Kraig Kenning has been touring the Midwest with playing his guitar for the past 30 years, and during his career accumulated memories such as winning the first ever National Slide Guitar Competition and opening for Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones.

Fifteen years ago Kenning was invited to play in Cape Girardeau as part of the Tunes at Twilight concert series, and since has become a regular in the series. The summer concert series features musicians from across the country and have been held for the past 18 years. Always held on friday nights, the series invites new artists every week, with Kenning the second to be featured this summer.

“I got here the same way I get a lot of places; someone sees me playing somewhere else and they ask me to come play for them,” Kenning said. “Sometimes the math is tricky though, like the money won’t be worth the trip, but nowadays I try to take any that I can, and I try to come back to Cape every two years.”

Originally from the suburbs of northwest Chicago, Kenning grew up with three older brothers who had an interest in music.

“Back then kids would go out and buy records and listen to them, that was the thing to do, my brothers were always getting new records and playing them so I got an early start,” Kenning said.

Kenning said he later was inspired by the blues scene in Chicago.

After a friend of his brothers suggested he get a guitar, a fire was lit inside Kenning and his obsession began.

“I fell in love with the sounds that I could make, and I couldn’t get enough. I would take my guitar everywhere I’d go and I would always be playing it, there were days I would sit and noodle around for hours,” Kenning said.

Kenning said it is hard to classify his genre of play, calling it a collection of sounds he heard throughout his life. He was heavily inspired by artists such as Leo Kottke and the Allman Brothers.

“I always wanted to make my own sound, but I’ve been inspired along the way, and only recently have I began to play covers. So I draw inspiration from the sound of these other artists but for a long time I didn’t want to play their songs,” Kenning said.

As he grew up, Kenning said he had to learn to split his time between working and playing guitar. Unsure of what he wanted to do in life, he moved from job to job working long hours, but always found time to play music.

“[Music] was always there for me, it never left no matter what I was doing with my life,” Kenning said.

Kenning eventually decided to make music his life and never look back.

“There came a point where I actually started making enough money to pay my bills, but it was always a switch off, I would work my regular job, then at night go play gigs, but after years of juggling both I just decided to quit my job and make music my life,” Kenning said.

Kenning travels the country playing gigs for eight months out of the year, splitting his time in Chicago and Florida where he fixes stereos and amplifiers.

After entertaining crowds for the past three decades, Kenning has no plans of stopping soon.

“Music has been the center of my life since I was a child, so I plan on playing until I can’t hold a guitar anymore.”