Tunes is tops

Every Friday night for three weeks people have gathered at the gazebo in the park by the Common Pleas Courthouse to watch another musician play an hourlong set for Old Town Cape's Tunes at Twilight.

The same thing happened in May and last year and the year before. People drag out lawn chairs, coolers, blankets and toys for the children, set up and enjoy the music, the weather and the company.

Anybody who goes realizes it's a great event. It's good, clean fun. Recently, the Missouri Main Street Connection realized it, too. The organization, which supports the revitalization of downtowns, announced Tunes at Twilight had earned the Top Special Event Award at its conference in August.

Toni Eftink at Old Town Cape submitted materials and made the case for Tunes to win. She said she wrote about how much of a community event the whole thing is with Shivelbine's donating the use of sound equipment and the Underbergs housing and booking the artists.

This Friday's artist, Rod Picott, will play with Amanda Shires. The two mix North and South, with Picott being a songwriter from New England and Shires a Texas fiddler. Of course, they'll play at Stooges today for a preview and Saturday the duo will play a house concert at the Underberg House.

I'm no meteorologist, but it might rain Friday. If so, Tunes at Twilight moves to Dockside The Upper Deck at 4 N. Spanish St., beside Bella Italia.

The Upper Deck will also host Doug Rees on Sunday for a CD completion show. It's not a release party yet. Rees has finished the CD, but the packaging is still in the works. He'll play the album through live and have rough copies for sale. Attendees can also vote on album art while there.

Cape Girardeau may only be the 17th largest city in Missouri, but it's a noisy little town with the No. 1 special event.