Songs at sunset Area musicians showcase talents in Friday serie

Peel-and-eat shrimp were for sale, the Old Town Cape Precision Drill Team gave its first public performance, and local songwriters sang about rodeo cowboys and the pain of losing love and the pleasure of finding love in wives and children.

Toddlers played and most of the audience of 100 sat on lawn chairs or blankets at sunset Friday during the Songwriter's Showcase concert at Common Pleas Courthouse Park. The five performers were on the vine-covered bandstand where the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band played many years ago.

Tunes at Twilight is a series of Friday night concerts sponsored during the summer by Old Town Cape. The Jerry Ford Orchestra kicked off the series May 24. Friday night, the duo of Earl Johnson and Fred Goodwin will perform with vocals by former KFVS-TV weatherman Don McNeely.

The songwriter's circle is a tradition in which singers take turns performing their own tunes and provide acoustic guitar accompaniment while others sing. The songwriters performing Friday night were Mike Meyer of Jackson, Mo., John Engram of Sikeston, Mo., Mark Reese of Jackson, and Lindsay Bowerman of Cape Girardeau, with Jim Dumee of Sikeston providing backup.

Jillian Pyle, an intern for Old Town Cape, sold shrimp from Willy Jak's restaurant. Each concert will promote a different downtown restaurant. A number of downtown businesses stayed open late in case the concertgoers wanted to remain downtown awhile longer.

Nelda Braswell and Dorothy and Ken Dillon were the first ones to arrive for the concert, setting up their lawn chairs in the shade of the Confederate soldiers memorial 50 minutes before the concert was scheduled to start. Even they mistakenly thought Earl Johnson, Fred Goodwin and Don McNeely were playing Friday night, they weren't too disappointed.

"It's music," Dorothy said.

"It's nice to get out in the fresh air," Braswell said.

The drill team is a tongue-in-cheek organization whose members carry electric drills and wear hard-hats. Led by Jean Underberg, a former band teacher, the team drew applause as they marched through the park midway through the concert. They were only eight strong because seven of the other members were out of town.

Underberg said they plan to march in the SEMO District Fair Parade or the Southeast Homecoming Parade next.

"But we haven't actually been invited yet," her husband, Larry, said.

'It was sweet'

Audience member John Hill Jr. attended Cape Girardeau municipal band concerts at the bandstand nearly half a century ago. "But we didn't have any lawn chairs," he said. The lawn would be filled with people. "We didn't have any place else to go," he said.

Breita Church, who lives half a block from the park, was impressed with the sentiments expressed by the songwriters, all of whom were male. "I enjoyed hearing the male perspective of being fathers and husbands," she said.

"It wasn't just sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll ... It was sweet."

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182