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Little Caesars donates pizzas to St. Vincent de Paul Kitchen

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Maddon back home in Hazleton and still helping

<p>A Clarks Summit native has taken her pursuit of a career in music to Nashville, Tenn., to study, but she&#8217;ll return home for a few performances during the holiday season.</p><p>Alyssa Lazar, a 19-year-old freshman at Belmont University School of Music, will play a series of shows in Northeastern Pennsylvania beginning Friday at Sidney&#8217;s Lounge in Clarks Summit.</p><p>The young songwriter plays piano and guitar, and she said her vocal rehearsals are almost as old as she is.</p><p>&#8220;I cannot remember a time when I didn&#8217;t plan to pursue music,&#8221; Lazar said in a recent phone interview. &#8220;I remember being 3, sitting in the back of my mom&#8217;s car in a car seat singing along to Martina McBride and Reba McEntire.&#8221;</p><p>By the time Lazar was 4, she said, she knew she wanted to be a singer. She developed her voice by singing at dance recitals for Clarks Summit&#8217;s Devine School of Dance.</p><p>&#8220;I started playing piano when I was in second grade,&#8221; Lazar said. &#8220;I would play with a little kid&#8217;s electric piano. When I was in third grade, someone was giving away a nice piano, and my dad and uncles lugged the piano into the house.&#8221;</p><p>Piano lessons started that year for Lazar, and guitar lessons followed in fourth grade. By the time she was a freshman in high school, the young songstress had the equipment she needed to perform in public and started playing gigs at Scranton venues like Andy Gavin&#8217;s, Ale Mary&#8217;s and Coopers.</p><p>&#8220;That started becoming sort of my job, and I love it,&#8221; Lazar said.</p><p>After graduating from Abington Heights High School in 2016, Lazar matriculated at Belmont.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t know that I was going to college to pursue music, but I knew I was going to Nashville, and I decided I would be pursuing music regardless,&#8221; Lazar said. &#8220;It&#8217;s been a great fit for me. It&#8217;s great getting the education while getting to experience Music City.&#8221;</p><p>Lazar said her education is coming not only through her school but also through spending time in one of the country&#8217;s thriving musical hot spots.</p><p>&#8220;Through going to all of these open mics and writers nights and getting to see what people do and what people have been doing through all the years they&#8217;ve been here, you learn a lot about the business and performance skills,&#8221; Lazar said. &#8220;They are necessary things to have a firmer grasp on what it means to be a real musician.&#8221;</p><p>Lazar released her debut EP, &#8220;570&#8221; in April of 2016. The record features four of her original tracks and was recorded at SI studios in Old Forge.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m definitely rooted in country, but I&#8217;m also rooted in rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll because my dad was always super in love with Elvis,&#8221; Lazar said. &#8220;I would say my music is like an Eagles country mixed with an Elton John sort of soul. That&#8217;s what my music has come to be.&#8221;</p><p>For her upcoming string of local shows, Lazar said listeners can expect an eclectic mix of popular music covers from Lady Gaga to Dolly Parton, with a few of her originals sprinkled in.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m always writing whenever I get the chance,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;m working on getting new stuff recorded, so maybe by summer of 2018, I&#8217;ll have that out.&#8221;</p><p>Although Lazar has grown to love Nashville, where studios are abundant, she plans to return to SI Studios to record.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a real hometown girl, and I couldn&#8217;t have had a better experience than I did there,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Lazar&#8217;s music is available on iTunes and Spotify.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Clarks Summit native and Nashville, Tenn., music student Alyssa Lazar will perform several shows in NEPA throughout the holiday season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Lazar2_edit.jpg</photo0><caption0>Clarks Summit native and Nashville, Tenn., music student Alyssa Lazar will perform several shows in NEPA throughout the holiday season. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Lazar3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rooted equally in country and rock, Alyssa Lazar describes her music as &#8216;Eagles country mixed with an Elton John sort of soul.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Lazar3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Rooted equally in country and rock, Alyssa Lazar describes her music as &#8216;Eagles country mixed with an Elton John sort of soul.&#8217; </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Alyssa_edit.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Clarks Summit native Alyssa Lazar studies music at Belmont University School of Music in Nashville, Tenn. Lazar said she&#8217;s getting two educations in Nashville, because she&#8217;s meeting industry professionals and learning from them.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Alyssa_edit.jpg</photo2><caption2>Clarks Summit native Alyssa Lazar studies music at Belmont University School of Music in Nashville, Tenn. Lazar said she&#8217;s getting two educations in Nashville, because she&#8217;s meeting industry professionals and learning from them.  </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Nashville music student to bring talents to local venues</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Alyssa Lazar performances</strong></p><p>8 to 11 p.m. Friday at Sidney&#8217;s Lounge, 820 Northern Blvd., Clarks Summit</p><p>4 p.m. Monday on &#8220;PA Live&#8221; (WBRE and WYOU)</p><p>7 to 10 p.m. Dec. 21 at Crotti&#8217;s on Ash, 1431 Ash St., Scranton</p><p>8 to 11 p.m. Dec. 23 at Andy Gavin&#8217;s, 1392 N. Washington Ave., Scranton</p><p><strong>Additional information: </strong>There are no cover charges for any of Lazar&#8217;s upcoming performances. To listen to Lazar&#8217;s original music or for updates on her performances, visit her website at <a href="http://bit.ly/2BVg0uA" target="_blank">bit.ly/2BVg0uA</a> or her Facebook page, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/Alyssa-Lazar-Music-261800587301877/about/?ref=page_internal" target="_blank">Alyssa Lazar Music</a>. Her songs can also be found on iTunes and Spotify.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or on Twitter @TimesLeaderMatt.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Clarks Summit native Alyssa Lazar to perform in NEPA during holiday season