Mountain Blog

This week's broadcast features the harmonies of Louisville sisters The Watson Twins (who many were introduced to through their collaboration with Jenny Lewis, “Rabbit Fur Coat”); evocative Swedish folk singer The Tallest Man on Earth, Brooklyn-based chamber-pop group Clare and the Reasons, the soaring cabaret influenced sounds of April Smith & the Great Picture Show, and Jakob Dylan and Three Legs, featuring Neko Case & Kelly Hogan.

Jakob, Neko, and Kelly have all been on the show before so this collaboration was particularly special. Click here to take a look at the playlist, and visit this page to see a list of stations that carry Mountain Stage.

 

Our Song of the Week is a bit different. This episode was recorded only a few days after the Upper Big Branch mine disaster that killed 29 miners. Instead of a song from a single artist, we feature Larry Groce leading the group finale song from the end of the show - Merle Travis' miner's lament, “Dark as a Dungeon.”

As you know, Ra Ra Riot will appear this Sunday on Mountain Stage, along with JJ Grey, Susan Werner, Elizabeth & the Catapult, and Khaïra Arby. 

Over at West Virginia Public Radio's Classically Speaking blog, our friend Mona Seghatoleslami has posted her new interview with Ra Ra Riot violinist Rebecca Zeller that will air this Friday on West Virginia Morning. Thanks to the magic of the internet, you can hear it now! Mona says of the interview...

“…they have not one, but two string players (ok, guitars are string instruments too, but I mean the kind you’d normally find in an orchestra, bowed strings). Violinist Rebecca Zeller and cellist Alexandra Long are both members of the band … We talked about the transition from classical violin studies to being in a band. Zeller discusses the things that she had to learn and unlearn, and how she and Long come up with their parts and fit their instruments into the guitar-dominated world of pop-rock music"

I would like to note that in a world dominated by interviews built around vague, open ended questions about squishy topics like “inspiration” and “creative process,” it is quite refreshing to hear an interview that simply focuses on how one winds up as a violin player in an indie rock band, and what that experience is like. And while it’s not explicitly stated in the interview, one gets the impression that one of the things that inspires Ms. Zeller is the very real challenge of creating great sounding string parts that fit seamlessly into the context of modern pop music. Which she does quite well here:

Remember, if you can't catch the interview Friday's West Virginia Morning broadcast, you can listen to it here. And of course, be sure to get your tickets to this Sunday's show at the Culture Center and support indie rock on Mountain Stage! Check out the band's latest, The Orchard, on Amazon.