Mountain Blog

This week’s encore broadcast of Mountain Stage features the New Orleans jazz ensemble The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, along with roots music luminary Darrell Scott, Irish-American supergroup Solas, singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave, and newcomer Rosi Golan.

Click here to find a station and time where you can listen in your area. If there’s a song you’re hoping to hear, check out theshow’s playlist. And click here to see our entire schedule of upcoming broadcasts.

Highly regarded as a performer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter, Darrell Scott has seen his songs covered by more than 70 artists, including the Dixie Chicks, Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, Faith Hill, Guy Clark, Sam Bush, Tim McGraw, Kathy Mattea and Garth Brooks. A Kentucky native, Scott excels on dobro, mandolin and guitar, and earned a degree in poetry from Tufts University. He has played on hundreds of sessions, and in 2001 was named “Songwriter of the Year” by the Nashville Songwriters Association.

In 2010, Scott joined Robert Plant’s Band of Joy, along with Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin and Byron House. His new album Long Ride Home features contributions from some of country music’s most experienced session players, including West Virginia Music Hall of Fame member Charlie McCoy. Hear him discuss this and more in our latest "Backstage at Mountain Stage" video.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is perhaps the only group that can claim to have shared stages with the Grateful Dead, Elvis Costello, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, 2 Live Crew, and the Black Crowes. They're credited with revitalizing the brass band tradition in New Orleans, spreading it around the world, to more than 30 countries on five continents.

They’ve been featured guests on albums by David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Dr. John and the Modest Mouse; and the city of New Orleans now has an official Dirty Dozen Brass Band Day.

The group is celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now, and preparing for the release their new album Twenty Dozen on May 1. You can hear a preview of their performance via our Mountain Stage Song of the Week.

Celtic supergroup Solas has been called “the first truly great Irish band to arise from America.” Leader Seamus Egan was a teen prodigy who recorded his first album at age 16 and toured with Ralph Stanley and Peter, Paul and Mary. He formed Solas in 1994, and their current lineup includes co-founder Winifred Horan, guitarist Eamon McElholm, Mick McAuley, Eamon McElholm, and Niamh Varian-Barry.

Solas fans include Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris and rap producer Timbaland, who sampled a Solas track on his radio hit “All Ya’ll.” Their latest is Turning the Tide.

For eight years, the Texas singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimmy LaFave honed his skills by hosting open mike nights in Austin. With a grassroots approach that blends country, blues, folk and rock 'n' roll, LaFave was named Best Singer-Songwriter at the Austin Music Awards, and veteran rock critic Dave Marsh called him “One of America's greatest voices."

LaFave was a participant in the "Ribbon of Highway - Endless Skyway” tour which paid tribute to the spirit of Woody Guthrie, and featured on the resulting live double album. In 2007, LaFave’s showed off his country side on Cimarron Manifesto. His latest release is Favorites 1992–2001. Every the charmer, LaFave, who is a Texan by way of Oklahoma, begins his set by welcoming the West Virginia audience to the Big 12.

Israeli born singer-songwriter Rosi Golan didn’t pick up a guitar until she was 19, when she heard a radio commercial advertising a sale at her local Guitar Center. Since then, she’s amassed quite an audience, thanks to songs from her debut The Drifter & The Gypsy being featured on One Tree Hill and Private Practice, and in the film Dear John. Recently, Golan sang “Set The Fire To The Third Bar” with Snow Patrol on the band’s recent appearance on David Letterman. Her current release is Lead Balloon.

Find a radio station in your area where you can listen by clicking here, and connect with us on Facebook to stay in touch with the latest information, and follow us on Twitter for even more.

Thanks for listening to Mountain Stage!

This week’s special encore broadcast of Mountain Stage features country music legend Billy Joe Shaver, banjo man Noam Pikelny, Nashville singer-songwriter Matraca Berg, the Caleb Klauder Country Band, and Canadian fiddler April Verch. Click here to find a station and time where you can listen in your area. If there’s a song you’re hoping to hear, check out the show’s playlist. And click here to see our entire schedule of upcoming broadcasts.

Billy Joe Shaver is the original Honky Tonk Hero. Revered by everyone who’s anyone as one of the greatest songwriters of the 20^th century and beyond, Shaver first came to the attention of music lovers when Waylon Jennings filled nearly an entire album with Shaver’s songs.

In his 6^th appearance on the show, Shaver plays a few old favorites, but also shares a few new tunes: The autobiographical “Wacko From Waco,” which chronicles a much-publicized shooting that Shaver was involved in, and the tell-it-like-is anthem “The Get Go.” As always, you can catch a preview of his performance via our Mountain Stage song of the week, the bittersweet “Live Forever,” which Shaver wrote with his late son, guitarist Eddy Shaver.

