BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Welcome to LehighValleyNew.com's Fest in Show, a daily offering of some of the can't-miss acts on the free stages of Bethlehem's Musikfest festival.
This year, 422 acts will play those stages during the festival's 11 days.
Read us daily during Musikfest for suggestions of the best music — and more.
Here are music acts you should see today, Thursday, Aug. 1, on Preview Night for Musikfest 2024:
Hannah Wicklund, 6 p.m., Americaplatz
Nashville guitarist-singer Hannah Wicklund kicks off the festival on the Levitt Pavilion stage, where the lineup, ArtsQuest Chief Programming Officer Patrick Brogan said, "has become a rock festival." Wicklund kicks it off "with her blazing guitar and vocals," Brogan said. She also adds a solid dose of blues, which brings comparisons to blues guitarist Ana Popovic. Wicklund also is partners with Sam Kiszka, bass player for Greta Van Fleet, who headlines Musikfest's main Steel Stage tonight. "They're in town ... and so we were honored to get her to get to a play a free show for us," Brogan said.
Lelica Duo, 7:30 and 9 p.m., Community Stage
A singer/songwriter from northern New Jersey, Dup was "discovered" at 19, working as a session singer in recording studios and cast in the lead of an off-Broadway opera based on the life of Amelia Earhart, and later as the lead for a stage production of "Beauty and the Beast." Her song "Come Away" appeared on ABC Family's "Make it or Break It" and "The Lying Game." She's working on her sophomore disc, "Flicker and a Flash," with Seether drummer Kevin Soffera for a fall release.
Galen Deery and The Reason Why, 8 p.m., Americaplatz
Lehigh Valley Band Galen Deery & The Reason Why began as Mystik Fool in 2018 and play what they call “Spirit Jam,” which melds styles including rock, reggae, pop, folk and prog rock.
Holly Drive, 9:30 p.m., Americaplatz
The Holly Drive Collective is an eclectic group of musicians from the University of South Florida's Contemporary Commercial Music program who perform original music that runs the gamut from hip-hop to rock to folk and R&B, with soul and funk thrown in.
