Mountain Blog

We're looking forward to wrapping up the month of March on Sunday with a 7pm show at the Culture Center Theater.
Tickets are still available online and by phone at 800.594.TIXX. Tickets can be purchased locally at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.

You can read a feature by Bill Lynch on Mr. Paul Thorn, who'll make his sixth appearance on the show this Sunday, at the Charleston Gazette. Thorn's latest CD, Pimps & Preachers, is due out this June.

In other Paul Thorn news, the Tupelo, Miss. singer is planning to ask the audience to stick around after the finale song on Sunday to take part in filming a music video. We'll have all the details on Sunday so plan to stick around if you'd like to take part in the filming for an upcoming music video.

Monica Orosz at the Charleston Daily Mail featured former astroPuppies singer/songwriter Kelley Ryan, who is bringing "Twist" producer and long-time Mountain Stage pal Don Dixon to join her and the Mountain Stage Band.

Also on the bill Sunday are The Band of Heathens, making their second appearance, Peter Bradley Adams making his second appearance as as a solo performer, and WV's own Fox Hunt will bring their updated old-timey sound.

Visit our Press Release for more on each guest and we hope to see you on Sunday in Charleston. Don't forget to become a fan of Mountain Stage on Facebook!

Mountain Stage would like to thank everyone of you who came to see us in Morgantown, WV Sunday and our thanks to the team at WVU Arts & Entertainment. Visit our Broadcast Schedule to find out when you can listen to yourselves on the radio along with Patty Loveless, The Grascals, Leslie Stevens, Loudon Wainwright III and Pieta Brown.

In the meantime check out some photos on our MySpace page and if you haven't done so already, become a fan on facebook.

We are returning to Morgantown April 11 with a special show. This just in: Jakob Dylan & Three Legs will feature Neko Case and Kelly Hogan.

Neko and Kelly were on this week's radio broadcast singing songs from "Middle Cyclone," which you can hear now at NPR Music.

They'll contribute their harmony to songs from Dylan's latest, T Bone Burnett produced "Women & Country," available April 6. Click to preorder.

Also joining us are the Watson Twins, April Smith, The Tallest Man on Earth, and Clare & the Reasons.

Tickets for April 11 are on sale NOW at TicketMaster and locally at the Mountainlair box office on the campus of WVU. Charge buy phone at 304.293.SHOW. Keep an eye on the Mountain Stage Blog for more on this Sunday's recording here in Charleston.

Stay tuned to NPR Music for sets from Greg Brown and the late, great Vic Chesnutt. We've got interviews too on our YouTube channel "Backstage at Mountain Stage." Don't forget to grab the latest Podcast in our Archives or subscribe via iTunes.

You can preview the show on our Song of the Week Page where we've spotlighted Neko Case singing "The Pharoahs."

Find a station and air times in your area to tune in. Thank you, as always, for listening.

Mountain Stage mourns the loss of one of popular music's brightest stars, Alex Chilton. The former Box Tops singer and leader of Big Star made two appearances on Mountain Stage, first in 1992 and again in 1997.

Read his obituary from Memphis paper "Commercial Appeal" here.  

His performance of "Guantan Amerika" was included on our Mountain Stage Best of Volume 3 CD - available on CD or get the mp3 at Amazon. We've streamed the track below, featuring Ron Easley on bass and Doug Garrison on drums, along with Chilton on guitar and vocals. 

This Sunday, March 21, we head north to Morgantown, WV for a 7pm show at the Creative Arts Center on the campus of Big East Champion West Virginia University. Tickets are still available at TicketMaster.com, on campus at the Mountainlair box office, by calling 304.293.SHOW, or at the Creative Arts Center on show day.

If you're traveling for the show, here are some helpful directions to the Creative Arts Center:

From I-79
Exit I-79 at Exit 155 (Star City/West Virginia University).

From 68 West
Follow I-68 West towards Washington. I-68 will intersect I-79. Take I-79 North to Exit 155 (Star City/West Virginia University).

From the Star City/WVU exit — Exit 155
Follow the signs toward Morgantown (Rt. 7). After crossing the Star City bridge, go through the first traffic light and up the hill to the second light. At the third light, turn left into the Creative Arts Center parking lot.

Country star Patty Loveless will join us for her fifth appearance on Mountain Stage, armed with songs from her latest CD of classic country, "Mountain Soul II."

Bluegrass all-stars The Grascals are having a sale through March 30 where you can pick up their latest CD, "the Famous Lefty
Flynn's" at a reduced rate. You can also preorder at Amazon. They've been riding the roads with Hank Williams Jr., who guest stars on "Lefty Flynn," in anticipation of the CD's March 30 release. (Also on that Rowdy Friends Tour, past guest Eric Church).

The line-up is completed with California-based Leslie Stevens, who will join the Mountain Stage band for a set of tunes from her latest country-fied CD, "Roomful of Smoke." Stevens is taking to South By Southwest this week, then headed to Morgantown to join us. Read the Charleston Gazette's profile of the singer in this week's GAZZ.