You’ll also hear from Noam Pikelny & Friends. A charter member of Punch Brothers, in 2010 Steve Martin awarded Pikelny the first ever “Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass,” describing Pikelny as “a player of unlimited range and astonishing precision.” Pikelny brings songs from Beat The Devil and Carry A Rail, along with his friends, fellow Punch Brothers Gabe Witcher and Chris Eldridge, bass player Mark Schatz.

You’ll also hear from country singer-songwriter Matraca Berg. One of Nashville’s most revered and sought-after songwriters, Matraca Berg’s tunes have been recorded by Linda Ronstadt, Reba McEntire, Dusty Springfield, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Suzy Bogguss, Pam Tillis, and Martina McBride.

You’ll hear her play her song “Strawberry Wine,” which was a career-defining hit for Deana Carter in the 90’s, and “You and Tequila,” which was recently taken to the top of the country charts by Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter. Berg is backed on guitar by her husband Jeff Hanna, who also happens to be a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

The April Verch Band and the Caleb Klauder Country Band round out the show. Building on Klauder’s intense love of honky-tonk, rockabilly, outlaw and early country, and infusing the songs with Caleb's dry, dusty voice and mature songwriting, the Caleb Klauder Country Band is a rising star in today's Americana pantheon. You can read more about Klauder here.

April Verch is a young, yet internationally renowned Canadian fiddler, singer, songwriter and stepdancer who roots music luminary Dirk Powell called “… a rare mix of all the technique and super-flashy things, along with the deep soul and tradition that comes from having grown up with the music.” Her 8^th album, That’s How We Run, braces southern mountain and old time music with her plucky Canadian roots.

Find a radio station in your area where you can listen by clicking here, and connect with us on Facebook to stay in touch with the latest information, and follow us on Twitter for even more.

Thanks for listening to Mountain Stage!

Mountain Stage returns to your radio this weekend with another premiere episode of live performance radio. You’ll hear from oddball rockers Dr. Dog, indie-folk sensation Mountain Goats, the multi-talented Nellie McKay, road warriors Red Wanting Blue, and stringband Spirit Family Reunion. Click here to see a list of stations and times where you can listen in your area. If there’s a song you’re hoping to hear, view the playlist by clicking here. And as always, you can preview the show via the Mountain Stage Song of the Week – This time, it’s Dr Dog, with their psychedelic jam “Turning the Century.”  

Founded by guitarist Toby Leaman and drummer Scott McMicken, the Philadelphia-based Dr. Dog is part of a long tradition of D.I.Y. pop oddballs who blend classic rock sounds with lo-fi recording techniques and an apparent disregard for current trends. Through the years, the band’s lineup has included more than 20 members and, at one time, included a one-string guitarist in a skintight skeleton costume and a member whose sole task was to dance in the crowd dressed in a tuxedo.

The group’s 2002 release, Toothbrush, found its way to Jim James of My Morning Jacket who asked the group to open for MMJ’s first tour. In 2007, We All Belong earned the group opening slots for Wilco and the Raconteurs, and landed them on a number of late-night television shows. Dr. Dog’s current release it titled Be the Void.

While living in California and working as a psychiatric nurse, John Darnielle began recording as the Mountain Goats in 1991. In more than two decades, the singer/songwriter has released a varied body of work that has taken him from an intentionally hiss-filled cassette releases to a more polished album for the 4AD label. The Sunset Tree, released in 2005, featured covers that were individually hand-painted by Darnielle, and, in 2011, All Eternals Deck was recorded in four different studios with four different producers. His current release - his 16th to date - is titled Transcendental Youth.

Born in London and raised in bohemian Harlem by her actress mother, vivacious and multi-talented Nellie McKay quickly set a new standard for diversity and creativity. Just 27, her resume would be impressive for someone twice her age.

To date, McKay has done Brecht on Broadway, opened for Lou Reed at Carnegie Hall, sung Woody Allen movie songs at the Hollywood Bowl, dueted with Eartha Kitt and Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, and played Hilary Swank’s sister in the 2007 film “P.S. I Love You.” Her 2004 debut was a two-CD set on Columbia Records that drew comparisons to Randy Newman, jazz vocalist Blossom Dearie and Cole Porter. In 2010, she released, Home Sweet Mobile Home, featuring production from her mother Robin Pappas and creative input from David Byrne.

Led by singer-songwriter Scott Terry, Red Wanting Blue is proudly based in Columbus, Ohio, but is sometimes referred to as “America’s local band.”

With the aid of positive word of mouth and an unwavering perseverance, Red Wanting Blue has established a devoted following in and around the Midwest where the band regularly fills clubs reserved for bigger names. Red Wanting Blue’s latest studio recording From the Vanishing Point has been called the band’s coming-of-age album and, and is its first to be recorded for a label after several self-released records. The record debuted in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, another testament to the band’s loyal and growing fanbase.

