Action in August

August seems to be a time for action: Schools and concert series starting back up, new shows planned and another month of new art hanging around town.

Friday will again be the First Friday Art Walks. This will be the last weekend to see the "Equity: Selections from the Permanent Collection" at the Crisp Museum. From there, catch the art bus to the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, where you'll find new art and a new face. Everyone please welcome Melissa Miller, new executive director of the Arts Council.

Gallery 125 will have an exhibit this month. Barbara Rust has taken up art as she took in her 70s. She recreates American Indian art, adding her own colorful twists.

Today, Larry Underberg is getting the jump on the weekend with a concert at the Dockside by Little Joe McLarren, winner of the 2009 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn. Underberg said he and wife Jean originally planned Little Joe for a House Concert but decided to share him with more people. The Dockside, at 4 N. Spanish St., can hold about 185 people with bar service. Tickets are $8 for this concert, which is not connected with the Blues off Broadway series also managed by the Underbergs.

That Larry Underberg. The guy loves music so much, he just can't take a break. He and his wife also handle the talent for Old Town Cape's Tunes at Twilight series, which resumes its weekly concerts Aug. 14 with Jimmy Davis.

Davis, a Memphian, has written songs, provided backup vocals, sung his own stuff and now started producing. He was named "Premier Male Vocalist" five times by the Memphis Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

Aug. 14 also brings the start of what Mike Dumey hopes will become a renowned talent showcase here, focusing on the youth in the community. Dumey has recruited vocal coach Judith Farris, teen talents Quitman McBride and Mary Bauer, and nine other cast members for a dinner show of "Godspell."

The group's first production will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday for three weekends, starting Aug. 14 and 15.

With Dumey's enthusiasm and fervency for youth in the arts and the pool of talent from which he can pull, "Starz on the Rise" seems destined for great heights.