After years of being a valued Lehigh Valley sideman as a guitarist, Jim Meyer is coming forward as the leader of his own group.

The Jim Meyer Group is in concert, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20, in the “Jazz Onstage” series, main stage, Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown.

“Jazz Onstage” is formerly the “Jazz Upstairs” series in the Rodale Community Room. The series was moved to the main stage after Miller Symphony Hall reopened because of lingering concerns about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Tickets for the concert are general admission. Livestream and 48-hour rental tickets are also available.

In the concert, Meyer will display his style of cool, contemporary jazz with melodic and groove-oriented tunes and the occasional funk influence.

Meyer will play selections from his two CDs, “Almost There” (2019) and “Searching” (2007), and will include a solo piece. “Searching,” on which Meyer played all the instruments, won a Lehigh Valley Music Award for Best Jazz CD in 2007. There will also be two or three numbers written by the group’s bassist Jim McGee.

Meyer will play electric and acoustic guitar. The latter “has more of an organic feel. The notes are very personal,” Meyer says.

In the past, Meyer was unable to give much time to writing compositions. “I had no time for my own projects,” he says. “I was pulled away by everyone else’s. My calendar was always full.

“I had to squeeze in time here and there to create something. When you just have two hours or so, you don’t know if you will feel creative or not. You can be trying to force something to happen that should happen naturally.”

Meyer, who worked in electronic sales at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., retired in 2016 after 40 years. He was a member of the Air Products corporate band The Difference, which won the first-ever Battle of the Corporate bands at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 2001.

Before his retirement, Meyer’s gigs included playing as a duo with singer-songwriter Steve Brosky, doing around 200 concerts a year. He also had a weekly solo spot at Easton’s Sette Luna for 15 years. He has performed with the Foztones, Kato, and the Kerry Blue Band.

The pace was brutal at times. “You wouldn’t believe it. You wouldn’t think it was possible. People asked me, ‘How did you do it?’ I just thought, ‘I’m doing a job and doing the best I can.’ I take it seriously.

“I love to play and perform, but I did that for so many years I had to step back.” Brosky and Meyer opened for famous acts, including B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Robin Trower, Robby Kreiger and Leon Russell.

Meyer tours regionally with polka artist Alex Meixner, playing guitar and banjo. “We grew up together on the same street in Coplay. I worked with his father Al. I always say I knew him six years before he was born.”

Meyer admits to having a major problem. He has difficulty promoting himself. The self-effacing guitarist is more interested in playing than describing his own talents.

With a slight smile, he hesitates when asked to describe his music. “It’s very difficult,” he says. “I’m in the middle of it. I can’t be objective.”

It’s an adjustment for him to be a leader of a group after so many years in supporting roles. He has played Miller Symphony Hall before as a member of McGee’s band New Kind of Talk.

McGee mixed and mastered Meyer’s albums at his recording studio, Spectrasound Recording, LLC, Quakertown. The two have worked together for years at venues and events. Meyer says, “We did a lot of little gigs for local businesses, like car dealerships and medical supply companies.”

The lineup for the Miller Symphony Hall will be many of the same musicians as were on “Almost There.” In addition to McGee, bass, there’s Craig Kastelnik, keyboard, organ; Mike Trach, saxophone, flute; Dan Gonzalez, drums, and Hector Rosado, conga and percussion.

Says Meyer, “I’m honored to be at Symphony Hall. I’m very fortunate to know these guys and be able to work with them. It’s going to be a great show. We’re going to have fun.”

Tickets: www.millersymphonyhall.org; 610-432-6715