Mountain Stage is looking on with great anticipation towards summer and tickets are on sale TODAY for a special summer Mountain Stage recording.

We'll return to the Clay Center on Friday, June 18 for an 8pm show to kick off Charleston's city-wide arts & entertainment festival, FestivALL Charleston. Our special guest, performing an extended set, will be Grammy-winning songwriter Marc Cohn.

According to the singer's blog, he's wrapping up production on "Listening Booth: 1970," his latest CD on Saguaro Road records.  The album features Marc’s personal interpretations of classic songs written by and/or made famous in 1970 by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Cat Stevens, John Fogerty and CCR, Smokey Robinson, Joe Cocker, Simon & Garfunkel, Eric Clapton and several more.

The album is produced by Grammy-winning producer John Leventhal (Shawn Colvin, record of the Year), who also just produced the latest album by Rosanne Cash, The List (Hear Cash on Mountain Stage at NPR Music)

Tickets for June 18 are on sale online via the Clay Center, at Taylor Books in downtown, Charleston, WV and by phone at 304.561.3570.

Stay tuned to FestivALL Charleston, June 18-27, for more events and announcements.

On Sunday April 11 we will be in Morgantown, WV at the Creative Arts Center on the campus of West Virginia University (Big East Champs!).

We've just added Clare & The Reasons, above, to the line-up along with Jakob Dylan, the Tallest Man on Earth, The Watson Twins and April Smith.

Tickets are on sale now online via TicketMaster, by phone at 304.293.SHOW, or at the Mountainlair ticket office on the campus of WVU. Click HERE for directions to the Creative Arts Center.

We've got more great music in store for this week's broadcast of Mountain Stage. Most stations will be airing an encore show featuring Texas Americana mainstays The Gourds, plus folk pioneer Tom Rush, indie rockers Backyard Tire Fire and The Deep Vibration and singer/songwriter (and recent pop revisionist) Susan Werner.

Find a station and airtime for Mountain Stage in your area and be sure to tell some friends when and where  they can tune in.

Tom Rush is widely renowned as a song interpreter, putting his own spin on tunes written by others. We have a shining example of that in our Song of the Week. Mr. Rush performs "Drift Away," a song that has been recorded in various styles in multiple decades. No one gives it the somber treatment that Rush does. He included it on his latest CD "What I Know" (click title to purchase), along with a few of his well known songs.

Click HERE to check out our latest Song of the Week.

This Sunday, March 14 at 4pm, the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences will host a Haitian Relief Concert featuring local music luminaries in review style performances. Members of our very own Mountain Stage Band will be among the nearly 20 groups scheduled to appear, which include the WV Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Ballet, Charleston Light Opera Guild and the Appalachian Children's Chorus.

Organizers say all proceeds will be donated through the Salvation Army. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children under 18, plus applicable fees. Available online at TheClayCenter.org or by calling 304.561.3570. Show starts at 4pm.

We've completed our line-up for March 21 Mountain Stage recording at the WVU Creative Arts Center in Morgantown, WV. Our guests will be Patty Loveless, The Grascals, Loudon Wainwright, Pieta Brown and, just announced, California's Leslie Stevens & The Badgers. Hear their song "Los Angeles" below.

Tickets are available ONLINE, by calling 304.293.SHOW, or at the Mountainlair Box Office on WVU's Campus. Doors open at 6:30pm and showtime is 7pm.

Some folks asked on a previous blog about how to find the WVU Creative Arts Center. Here are some helpful directions from the CAC Website.

From I-79
Exit I-79 at Exit 155 (Star City/West Virginia University).

From 68 West
Follow I-68 West towards Washington. I-68 will intersect I-79. Take I-79 North to Exit 155 (Star City/West Virginia University).

From the Star City/WVU exit — Exit 155
Follow the signs toward Morgantown (Rt. 7). After crossing the Star City bridge, go through the first traffic light and up the hill to the second light. At the third light, turn left into the Creative Arts Center parking lot.

As always, you can preview the broadcast on our Song of the Week page, featuring the Chris Collingwood-penned "Valley Winter Song," an appropriate song for those of us experiencing a seemingly never-ending winter.

Below is Larry Groce's interview with Chris and Adam from Fountains of Wayne, Backstage at Mountain Stage. There you'll find Larry's chats with Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies and Tom Wilson, aka Lee Harvey Osmond.

We've got some pictures up on our MySpace page by Chris Morris, including some from the late-shift post-jam at the Empty Glass. Chuck Prophet, who made his fifth appearance on Mountain Stage, treated us to a song from "¡Let Freedom Ring!" and some tasty covers of the Yardbirds and Iggy Pop.

We have a couple of weeks off from recording before we return to Morgantown March 21 with a show featuring Patty Loveless, the Grascals, Loudon Wainwright, Pieta Brown and more. Check out our Live Show Schedule for ticket info and come see us in person. We'll see you on the radio.