Scott Tady: Beaver County bands playing live on the radio; catch Tiger Maple in Rochester

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Feel festive as you tune in some Beaver County singers Dec. 21 on your local radio dial.

Beaver County Radio's WBVP will host its sixth annual live Christmas music celebration from 9 a.m. to noon.

Local rock bands The Hoot Owls and Better Think Twice, along with the Beaver Valley Choral Society, Beaver County "American Idol" Gold Ticket winner Morgan Gruber, and country-rockers the Dawn Savage Band, will perform holiday songs for those tuned to WBVP (99.3 FM and 1230 AM or online at beavercountyradio.com ).

Gruber, a Riverside grad, will sing three songs starting at 10:35 a.m.

There'll be a special secret guest, too.

"We're not going to give it away, but he's the big guy," WBVP general manager Frank Sparks said. "The real big guy."

Hmm... Joe Grushecky?

I'm co-host of the holiday broadcast with WBVP morning man Eddy Crow.

You also can hear Crow double-mic'ing daily at WBVP's sister station The Beaver-95.7 (1460 AM), the rock and country outlet now spinning six Christmas songs per hour, including holiday tunes by music stars and locals like Beaver Falls native Vanessa Campagna and Harmony Township's James Tobin with his new holiday song "A Season of Higher Love."

Campagna achieved quite a 2023 as a songwriter for TV soundtracks and collaborator with Europop and Electronic Dance Music artists. Her music notched 9.4 million Spotify streams from 2.4 million listeners in 184 countries. She also was featured this month on "12 Bands of Christmas" the annual program from Pittsburgh country station Froggy Radio (103.5/104.3 FM.)

Fair warning: As part of its Christmas music programming, WBVP occasionally plays a version of me warbling "Blue Christmas" from one of the prior on-air holiday shows.

More: Beaver County business helps add historic violin to Violins of Hope traveling exhibit

Tiger Maple to entertain in Rochester

The Tiger Maple String Band will entertain Dec. 16 at Hollywood Gardens in Rochester.

The rootsy band originated in Edinboro, and brings to the stage two fiddle players, banjo, upright bass and guitarist-vocalist Fred Parker, a Center High alum.

"People can look forward to some genuine Appalachian roots music played from the heart," Parker said. "We will send them home with a smile on their face and a peaceful feeling for the holidays."

Championing an old-timey sound, Tiger Maple String Band has played the Three Rivers Arts Festival, the Great Blue Heron Music Festival in western New York, and the Laurel Valley Bluegrass Festival in Somerset.

"We have opened up for the Avett Brothers, Donna The Buffalo, and Sierra Ferrell just to name a few," Parker said.

Hollywood Gardens showtime is 7-10 p.m. Tiger Maple String Band played there a couple of times, pre-COVID.

"We don’t get to the county much, so this is kind of special for sure," Parker said.

Blackhawk gives gift of music

Blackhawk High School’s chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society completed a service project, with 27 students recording personalized versions of the "Happy Birthday" song for 89 residents at the Franciscan Manor retirement and assisted living facility in Patterson Township.

The Franciscan Manor residents will get to hear those songs on their birthdays.

The recording can be played back through any device that can play an MP3.

Lincoln Park invests in Broadway

Eager to deepen its mark on Broadway, the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center in Midland became an investor in a new musical, "How To Dance in Ohio."

The groundbreaking show opened on Broadway this past Sunday at the Belasco Theatre. Adapted from a 2015 Peabody Award-winning HBO documentary, it highlights the true story of seven autistic young adults preparing for their high school spring dance in Columbus, Ohio. As they navigate that rite of passage, they experience funny and heartbreaking encounters with love, stress, excitement and independence. The heart-warming show features seven neurodivergent actors all making their Broadway debut.

“This is our first Broadway investment, and an exciting next step in the evolution of our organization,” Justin Fortunato, producing artistic director for Lincoln Park, said in a press release. “This moving story perfectly intersects with our mission of making live theatre a place where everyone is welcome to thrive. It is our hope that the theatre community, specifically the students in which we exist to serve, recognize the limitless possibilities of their own talents and minds with such a groundbreaking show."

Each year, Lincoln Park hosts the Mancini Awards, where the "Best Actor" and "Best Actress" high school winners from the quad-county area earn a free trip to New York for a week of intensive Broadway training.

Plus, Lincoln Park alum Amber Ardolino is one of the fastest-rising stars on Broadway, now set to play the lead female role in the Neil Diamond jukebox musical "A Beautiful Noise" opening Jan. 2 at the Broadhurst Theatre.

Ardolino, a North Sewickley Township native, has been playing Linda McFly in Broadway's "Back to the Future: The Musical," and her past credits include "Hamilton" and "Moulin Rouge!"

For "A Beautiful Noise," she portrays Marcia Murphey, Diamond's second wife, replacing original cast member and Tony Award nominee Robyn Hurder, who leaves the production this Sunday, according to New York Theatre Guide.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: WBVP hosts Beaver County bands; Rochester bar taps Tiger Maple Strings