Based out of Brooklyn, Spirit Family Reunion plays music heavily influenced by traditional mountain string band music, with drums, an occasional accordion and lots of soul. The band has already performed at the Newport Folk Festival and opened for the late Levon Helm and the Alabama Shakes. Drawing comparisons to Felice Bros and Old Crow Medicine Show, the band cut its teeth performing on the street corners, farmer's markets and subway stations of New York City while its songwriting was nurtured during the band's year-long residency at the Lovin' Cup Café. The group’s debut album is titled “No Separation.” 

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Advance tickets for this Sunday's Mountain Stage show featuring the Robert Cray Band have sold out. If any additional tickets become available -- and they usually do -- they will be placed on sale beginning at 5 pm at the Culture Center. Follow Mountain Stage on Twitter for the latest about this.

This is our last show of 2012, and it's going to be great. Along with Cray, you'll also hear sets from blues great Shemekia Copeland, Kelly Hogan, and Caravan of Thieves. There's a lot more coming in 2013. Click here to see our current schedule of live shows. Thanks for supporting Mountain Stage!

Mountain Stage returns this week with a premier episode featuring the acclaimed Americana-Mexican fusion band David Wax Museum. You’ll also hear from guitarist-singer-producer Chuck Prophet, sweet harmonies from duo Barnaby Bright, an acoustic set from Grammy-winner Jesse Harris, and folk mainstay Lucy Kaplansky makes her tenth appearance. Click here for a complete list of stations where you can listen to Mountain Stage, and click here to see our entire schedule of upcoming episodes. And preview this week’s broadcast via our MountainStage Song of the Week. This time, it’s Lucy Kaplansky's heartbreaking goodbye to her Mother, “Sleep Well.”

Named “Americana Artist of the Year” at the the 2010 Boston Music Awards, David Wax Museum creates a vibrant hybrid of traditional Mexican folk and American music. While attending college in Missouri, David Wax spent summers working in rural Mexico, and finished his degree at Harvard before heading back to the Mexican countryside to study its rich folk music tradition on a year-long fellowship. Together with Suz Slezak, the pair uses Latin rhythms, call-and-response shouts, accordion and donkey jawbones to create a sound that is truly unique to the American continent.

Based out of his California, singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Chuck Prophet has worked with and had songs recorded by a who's who of music luminaries, including Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Kim Richey, Heart, Mofro, and Kelly Willis. Among his most notable collaboration is with roots music great and “genre unto himself” Alejandro Escovedo, who has co-written his last few albums with Prophet. Often compared to heavyweights like Tom Petty, Alex Chilton and Ray Davies, Prophet’s latest, Temple Beautiful, showcases his own signature blend of rock, folk and punk.

Raised in Chicago by a piano-playing mathematician and a homemaker, Lucy Kaplansky began singing in bars when she was a teenager. When she was just out of high school, she moved to New York City where, along with Suzanne Vega, The Roches, Steve Forbert, John Gorka, and Shawn Colvin, she became part of the renaissance of the Greenwich Village folk scene. A Renascence woman, Kaplansky has also earned a doctorate in psychology and started a private practice. In addition to her six solo releases on Red House Records, Kaplansky was a member of folk supergroups Red Horse (with Gorka and Eliza Gilkyson) and Cry Cry Cry (with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell). Her latest release is titled Reunion.

Guitarist and songwriter Jesse Harris first came into prominence on Norah Jones' 2002 Grammy-winning Come Away With Me. The success of Jones' debut helped bring Harris' songwriting abilities to the music community's attention and led to his collaborations with other contemporary artists as well as a label deal for his band, the Ferdinandos. The soundtrack to Ethan Hawke's "The Hottest State" featured versions of Harris' songs by performed by artists including Willie Nelson, Bright Eyes, The Black Keys, Feist and Emmylou Harris. His latest - and 11th - release, “Sub Rosa,” was recorded in Rio de Janeiro with a group of stellar Brazilian musicians who weave Brazilian-influenced arrangements into Harris’ understated folk-pop.

Barnaby Bright - Since the release of its 2009 debut, “Wake the Hero,” the duo known as Barnaby Bright - Nathan and Becky Bliss - has garnered high praise for its songwriting and sound. The group’s music - which features guitars, harmonium, banjo, ukulele, thumb pianos and stunning harmonies - has been featured on television shows including “ER” and “Days of our Lives.” The follow-up EP, “Gravity,” was named one of the “Top 100 Records of the Year” by Amazon.com. The pair average 40,000 miles and 200 shows a year, and were recently among the finalists at the 2012 Mountain Stage NewSong competition held at Lincoln Center in NYC.

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