LEISURE: CITY OF ROSES FESTIVAL WILL KEEP CAPE'S DOWNTOWN HUMMING

Got music? If not, downtown Cape Girardeau will have more than enough to share next weekend.

The fourth annual City of Roses Music Festival kicking off Friday night will continue to do what it has done best, said organizer Brad Graham. Fifty mostly local bands will perform at four outdoor venues and inside six clubs for between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

"More music goes on in these six hours than at any other time in Cape," Graham said.

The festival, which started as a way to revive live music in downtown Cape Girardeau, has sounds for all tastes. Rock, Christian, country, blues and swing are some of the styles that will be heard.

The variety fits this years theme, "you can't have too much music," Graham said.

A special part of this year's festival comes during the opening ceremony, Graham said. It will be used to honor three of Cape Girardeau's most instrumental musicians -- Homer Gilbert, Bill Shivelbine Sr. and Eddie Keys Sr.

In their honor, the City of Roses Music Foundation has established three scholarships at Southeast Missouri State University.

"They won't pay the full price of anyone's education, but we wanted to do this to honor these men," Graham said.

All the proceeds from money generated at the River Campus stage will go toward the scholarships, he said.

Three generations of the Keys family will be featured performers during the opening ceremony.

Other musical families will also perform. Blues harmonica star "Snooky" Pryor of Ullin, Ill., will play, as will his son, bass player Earl "Skee" Pryor, and daughter, "Lady Z" Pryor Newcomb.

The festival organizers have tried to keep the talent local. A band from St. Louis is making the longest trip, Graham said.

"We've tried to keep our focus on local area musicians," he said. "It's a situation where the whole is greater than the parts."

The cost for people age 21 and older is $10 for a wristband that serves as a ticket to all venues. Music fans under 21 can get a $5 wristband and attend all outdoor performances.