{"id":256514,"date":"2026-07-31T17:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/256514\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:46:11","slug":"who-is-lilly-moss-the-bethlehem-native-opening-for-russell-dickerson-at-musikfest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/256514\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Lilly Moss, the Bethlehem native opening for Russell Dickerson at Musikfest?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, Lilly Moss<\/a> stood in the crowd at Musikfest, watching artists command the festival\u2019s stages and wondering what it might feel like to be the one under the lights.<\/p>\n

Tonight, the 21-year-old country singer won\u2019t have to wonder anymore.\n<\/p>\n

The Bethlehem native is set to open for multi-platinum country artist Russell Dickerson<\/a> at the Wind Creek Steel Stage at PNC Plaza, the biggest performance of her career and a full-circle moment in the city where she first imagined herself onstage.<\/p>\n

Moss will take the stage at 7 p.m. as part of Musikfest\u2019s opening night lineup, performing a 25-minute set before Dickerson\u2019s headlining performance. She\u2019ll also return for additional free Musikfest appearances later next week, giving hometown fans multiple chances to see her perform.<\/p>\n

Friday was more than just the biggest concert of her career so far. It also was the release date for her newest single, \u201cSomebody Should,\u201d making it one of the most significant milestones she\u2019d experienced since deciding to pursue music professionally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s more unbelievable than anything,\u201d she said in an interview hours before taking the stage. \u201cI don\u2019t even know if I have a word for the emotions I\u2019ll be feeling. Not only is this the biggest crowd I\u2019ve ever played for, but it\u2019s my hometown, too. I know a lot of my local supporters will be there, and I\u2019m just excited to see everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Moss, Musikfest has never been just another festival. Long before she was performing there, she was walking the grounds with family, watching concerts from the audience and dreaming about what it would feel like to perform for the crowds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve grown up coming to Musikfest,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve watched so many artists perform on that stage. Every time I came to a concert, I\u2019d look up and think, \u2018One day, I want to be up there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She credits Bethlehem\u2019s support of local musicians with planting that dream within her, long before she ever became an artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up in Bethlehem, I was surrounded by such a supportive community for local musicians,\u201d she said. \u201cThat community inspired me to chase this dream before I was even an artist and made me want to get on those stages. Then, once I became an artist, they continued to show up and support me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music has been part of Moss\u2019 life since she was a little girl, but she didn\u2019t start writing her own songs until she was 16, gravitating toward writing songs rooted in storytelling.<\/p>\n

She first released music at 19, and began building an audience with deeply personal lyrics and a powerhouse voice. Her single \u201cHeartbreak Summer\u201d landed on Spotify\u2019s coveted All New Country playlist, expanding her audience beyond the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n

This year marked another turning point when Moss signed with Music City Power Company<\/a>, an artist development and music marketing company founded by country duo LOCASH\u2019s Preston Brust and Chris Lucas alongside longtime manager Skip Bishop.<\/p>\n

Since then, she\u2019s released her single \u201cDeath of Me\u201d and Friday she released \u201cSomebody Should,\u201d a reflective ballad about loving someone enough to let them go, although the song wasn\u2019t on her Friday night setlist.\n<\/p>\n

With only 25 minutes onstage, Moss said she made the difficult decision to keep the show upbeat. Instead, she\u2019ll perform the song during her additional Musikfest appearances later this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s full of such great emotion,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it takes something unfortunate and transforms it into something beautiful, and that\u2019s what I look for in every song that I write.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opportunity comes just months after another memorable moment with Dickerson.<\/p>\n

Last December, Moss joined Dickerson onstage for a surprise duet of his No. 1 hit, \u201cGod Gave Me a Girl.\u201d She never expected that moment would lead to opening for him at one of the biggest stages in her hometown so soon.<\/p>\n

The opportunity is yet another step forward for an artist whose schedule is growing busier each year. Moss now performs more than 30 shows annually throughout the Northeast, including appearances at festivals such as Barefoot Country Music Fest and PA Bacon Fest, while opening for artists including Jon Langston, Rayland Baxter and Coey Redd.<\/p>\n

Still, she says no venue carries the weight of performing at home.<\/p>\n

Moss is also a childhood cancer survivor, a chapter of her life that has shaped her perspective and strengthened the way she connects with others through music.<\/p>\n

She often reflects on how far she\u2019s come, from performing for crowds of five people to preparing to take the Musikfest stage in front of thousands, and said the milestone has brought a mix of emotions, including \u201ctears of joy\u201d as she looks back on her journey.<\/p>\n

Moss said she views the performance as an opportunity to connect with her fans, as well as new fans, engage with the audience and introduce them to both her original music and some of the older songs she loves to cover.<\/p>\n

She knows many of the faces in the audience will belong to relatives, friends and neighbors who have watched every chapter of her life unfold, from her battle with childhood cancer to her first performances that slowly snuck onto festival stages.<\/p>\n

Years ago, Moss stood in the crowd at Musikfest wondering what it would feel like to perform on its biggest stage.<\/p>\n

And tonight, she\u2019ll have her answer as she steps into the moment she\u2019s dreamed about for years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For years, Lilly Moss stood in the crowd at Musikfest, watching artists command the festival\u2019s stages and wondering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,1681,1213,22777,289,432],"class_list":["post-256514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-entertainment","tag-music-and-concerts","tag-musikfest","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}