This year's Tunes at Twilight has more diverse group of musicians

Organizers of Cape Girardeau's Tunes at Twilight are expecting its sixth season to be the best yet, with a more diverse lineup and more public interest than ever.

Tunes at Twilight is a summertime event -- minus a short break in July -- that features acoustic music every Friday night at the gazebo at the Common Pleas Courthouse on Lorimier Street.

Organizer Larry Underberg said the free concerts have become something of a community gathering point.

"People will bring in lawn chairs and blankets and more and more they're bringing along picnic baskets," he said. "It's like a giant community picnic and get-together."

The point of the concerts, said Underberg, is to present quality music in a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere.

Underberg said this season will showcase performers in genres from rock to blues to folk to bluegrass.

Some of the highlights of this season include a Sept. 2 concert featuring local favorites Bruce Zimmerman, Doug Rees and Mike Renick in a triple billing, bluegrass act Wild Carrot on Aug. 26, French guitar virtuoso Philippe Bertaud on Sept. 9 and acclaimed slide-guitar blues player Kraig Kenning of Chicago on Aug. 12.

Other featured acts include:

* Memphis singer/songwriter Keith Sykes, who has played in Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band and has co-written songs with Buffett, to open the season on May 20.

* Wisconsin Celtic-influenced performer Celia on May 27.

* Danny Santos of Austin, Texas, on June 3, a singer/songwriter with a Southwestern flavor who just signed to a major label.

* Nashville performer Kimberley Dahme on June 10, a contemporary acoustic artist with a slight country flavor.

* Robert Hoyt of Indiana on June 24, who Underberg classifies as a "thinking person's songwriter."

Underberg said as the crowds grow for Tunes, more and more requests from performers to play the concerts come in.

"We've had requests for the 2006 season already," Underberg said.

And the artists who do play the shows have become intrigued by Cape Girardeau, he said, often staying extra days just to see the city.

For more information, call Old Town Cape at 334-8085.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182

Schedule

Concerts at 7 p.m.:

May 20: Keith Sykes

May 27: Celia

June 3: Danny Santos

June 10: Kimberley Dahme

June 17: Stephen Taylor

June 24: Robert Hoyt

Concerts at 6:30 p.m.:

Aug. 12: Kraig Kenning

Aug. 19: Rod Picott

Aug. 26: Wild Carrott

Sept. 2: Bruce Zimmerman, Doug Rees, Mike Renick

Sept. 9: Philippe Bertaud

Sept. 16: Cindy Kalmenson

*All shows are at the gazebo at the Common Pleas Courthouse except the May 20 and Sept. 16 shows, which will be at the Capaha Park Bandshell