Regional events highlights include North Mississippi Allstars, the Bacon Brothers, and the Hay Creek Apple Festival and Flea and Craft Market [Events Roundup]

• North Mississippi Allstars, a band that is sure to bring you to your feet, is set to perform Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Miller Center for the Arts in Reading. Nothing runs deeper than family ties. After 25 years, 12 albums, four Grammy Award nominations and sold-out shows everywhere, North Mississippi Allstars open up their world once again on their 13th album, “Set Sail,” welcoming other family, by blood and by the road, into the fold. As legend has it, Luther and Cody Dickinson started the band in 1996 as a loose collective of like-minded second-generation musicians who shared a local repertoire and regional style. Over the years, the lineup shifted by design, and each subsequent record offered up a different combination of collaborators. This time around, they mined the talents of Jesse Williams on bass and Lamar Williams Jr. on vocals. During the Allman Betts Band Family Revival, the Dickinsons first linked up with Williams Jr., son of the Allman Brothers bassist Lamar Williams Sr., becoming fast friends and collaborators and eventually paving the way for “Set Sail.” The Dickinson brothers have recorded and toured with Mavis Staples, Charlie Musslewhite, John Hiatt, Robert Plant, Patty Griffin, G Love, Jon Spencer, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Los Lobos and the Black Crowes. Meanwhile, their seminal debut, “Shake Hands with Shorty” in 2000, earned the band the first of four Grammy nominations and changed the Dickinson brothers’ lives forever. Tickets prices start at $42. For more information, go to millercenter.racc.edu.

• The Bacon Brothers, who love to delve into music exploration, are going to perform Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville. The siblings have spent the better part of three decades creating their own mix of folk, rock, soul and country music. They call that diverse sound “forosoco,” and it’s taken them around the world, from headlining gigs in Japan to American performances at iconic venues like Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry and Gruene Hall. The exploration continues with the band’s 12th release, “Ballad Of The Brothers.” It’s a record that highlights not only the similarities between Kevin Bacon, known worldwide as an A-list Hollywood actor, and Michael Bacon, celebrated as an Emmy-winning composer, but the differences, too. The two siblings may be bound together by blood and a mutual love of American roots music, but they’ve grown into sharp songwriters and cinematic storytellers with their own distinct approaches. “Ballad Of The Brothers” makes room for both of those approaches, offering a mix of edgy alt-rock, “Take Off This Tattoo”; Motown-inspired soul “Put Your Hand Up”; fingerpicked folk, “Let That Be Enough”; and everything in between. While writing new material for “Ballad Of The Brothers,” the Bacons made several trips to Tennessee, where they teamed up with Nashville-area songwriters like Casey Beathard, Brett Tyler and Kimberly Kelly. They continued to travel once it came time to record the album, too. “Live With The Lie” was tracked in New Jersey, where the band abandoned the use of a click track in favor of capturing a raw, real performance with their touring band. “Put Your Hand Up,” a brassy soul song that splits the difference between Memphis grit and Motown groove, was recorded in Philadelphia. “Take Off This Tattoo” was produced in Los Angeles by Kevin’s son, Travis Bacon. Like much of the Bacon Brothers’ work, “Ballad Of The Brothers” offers a mix of autobiography and richly-detailed fiction. The tongue-in-cheek “Old Bronco” finds Kevin turning a song about his 1969 Bronco truck into a metaphor for aging. “Airport Bar,” one of the most gorgeous tracks in the Bacons’ catalog, compares a doomed relationship to a sports bar in an airport terminal. On the album’s title track, inspired by Gruene Hall, the historic dancehall where Willie Nelson played some of his most memorable shows, the brothers deliver a Wild West narrative about two East Coast city slickers who take a road trip to Texas. Whether by fate or by Faust, they find themselves onstage at a Texas honky-tonk, blessed with musical talent they didn’t know they had. For Michael and Kevin Bacon, “Ballad Of The Brothers” marks the continuation of a musical partnership that began long ago in Philadelphia, where the two siblings were raised on a soundtrack of 1970s singer/songwriters, Philly soul bands and classic rock acts. They’re creating their own soundtrack now, and like many artistic endeavors, the work is never truly done. Ticket prices start at $44. For more information, see baconbros.com.

• The Hay Creek Apple Festival and Flea and Craft Market, an event suitable for the entire family, is taking place Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hay Creek Valley Historical Association grounds in Robeson Township, Berks County. The festival is a family-oriented fall event held at the historic Joanna Furnace, featuring a variety of apple-themed foods and activities. The festival includes an all-you-can-eat apple pancake breakfast, apple cider, homemade apple specialties and an annual apple dessert contest. In addition, participants can engage in family events such as scarecrow building and pumpkin painting. Visitors can also shop at a flea market area showcasing over 100 vendors and tour the historic furnace. This interactive fundraising event will be a weekend of family fun and community outreach, helping local nonprofits that provide care and support for families affected with cancer and women’s health issues. Ticket prices start at $10 if you get them in advance and $12 at the door. For more information, go to haycreek.org/hay-creek-applefestival/.

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