Music

The blues music festival features two days of free music with Grammy Award nominees and Blues Music Award winners, including Shemekia Copeland and Dylan Triplett. It occurs on Friday and Saturday at the SteelStacks campus.

Straight No Chaser, the popular a cappella group whose membership includes two Lehigh Valley natives and had a viral hit with its internet video of “Twelve Days of Christmas” mashed with Toto’s “Africa,” will perform two holiday shows, at 3 and 7 p.m. Dec. 7, as part of the newly announced season.

Set It Off, the Tampa, Florida, band whose song "Fake Ass Friends" hit No. 15 on Billboard's Hard Rock chart last year, will perform at the venue on Dec. 6, it was announced.

“Tony n Tina’s Wedding,” which had popular runs at Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center in Bethlehem from 2012-17, will perform one night only Aug. 22 at Bear Creek Mountain Resort.

The Bacon Brothers, which features acclaimed actor Kevin Bacon with his brother Michael, will kick off the new season Sept. 7. And Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience will follow Sept. 12, with the Academy Award-winner on stage, narrating a cinematic journey through the heart of the Mississippi Delta, where the Blues was born.

Joey Valence & Brae, which in August is schedule to release its third album, will perform at the venue at 8 p.m. Oct. 25 as part of Archer's Pennsylvania’s Own series.

Easton's Heritage Day, made famous for the reenactment of one of the earliest public readings of the Declaration of Independence, will feature plenty of historical reenactments, food, fun and music on Saturday. A fireworks display is set for Sunday night.

Pure Prairie League, which with The Eagles defined country rock in the early 1970s and had a No. 1 hit with the song “Let Me Love You Tonight,” will play Thursday, Dec. 4.

Regional country singer Kendal Conrad, chart-topping punk-pop group Boys Like Girls and more have been announced as Musikfest main Steel Stage supporting acts.

Pennsylvania Music Preservation Society will present Music Alive at the Ritz, a series of shows on Sundays through October.

It's a rite of summer. Three styles of Musikfest mugs, illustrated by local artist Lauren Beck, are now on sale online and at three locations in Bethlehem.

Band of Horses, best known for its double-platinum 2006 hit "The Funeral," and City and Colour, known for its 2015 Adult Alternative chart hits "Wasted Love" and "Lover Come Back," will perform Sunday, Sept. 8.

Better Than Ezra, which had the No. 1 Modern Rock single “Good,” and the Top 5 Modern Rock hit “In the Blood” from its 1993 debut album “Deluxe,” will join the show Friday, Aug. 2, on Musikfest’s main stage

J&J Demolition Derby, a Labor Day mainstay at Allentown Fairgrounds, will return to the fair for its closing-night grandstand entertainment offering on Sept. 2.

Blippi, whose energetic and educational antics have made him a global sensation, will bring his live show Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour to the fair on Aug. 29.

Rockers Orgy, with opening act Cold, will play at 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 17, at Maingate Nightclub in Allentown. Tickets, at $25 in advance and $30 day of show, are available at maingatenightclub.com

Kutztown University's jazz ensemble was recognized by DownBeat magazine for Outstanding Performance in its Student Music Awards. It's the 10th win for Kutztown's commercial music program but the first for the jazz ensemble.

Tickets for both shows will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday, May 10, at ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, or at www.SteelStacks.org.

The nine-man Straight No Chaser will perform at 3 and 7 p.m. Dec. 7, the theater said in a release. Tickets, at $39.50-$74.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, May 10, on the State Theatre website.

Malina Moye, who combines influences of hip hop, rock, funk and soul and whose 2018 album “Bad As I Wanna Be” topped the Blue Albums chart, will perform at the free festival.

The 116th Bethlehem Bach Festival takes place Fridays, May 10 and 17 and Saturdays, May 11 and 18 at the Zoellner Center for the Arts, Packer Memorial Church, Moravian University and Incarnation of our Lord Church.

Bethlehem Area School District students involved in the innovative Marketing MusikFest class announced the bands they booked for the big Lehigh Valley festival on Friday, May 3.