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Members of South Penn Dixie are: (from left) Mark Bracken, Marc Bunn, Ricky Bell and John Malachefski.

This Friday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m., the Deane Center for the Performing Arts Free Outdoor Concert Series will end with a performance by the South Penn Dixie Band.

Donations are always welcome and appreciated. Bring lawn chairs and sit on the grassy area in front of the outdoor stage or on Central Avenue, which will be closed to traffic between Main Street and the Warehouse Theatre from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

South Penn Dixie is Lehigh Valley’s newest and only all modern country band that brings together four great musicians that have years of experience playing all types of music.

Band members are: Ricky Bell and Marc Bunn, both on guitar; Mark Bracken on bass guitar; and John Malachefski on drums. Bell, Bunn and Bracken sing.

“We are a band of like-minded, experienced musicians that formed on Craigslist,” said Bell. “In early 2020, Mark and I answered an ad by John who wanted to start a country music band. After one rehearsal, we knew we would need an additional guitarist and went to an open mic in Saylorsburg, Pa. We ran into Marc Bunn who blew us away with his performance. The four of us spent much of 2020 in lockdown learning material and started performing in August of that year,” Bell said.

“We love playing any upbeat modern country songs as well as classic country and rock songs. We tend to favor artists such as Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Luke Combs, Blake Shelton, Brooks & Dunn, Eric Church, Kenny Chesney, and Jason Aldean. We rotate our set lists to keep things fresh for us and the listener but there is a 100 percent chance in our show you’ll hear ‘Country Girl’ by Luke Bryan, ‘Beer In Mexico’ by Kenny Chesney, ‘Chicken Fried’ by the Zak Brown Band, and Darius Rucker’s version of ‘Wagon Wheel.’ These must-have songs always help us engage with the audience,” said Bell.

For more information about this free concert, call the Deane Center at (570) 724-6220, email office@deanecenter.com or visit deanecenter.com.

Diane Eaton
dianetn@ptd.net
(570) 724-3800