Happy Valley Music Series - Jim Messina and his Band

Thanks to Rich Engler, a legendary manager/promoter from western Pennsylvania, Tussey Mountain once hosted national acts such as Willie Nelson, Def Leppard and The Beach Boys. Bob Dylan even performed a three-song encore during a sideways rain on April 27, 1997.

Those concerts went away after an ownership change at Tussey. Engler recalled how the owners at the time told him not to call back. “No, seriously,” Engler added Thursday. “They were almost mean.” But Symmetrical Investment Group, based in West Chester, purchased the property in 2021 — and managing partner Josh Lincoln, a 1998 Penn State grad who remembered that Dylan concert, was much more enthusiastic about a partnership when Engler called last year.

“We really want to have the concert series be a thing here in the summers,” Lincoln said Thursday. “I feel there is a demand for it because people want to be outside and have something to do, so that’s what we’re going to try to commit to.”