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A Look Ahead at Tunes at Twilight’s Spring 2016 Season

It’s time to pack that picnic basket, load up the lawn chairs and head to the Courthouse Gazebo lawn for Tunes at Twilight’s Spring 2016 season, kicking off on Friday, May 13th!  This free outdoor concert series takes place on Friday nights at 7 p.m. for six weeks in the spring and six weeks in the fall.  Here’s a peek at the musical acts taking the stage this spring!


May 13:  Jenny Johnson kicks the 2016 Tunes season off on Friday, May 13th. Johnson is an Americana, soul-singing, guitar-picking, singer-songwriter of her own tunes from the backwoods of Southern Illinois. Her songs and style produce a powerful and engaging performance that can stir your soul, move your feet or lighten your heart with every tune. Jenny has created a style all her own through an amalgam of bluegrass, soul, ragtime, jazz and folk music.Check out samples of her music on her website.  


May 20:  Rod Picott plays at Tunes on Friday, May 20th.  It’s been 15 years since Rod Picott laid down his work belt, picked up an acoustic guitar and put a permanent end to his gig as a sheet rock hanger. He’d been writing music in private for years, but it was 2001’s Tiger Tom Dixon’s Blues — a debut album that bridged the gap between between folk and Americana — that officially introduced him as a singer/songwriter, kick starting one of the more acclaimed careers in modern-day roots music. Since then, he’s focused on a different kind of construction: building a catalog of songs that spin stories of hard work, heartache and the human condition. Take a listen to some of Rod’s songs here.


May 27:  Ivas John & Gary Gordon. The purity of blues music captured Ivas’ attention the first time he encountered it through his father’s and brother’s record collections. “The first time I heard the blues, it was a discovery for me,” recalls Ivas. “What I discovered was the power of simplicity. It motivated me to start playing. I wasn’t a musician who branched off into playing the blues, I heard blues music and developed into a musician, because that’s what I knew I wanted to play.”  Gary Gordon, owner of Inside Out Studio, started recording with John several years ago and they perform together on a regular basis. “We really clicked and we speak the same way musically,” John said.  The duo performs original, traditional, folk and bluegrass music in an acoustic setting.  Get a feel for Ivas John and Gary Gordon in this 2015 Old Feed Store performance.  


June 3:  Nick Schnebelen performs on Friday, June 3, and he has the blues in his blood. A Kansas City native, he has blazed his trail through the blues world over the past 12 years with family band Trampled Under Foot. TUF has traveled all over the US and Overseas. In 2008 Nick won the Albert King Award for “Best Guitarist” that year at the International Blues Challenge. TUF also took first place that year. Nick continues to bring raw blues energy to many different styles of electric blues- funk/rock/blues as well as an Americana dobro driven sound. Nick also plays drums and dobro together for a real down home stomp feel.  Sample Nick’s sound here.


June 10:  Keith Sykes takes the stage on Friday, June 10, and he’s a troubadour and storyteller.  This successful songwriter has toured every corner of America, perofrmed in every kind of venue and has had songs recorded by artists as ficvers as Rsoanne Cash and George Thorogood.  He’s appeared on Saturday Night Live and Austin City Limits, and hosted songwriter nights on Memphis’ legendary Beale Street with many of music’s most talented songwriters.  Get a feel for Keith Skyes’ music here.

June 17:  The Stiff Riffs are on stage at Tunes on Friday, June 17.  In 2006, Alex Riffle & The Stiff Riffs was formed. The group, along with Alex, consists of five other members, most of whom have played music together for over 30 years. The band’s repertoire, developed over the course of 30 years, includes hundreds of classic bluegrass songs, along with multiple classic rock, country, and pop songs converted to the band’s own brand of bluegrass. Alex Riffle & The Stiff Riffs is a bluegrass band that’s an enjoyable band for both a bluegrass music-loving crowd and a crowd that has never heard bluegrass music before.  Take a listen to the Stiff Riffs here.

We’ll see you at Tunes this spring; it’s a great way to start your weekend in Cape Girardeau! Mark your calendar for the fall season August 12, 19 & 26 & September 2, 9 and 16.

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