Tunes at Twilight closes first session

Last year was a watershed year for Tunes at Twilight.

The summer-long concert series broke attendance records for both a single concert and the entire series in its fifth year last summer. The first half of the series wraps up tonight before a nearly two-month break with Nashville singer/songwriter Dana Cooper.

So far the Nashville sandwich that is the first half -- Nashville trio Brother Henry opened the first half May 19 -- is already smashing records.

This year's average crowd size has been about 450 -- about the same amount as last year's single-show record attendance, said Tunes organizer Larry Underberg -- representing a 25 percent increase over last year. Brother Henry set the single-show attendance record on the first Tunes this year with 575, he said.

"I think it's primarily been word of mouth," Underberg said. "People that have been there have had a pretty good experience and told others about it."

Underberg likes to think the strength of the artists he's booked could have a lot to do with packing the Common Pleas Courthouse lawn -- not to mention the free price tag.

For tonight's show Underberg and Old Town Cape are definitely banking on the talents of Cooper to provide a blow-out performance that will keep fans salivating for the next half of the series in August.

A major label and independent musician since the 1960s, Cooper's work in the last few years has garnered glowing praise from media like the Nashville Tenneeseean and Rolling Stone magazine.

"We knew we wanted to have him in a kind of prominent spot, and having someone that talented to close out the first season will leave people wanting more," said Underberg.

Cooper will also play Saturday night at Underberg's Cape Girardeau home.

Cooper hails from Independence, Mo., and in 2002 put out a CD titled "Harry Truman Built a Road." But the artist doesn't expect his ties to Missouri to give him any credit with the local crowd. He wants his music to do that.

"I try to start off with a few songs that people are going to relate to," said Cooper. "I come from the Midwest, I come from Missouri, I'm not much different than anybody else.

"Initially people in Missouri are skeptical. 'You come from Missouri, that's good, but are you very good?'"

If the Cape Girardeau crowd has tastes similar to the music press on national and regional levels, then Cooper's style of easy-going acoustic rock should defeat that skepticism.

Underberg said Cooper's music is the sort that seems to have a wide appeal for local audiences.

"We've kind of tried, as we've brought people in, to get a feeling for the type of act that goes over well," said Underberg. "Generally somebody that's upbeat like Dana is pretty well-respected."

Maybe Cooper will even get the kind of crowd Brother Henry, who played a guest spot on "Harry Truman," got over a month ago.

msanders@semissourian.com

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