Bring it on home: Tunes features local performers near season's end

Tunes at Twilight was once the dominion of local musicians, but no longer.

As the concert series has grown over five years, national touring acts have become the series' staple. What started as an all-local music showcase, with crowds as small as 10 people, has turned into a venue for independent national touring acts, drawing crowds sometimes over 500.

Before today's concert, the attendance topped 3,000 for the season.

This evening, three well-known local musicians -- including a seminal member of the local music scene -- will display their talents for the throngs.

The show tonight may be one of the last Tunes concerts for local musicians, as those national touring acts have already swarmed on the chance to play next year.

"When we first started we did a lot of local bands," said Larry Underberg, the series talent booker. "There were a lot of spots to play but not that many for acoustic musicians. Now with places like California Juice Club and Krieger's, that niche is filled."

Tunes has now become the place where area residents can hear artists they wouldn't normally have a chance to see, but tonight will showcase the local acoustic talent.

"People are going to be really, really impressed," Underberg said. "The talent around Cape is really pretty deep."

That talent includes Bruce Zimmerman, the elder statesman on the local original music scene; Mike Renick, an up-and-coming acoustic rocker inspired by the likes of Dave Matthews and Jack Johnson; and Doug Rees, a singer/songwriter in the Americana tradition.

All three will share the stage for an hour tonight. All three will perform their original songs. All three are eager to play at a venue tailored just to music.

"The one thing about a show like that, most of your audience are true music lovers," said Zimmerman. "It's not like when you're playing at a bar where people could be there for any number of reasons. When you play a show like Tunes at Twilight, the people who appreciate music are the ones who show up."

The performers are set to share the stage, playing "in the round" by trading off songs. Zimmerman has played with each before, co-writing songs with Rees and playing tracks on Renick's first CD, "Diamond Eyes," released last year.

"Not only that, they're just really good guys, and first and foremost I like them," said Zimmerman. "Our styles are different, but we make it all mesh."

Zimmerman has played for 50 years, and in Cape Girardeau for 25. He started out playing with the rhythm section of The Melroys, Gregg Hopkins and Mike Enderle.

As Rees puts it, "Bruce has forgotten more things musically than most people ever learn."

Rees and Renick are much fresher faces on the local scene. Even though Rees has been playing guitar and writing songs for many years, he's only been playing in the area for the last few. His original songs emphasize the lyrical aspect of the music in the country or folk tradition, but Rees doesn't pigeonhole himself into any certain genre.

"I just write the best songs I can," said Rees.

Renick has only started to gain a following and been playing consistently for about the past year, performing with his combo at venues like Lodos, Rude Dog Pub and Broussard's a few times each month, often prone to improv. Renick commonly plays with a band with a drummer, keyboardist and saxophonist and electric guitarist, but his acoustic chops have been honed through hours of playing alone at home and at acoustic venues like Krieger's.

At the Tunes show, Renick, Zimmerman and Rees will be featuring fresh original material, as each continues to work on upcoming projects.

Some of it has been heard before, some hasn't, but it all comes from the heart.

The three men will share the stage today, but none of them wish to hog the spotlight. Even Zimmerman, a musician who has toured 38 states and six countries, relishes the prospect of sharing the gazebo with other musicians. Sharing is something Zimmerman is prone to anyway, commonly sitting in with others and letting them sit in with him at gigs.

And each man considers it an honor to play the Tunes venue. In a year where the concert series' attendance has blasted into the stratosphere, the trio will likely be greeted by a large and enthusiastic audience.

For Rees, it isn't the size of the crowd that matters, it's the soul.

"I think that, speaking for myself and any musician, it doesn't matter if there's one or a thousand, you just want somebody to listen to you."