes at Twilight is SoutheastHEALTH and co-sponsors are Cape Air and Fox23. The first concert of the six week fall series was held on August 17 and featured Memphis, Tenn., songwriter Jimmy Davis.

The next Tunes at Twilight concerts will feature Keith Sykes at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Michael Prysock at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 at the Common Pleas Courthouse Gazebo at the intersection of Themis and Lorimer.

The concert will be held in Rose Theater on Southeast's campus in the event of rain. That announcement will be made no later than 4 p.m. on the day of the concert on the website's homepage oldtowncape.org, Old Town Cape's Facebook page and on Twitter, @OldTownCape. For more information on Tunes at Twilight call (573)-334-8085.

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