John J. Moser
News DirectorI’m deputy director for news at LehighValleyNews.com and have been a reporter and editor at newspapers in Pennsylvania and North Carolina for nearly 40 years. I spent more than 30 years at The Morning Call in Allentown as a reporter, copy editor and editor, and for 12 years was its music critic and entertainment writer. I’ve captured more than two dozen statewide and national awards for writing and editing, and was part of a team of reporters in North Carolina that was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Contact me at JohnM@lehighvalleynews.com or 610-984-8183.
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At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 19, Copeland will headline ArtsQuest's Blast Furnace Blues Festival, performing on the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks stage. The concert and festival are free.
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Beep Boop, Beep Boop: A Sci-Fi Film Festival will be back at ArtsQuest Center's Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas for a fourth year July 25-28, with 11 films over four days.
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Pennsylvania Music Preservation Society will present Music Alive at the Ritz, a series of shows on Sundays through October.
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Abviud Carvajal, of Allentown, after a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Nov. 18, was ordered to face county court on the charges, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan said in a news release.
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Trevor Noah, who in 2015 succeeded Jon Stewart as anchor of Comedy Central's “The Daily Show” and continued until 2022, will perform Saturday, Feb. 14, at Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem.
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Let Freedom Sing, to be held at 7 p.m. May 27 at Allentown’s Coca-Cola Park, seeks to unite more than 5,000 voices from across the region for “a choral experience to the community, uniting in celebration.”
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John Mulaney, who for six years was a writer on “Saturday Night Live” and starred in the short-lived FOX-TV series “Mulaney,” will perform at 7 p.m., it was announced by ArtsQuest, the nonprofit that produces Musikfest.
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Jeff Foxworthy, whose catchphrase is “You just might be a redneck,” will perform Thursday, April 9, it was announced.
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“Weird Al” Yankovic, best known for turning Michael Jackson’s 1984 hit “Beat It” into the parody “Eat It” for a Top 15 hit that was certified gold, will perform at Musikfest 2026, it was announced.
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Bailey Zimmerman, best known for his multi-platinum hits "Fall in Love," "Rock and a Hard Place" and "Religiously," will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 6, ArtsQuest revealed Monday.
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Next month, Wind Creek Event Center owner Jeff Trainer plans to open The Broken Record, a restaurant in Lower Macungie Township that will combine a broad range of food offerings with a music theme — and perhaps more.
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Circle Jerks, whose 1980 album "Group Sex" is considered to be a landmark in hardcore punk, will perform at 7 p.m. March 31 at Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Gorilla Biscuits and Negative Approach, two other hardcore band from the 1980s, will open the show.
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Sabrina Carpenter, a Lower Milford Township native, is nominated for six Grammys this year.
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Costas Alesta's motion to withdraw his guilty plea filed was denied by county judge Judge Samuel P. Murray in a one-page order filed Friday, Nov. 7, county District Attorney Stephen G. Baratta said.
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Celtic Woman, an all-female Irish musical ensemble that has released 28 albums and been nominated for a Grammy Award, will perform at the venue at 7:30 p.m. March 19, it was announced.