Joe Bonson and Coffee Run will bring traditional country favorites to the Carbon County Fair on Wednesday night, with shows at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

The longtime entertainer grew up in Reedsville, in the heart of Amish country in central Pennsylvania. He listened to George Jones and Merle Haggard, Ray Price and Hank Williams Sr.

His dad taught him chords on the guitar and he took it from there, eventually going to Nashville for some recordings with his wife, Wendy.

Mostly he plays in Pennsylvania, singing traditional country and gospel hymns.

“I love traditional country,” Bonson said. “I stick with what I am. It seems to be working.”

He does write songs and works them in with the favorites.

“I don’t play them a lot,” he said. “Most people want to hear songs they know.”

Bonson describes this band is “the best he ever had.”

“They are great players with great personalities. A lot of fun,” he said.

Where did the name of the band come from? Coffee Run is the name of the road he has lived on for the last 40 years. It’s also the name of his construction business that he works when he’s not on the road.

“I don’t even drink coffee, to tell you the truth,” Bonson said.

One of his favorite songs is “The Race is On” by George Jones, but he said people don’t request a certain song. They will ask for something from a particular artist, Bonson said.

Alan Jackson is popular as well.

“There’s a lot of good stuff out there,” Bonson said.

He works in some gospel, and a favorite is “The Lighthouse,” as recorded by the Hinsons in 1970.

The lyrics touch people.

There’s a lighthouse on the hillside

that over looks life’s sea

When I’m tossed it sends out a light,

a light that I might see

And the light that shines in darkness

now will safely lead me home

If it wasn’t for the lighthouse

my ship would sail no more.

Everybody who lives around us

says tear that lighthouse down

The big ships

they don’t sail by this way anymore,

ain’t no use it standing around

Then my mind goes back

to the stormy night when just in time,

I saw the light,

Oh light from that old lighthouse,

that stands up there on the hill.

And I thank God for the lighthouse,

I owe my life to him.

For Jesus is the lighthouse,

and from the rocks of sin,

He has shown the light around me

that I might clearly see

If it wasn’t for the lighthouse

tell me where would this ship be?

Bonson said he thought he’d retire that song from his playlist, but people ask for it and he often plays it as the last song of the evening.

Old hymns, played with guitar, speak to people’s hearts. “Music touches people’s souls. They come up after the show with tears on their cheeks.”

People are seeking that connection, Bonson said. “Everyone has a lot going on. In the last four to five year people are hurting more than before.” It’s rewarding for him to help in some way.

Bonson has also taken on playing on his church’s worship team in the winter when he isn’t on tour. Wendy doesn’t sing with the band any more but she does sing alongside him in church.

“I said I know this will stretch me. I never really played these songs. It’s great to get up there and do them.”

In the summer, he is on the road.

Bonson said, “It’s always fun to play at fairs and see people who like what you’re doing.”