Tunes at Twilight to kick off new season Friday in downtown Cape

Old Town Cape officially kicks off its family-friendly concert series Tunes at Twilight with artist Keith Sykes on Friday at the Ivers Square gazebo in downtown Cape Girardeau.

In addition to the free tunes Friday, Old Town Cape events coordinator Emily Vines said she would have some giveaways during the concert such as can cozies, Old Town Cape stickers and Downtown Cape T-shirts.

Even though Friday is the official �opening day� for Tunes at Twilight, Vines considers May 25 to be the �big night� for the series.

�That�s actually our volunteer appreciation night. We�re just trying to encourage anyone who has volunteered for us to come to the concert that night,� Vines said. �Port Cape Girardeau will be giving away free ice cream.�

She said more emphasis is on that night because Old Town Cape is a volunteer-driven organization and she wants to give credit to those individuals.

Vines said the organization is �really lucky� to have two longtime Old Town Cape volunteers: Bruce and Casey Zimmerman.

The Zimmermans locate the artists each season and coordinate with them, and she said they�ve been doing so for �a really long time.�

�They establish relationships with the artists and make them feel welcome by providing lodging while they are in town,� she said.

She said one of the goals is to incorporate more of an �artistic feel� into the downtown area by always trying to appeal to a wide assortment of ages.

Old Town Cape is �constantly� contacted by artists who are interested in Tunes at Twilight, she said.

Vines said she is already working on a list of potential artists for 2019, some of whom have already contacted her.

�We definitely bring in a lot of musicians from out of state, but we incorporate local musicians as well,� Vines said.

Vines said she thinks a lot of people assume many of the artists travel from Nashville, Tennessee, or Illinois but �that�s not necessarily always the case.� She said she likes to introduce artists not everyone is familiar with in order to encourage more artists with original content.

�I would just hate for local artists to get discouraged and think they�re never going to get their shot to play, because that�s definitely not the case,� Vines said.

Another goal of Tunes at Twilight, according to Vines, is to get people to the downtown Cape Girardeau area so they can �see what all is there� � especially with the addition of more free family-friendly activities.

She said in terms of music, Old Town Cape must factor in an audience made up of families, children, teenagers and senior citizens so she�s looking for music �that appeals to everyone and doesn�t offend anyone.�

�I think we�ve been doing OK so far,� Vines said. �We do have artists that return. Keith Sykes, our opener, is actually a great example of that.�

Sykes last performed in 2016, she said, and artists only return if Old Town Cape gets �a lot of feedback� on them.

Vines tries to not have someone come back every year.

She said each year the event grows, but doesn�t see the venue changing or moving anytime soon. She credits that popularity to more event awareness and interest.

The Tunes at Twilight spring series is free to attend and will be held at 7 p.m. Fridays through June 15 at Ivers Square in downtown Cape Girardeau. In case of rain, City Church on Broadway has been set as the designated location. The fall series is scheduled to begin Aug. 10.

Artists scheduled to perform are Keith Sykes on Friday, Anne McCue on May 18, Carl Banks on May 25, Amy LaVere on June 1, Lipbone Redding on June 8 and Emily Wallace on June 15.

Artists and dates for the remainder of the series and the fall schedule can be found online at downtowncapegirardeau.com.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632

Pertinent address:

Ivers Square, Cape Girardeau, Mo.