BETHLEHEM, Pa. — When Marlo Shankweiler takes the stage at Musikfest on Sunday, she'll have her family cheering her on.
Of course, it's not the first time they've seen Shankweiler, guitarist for New York City alt-indie band Melt, in concert.
The significance this time around: It's been a longtime request from her aunt to play at Musikfest, the country's largest free music festival, which has deep roots in the community.
Roots very similar to Shankweiler's family's legacy.
In 1934, Marlo Shankweiler's great-grandfather, Wilson Shankweiler, founded Shankweiler Drive-In Theatre, America's oldest drive-in theater still in operation.
"I told the band we need to do this because it's important to me to play near home. The Allentown Bethlehem area isn't a typical touring stop for musicians."Marlo Shankweiler, guitarist for Melt and great-granddaughter of Shanweilker Drive-In founder
The Shankweiler family owned the theater for four generations before selling it to Lauren McChesney and Matt McClanahan in 2022.
"I emailed them inviting them to the show," Marlo Shankweiler said of McChesney and McClanahan. "So hopefully they come. I follow them on social media and from what I see, they're revamping and revitalizing it, which is awesome."
Shankweiler's grandmother, Joyce, was a descendant of Adam Schneck, who in the mid-1700s was the first settler of the North Whitehall Township village now known as Schnecksville.
"When ArtsQuest reached out, I was really excited," Shankweiler said of the organization that presents Musikfest.
"I told the band we need to do this because it's important to me to play near home.
"It's really nice that the festival is there and it's a free show, which is all the better because people, hopefully that gets more people to come to it."
'Sour Candy,' high school buds
Shankweiler and members of Melt formed the group when they were teens in New York City.
"It was a high school project in our senior semester," she said. "And it was, 'Let's just go record a song.' We had no goals. We didn't plan to even upload it to Spotify or any streaming service.
"But we posted it on YouTube and, like, the power of the internet made it go viral and it ended up on the front page of Reddit."
That viral hit, "Sour Candy" sparked momentum — and an impressive fan base — for the four-person group, which now is on its fourth headline tour and will release a new album on Sept. 13.
The band's newest song, "Plant the Garden" has an indie feel to it, with some fans comparing their sound to the Grateful Dead and Phish.
"It's really funny because my friends who don't know the Grateful Dead at all also love the song," Shankweiler said.
"To me, that's a really big success where like all of our influences musically came together to make this new original sounding song that people are hearing different things and influences and our own voice in it."
New album and a fantasy concert
The group will dedicate the new album to their grandmothers — a touching tribute to Joyce Shankweiler, who was a piano teacher and member of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.
Marlo Shankweiler said she hopes to return to the region for a promo/pop-up tour to promote the new album — perhaps at Shankweiler's Drive-In, near its landmark brightly lit neon sign.
"So it was a little fantasy that we'll play a show there one day."Marlo Shankweiler of the band Melt
"We've been talking a lot about the album release because we're an independent band, so we don't have a label distributing our vinyl," she said.
"During COVID there were bands playing drive-in theaters because it was one of the places where there was space to do something like that.
"So it was a little fantasy that we'll play a show there one day."
Melt will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4, at Americaplatz at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks.
