Shipyard Music Festival grew from desire to build community, organizer says

The upcoming Shipyard Music Festival next month has required all hands on deck, multiple sponsors, partnerships and months of planning, according to rustmedia creative director and event coordinator Jeff Rawson.

And it all began with The Scout, a startup venture that delivers daily emails to subscribers informing them of local music, news, food and culture, Rawson said.

�We launched The Scout last year, in November, and was really put into place to speak to guys our age, that are a younger demographic and want to find ways to plug into the community,� Rawson said.

The �biggest feature� of The Scout, he said, is that it�s �all the good stuff.�

�It�s all good news. It�s the events, people profiles, food and restaurant openings,� he said.

The Scout�s information comes in short, quick paragraphs with some links, Rawson explained.

�So it�s a quick five-minute read in the morning to get people back on their way, and just share what�s happening in their community,� he said.

From the founding of The Scout, Shipyard Music Festival planning began to take off.

�This is something people have been asking for in the region for a while,� Rawson said.

He has been working with �the right partners� at The Pageant entertainment venue in St. Louis � who have assisted with all the booking of the event�s talent � and with Klancey Unlimited for �all the production,� he said.

Robert McClimans, talent buyer for The Pageant, said in an email Sunday he became involved with the festival when Kevin Flynn at Kiku Obata � a design consultancy firm in St. Louis � mentioned rustmedia was looking for someone to help book talent for its first event.

McClimans said Kiku Obata designed The Pageant and Delmar Hall in St. Louis, in addition to the rustmedia offices, �so it was an easy match.�

�I love Cape Girardeau! I had a long time girlfriend who lived in Cape and have always been fond of the city. I think that the show will be a success,� he said. �We tried to book a couple of acts that were familiar with the folks in Cape and a bunch of new artists.�

McClimans said he thinks everyone will be �pleasantly surprised� on Sept. 22.

�I think we will have a couple thousand happy music fans, which would be a great year one for what we hope will be a long term event,� he said.

Rawson knew �getting the right people on board� would ensure success for a first-year foundational event, he said.

He doesn�t see this year�s concert being the norm for years to come, though.

�There are definitely grander plans to make this a bigger, longer-running event, with more bands and bigger bands,� Rawson said.

But for this year, he said, the goal was to execute it safely, correctly and to establish something people would look forward to year after year.

Rawson said he appreciates what organizations such as One City, Honorable Young Mens Club and the Tiger Lillies are accomplishing within the community.

�All these different groups are building community groups, and now you start to see these community groups working together to build a broader community group. We just hope The Scout becomes a part of that conversation.�

Shipyard Music Festival will be held beginning at 11 a.m. Sept. 22 at Ivers Square in downtown Cape Girardeau. More information about the festival and tickets can be found at www.shipyardfest.com.

Shipyard Music Festival is made possible by presenting partner Isle Casino Cape Girardeau; anchor partners Rhodes 101 Stops, Saint Francis Healthcare, Drury Hotels and Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; and crew partners VisitCape and Electric Vehicle Television.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632