The Lehigh Valley music scene celebrates its own this March.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Music Association and ArtsQuest present the 15th edition of the Lehigh Valley Music Awards (LVMA15), 4 p.m. March 9, Musikfest Café, ArtsQuest Center, SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Ricky Levy, of Valley pop-rock band, The Limits, will receive a LVMA Lifetime Achievement Award. Levy is music director and business manager for Tommy Roe and former lead guitarist and bandleader for Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone.

A LVMA Lifetime Achievement Award will also be presented to Carl Snyder, a blues and jazz pianist who has worked with dozens of Chicago blues artists, including Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Son Seals and Jimmy Johnson.

LVMA15 features performances by Levy, Snyder, King Magnetic, Geoff Houser, David Zullo, Michael Fritz, Chelsea Lyn Meyers, Dana Gaynor, Brian Berlanda, Joe Mac, Bryan Harmony, Brian Bortz, Andrew Kanas, Larry Werner, Dennis Beidler, Don Plowman and Mike Stanley.

Presenters include former E Street Band member and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Vini Lopez, Larry Holmes, The Crests founder J.T. Carter and "American Idol" contestants Tyler Grady, Jordan White and Tim Marchetto.

The Limits perform a reunion concert, 7 p.m. March 4, Molten Lounge, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem. There is no cover charge.

At 8 p.m. March 8, The Limits also perform at the "Purple Owl Reunion Concert," The Meadows Banquet Hall, 1770 Meadows Road, Hellertown. The admission charge includes a buffet dinner.

Levy joined The Limits in 1965. For the next several years, the band wrote, recorded and performed original material. Rock icon Alex Chilton of The Box Tops referred to The Limits as "the quintessential American garage band."

Of The Limits' popularity, Levy says during a recent phone interview from his home in St. Augustine, Fla.: "I've always been a bridesmaid, not the bride. Our [The Limits'] destiny was not to be a huge group, but we still have a cult following."

Levy, a William Allen High School graduate, Class of 1967, went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

His music inspirations include The Hollies, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. "The British Invasion led me back to the blues scene," says Levy. "Other big influences were music out of Memphis and Philly; Otis Redding, and hardcore R&B soul as opposed to Motown."

The Internet is driving new fans to recordings by The Limits, now on the Cleopatra label. "It's good for marketing," says Levy. "It's good that people from Europe and Asia are downloading our songs.

"What's bad is that it's increased piracy by thousands of percent. This generation doesn't realize that music should be paid for," Levy says.

Levy was not completely surprised when he learned he would receive a LVMA Lifetime Achievement Award. "Some fans had alluded to it," says Levy. "I wasn't surprised, but I felt really, really humbled. Especially since I haven't lived [in Allentown in so long [a time]."

The Purple Owl, located off Union Boulevard, Allentown, in the vicinity of City Line Avenue, was one of the first Lehigh Valley stand-alone under-21 nightclubs.

Others included The Mad Hatter, Lehigh Street, Allentown; The Mod Mill, Center Valley, and King Arthur's Court, Route 309, Quakertown.

Kenneth Bray, former owner of the Purple Owl, has been a friend of Levy's since the 1960's. Bray has been planning the reunion concert.

Levy and The Limits, along with Tommy Zito and Uproar, another band that originally appeared at the Purple Owl, will perform at the reunion. The Large Flowerheads, a retro '60s flower power pop band with an enthusiastic following in the Valley, also will perform. A psychedelic light show, a mainstay at the Purple Owl, will be recreated at The Meadows. There will be guest appearances and a jam session.

Observes, Bray, "There was a music and subsequent culture explosion in the '60's. It's amazing how people of all ages love the musical innovations of that era. That music has never died, and with the Beatles' 50th year [anniversary "Ed Sullivan Show" and U.S. concerts] upon us, it's as relevant as ever."