Residents invited to sing along for Cape

What do "Shaft," "Jaws" and New York City have that Cape Girardeau doesn't?

Good theme music.

But now a couple of Southeast Missouri State University teachers, a nationally recognized folk singer and the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau are putting together a project that, with the vocal aid of some local volunteers, may change that.

Don Jung, a member of Southeast's communications department faculty, first heard folk singer Kevin Danzig play in Cape Girardeau about three years ago, and has seen him a couple of times since, most recently at one of his colleague Larry Underberg's house concerts last May. One of Danzig's songs, "The Great Mississippi," stood out in Jung's mind because of its local relevance.

"It made me think about the fact that it's not our river," Jung explained. "But it is a part of our identity."

The connection Jung felt with the lyrics -- which mention Cape Girardeau by name -- and the swaying rhythm of Danzig's song resurfaced when he was asked to help produce radio ads for Liberty Fest 2004. Initially, the idea was to use the song as background music for those ad spots. But the concept went in a different direction. Jung and Underberg came up with the idea of asking Danzig to record the song again with a slight tweak in the lyrics to make specific references to Cape Girardeau. Using Underberg's connection, they approached Danzig with the idea, and he agreed.

Enter the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, which agreed to commission Danzig to return to Cape Girardeau and re-record the song in Kenny Keller's studio with a group of local musicians as his backup band.

"It was a small investment for a great opportunity to have a song that mentions Cape Girardeau by name being played all over the country," said Convention and Visitors Bureau director Chuck Martin.

Martin said one of the things that appealed to him about the re-recording was Danzig's changing of a lyric in the song's refrain, from "Many a tale has been told of the great Mississippi" to "Many a tale has been turned of the great Mississippi." This coincides with the bureau's new slogan: "Where the river turns a thousand tales."

Martin said only time will tell if the city adopts the song as its theme, but he likes the way the song ties into the community. The bureau plans to use the song in promotional ads.

But Jung and Underberg are trying to strengthen community connection with the song by soliciting public involvement. They are doing so by inviting the people of Cape Girardeau, regardless of musical prowess, to come into IBS Studio and add their voices to the tracks Danzig and the local band have already recorded.

"It's a nice way to get the community involved in a musical project," Underberg said.

Danzig will return to Cape Girardeau to help record those final vocal tracks on May 10. Those who are interested can come to the studio and sing along with Danzig on the refrain and the bridge of the song, which incorporates the melody of "Old Man River." In addition, anyone who takes part in this recording can also get on stage and sing the song with Danzig live at Liberty Fest 2004.

Jung and Underberg are excited about the project and optimistic that it could produce a song for the people of Cape Girardeau for years to come.

"I can see it becoming Cape Girardeau's de facto song," mused Jung.

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

WANT TO SING?

What: Recording of local voices on a song about Cape Girardeau

When: May 10

Where: IBS Studio in Cape Girardeau

Contact: Larry Underberg at 651-2514 or lunderberg@semo.edu