DAVID COOK, HOT TUNA, LEON RUSSELL & NEW SPANK! SHOW COMING TO MUSIKFEST CAFÉ

American Idol winner David Cook, Hot Tuna, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell and SPANK: Turn The Other Cheek, the sequel to the smash-hit SPANK!, are among the new shows announced for the ArtsQuest Center’s Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. Tickets for the shows will go on sale Aug. 27, 10 a.m., to ArtsQuest Members and Aug. 30, 10 a.m., to the public. They’ll be available at www.artsquest.org and 610-332-3378.

On Oct. 24, the Musikfest Café will welcome David Cook, winner of the seventh season of American Idol. Following his win on the show, Cook had a record-breaking 14 debuts on Billboard’s Digital Songs chart. In November 2008, he released his self-titled major-label debut album, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard album chart and spawned two Top 20 singles, “Light On” and “Come Back To Me.” Cook’s most recent release is 2011’s “This Loud Morning.”

Fans of the one and only Hot Tuna, featuring guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Cassidy, will have a chance to enjoy an intimate acoustic show when they drop by the Musikfest Café Dec. 3.  From their days playing together as teenagers to their current acoustic and electric blues, probably no one has more consistently led American music for the last 50 years than Kaukonen and Cassidy, the founders and continuing core members of Hot Tuna. First coming together in the ’60s as members of the Jefferson Airplane, the pair formed Hot Tuna in the early ’70s and have been entertaining audiences from Coast to Coast for decades with their timeless blend of blues, folk and rock.

This past spring, the audiences at the Musikfest Café were delighted by the fabulous fun of SPANK!, The Fifty Shades Parody. This coming spring, they’ll have the opportunity to enjoy all the naughtiness and hilarity all over again with the brand-new sequel, SPANK: Turn the Other Cheek.

SPANK: Turn the Other Cheek, which will run March 26-29, picks up where the original SPANK! left off, parodying not only Fifty Shades but also taking aim at women’s pop culture. The “author,” E.B. Janet, pens her next novel and takes the audience on her newest wild adventure fantasy in the sexy, satirical style that audiences have come to love!

The complete list of just announced Musikfest Café shows is:

David Cook – Oct. 24, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $22-$32

‘Christmas 1954’ Musical Revue
Dec. 5-7 and 12-15 – 12:15 p.m. lunch, followed by 1:30 p.m. performance
Tickets: $57
Don’t miss the premiere of this delightful musical revue that takes the characters from ‘Christmas 1944’ ten years forward, to the advent of television and the heyday of Bethlehem Steel. It’s a holiday musical experience you’ll remember for years to come! Lunch is included with the performance.

Acoustic Hot Tuna – Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $30-$40

New Year’s Eve Party!
Start Making Sense, along with Great White Caps and HmfO (Hall and Oates tribute)
Dec. 31, 9 p.m.
New Year’s Eve Party on the Balcony: $99, includes show ticket, plus beer, wine, soda and light fare
Admission Ticket Only: $20-$25
 
Leon Russell – Jan. 3, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $30-$40

The Aardvarks – Jan. 18, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $5 and $7 in advance; $8 and $10 day of show

Comedian Jim Florentine  – Feb. 28, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $20-$25
 
SPANK!: Turn The Other Cheek – The Sequel – March 26, 27, 28 and 29, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $39-$49

For more information on these and all upcoming Musikfest Café performances, please visit www.artsquest.org.