Mountain Blog

The Charleston Gazette is giving away five pairs of tickets to our FestivALL Charleston kick-off, Friday, June 19 at the Clay Center. Buddy Guy, Shemekia Copeland, Duke Robillard and Lil Ed & the Blues Imperials will be joining us and you could be, too! 

CLICK HERE to enter. You have to be a WV resident and submit your address, phone number and e-mail.

If you'd like to purchase yours ahead of time, GET TO IT! The tickets are reserved seating but one price, so the best ones go first. Go to the Clay Center Web site to purchase.

Mountain Stage continues its 26th season this summer with three live recordings just added to the Live Show Schedule.

Starting July 26 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, we'll feature the hard-to-pin-down style of songwriter Ben Kweller. His latest record Horses is a honky-tonk/country flavored record. His Web site is in the works, so visit his MySpace page and follow him on Twitter!

Also joining us is legendary roots-rocker Dave Alvin. Alvin has emerged with a new artistic direction (and new record). Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women features Alvin backed by an all-star group of female musicians including Cindy Cashdollar, Nina Gerber, Laurie Lewis, Christy McWilson, Sarah Brown, Amy Farris and Lisa Pankratz.

Alvin's long-time cohort and accordionist in the Blasters, Chris Gaffney, passed away last year and Alvin helped spearhead a tribute record, Man of Somebody's Dreams: A Tribute to the Songs of Chris Gaffney ,  featuring James McMurtry, Calexico, Los Lobos and Alejandro Escovedo. 

Also just added is newcomer Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers. Her new release, out now on Ramseur Records, finds the Shawnee, OK native melding atmospheric twang with her evocative lyrics and full-bodied voice. She shares a label with the Avett Brothers and the everybodyfields, and is currently out on tour with Langhorne Slim. 

Tickets are available NOW. You can order ON-LINE, charge by phone at 800.594.TIXX(8499) or stop by Taylor Books on Capitol Street in downtown Charleston.  

August 9 we will head over to The Clay Center for a show with swingin' blues maestro Marcia Ball. Fresh off her Blues Music Award for Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year, Ball is touring behind her latest CD for Alligator records, the Grammy nominated "Peace, Love & BBQ."  

Also lined up for August 9 is the moody, acoustic chamber-folk of Other Lives. If you're a fan of Ryan Adams or Matt Pond PA, then you'll surely dig Other Lives. Their self-titled record is out now on TBD Records.

Tickets will be available soon via the Clay Center Web site, and some tickets will be made available at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.

Stay tuned for the blog as we'll announce the tickets as soon as they become available. 

One August 16 we return to The Birthplace of Country Music, the small border town of Bristol TN/VA with a big place in the history books. We'll record our show at the Paramount Center for the Arts along historic State St. in Bristol. 

Three of the most respected men to come out of Texas - Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock and Joe Ely - have returned as The Flatlanders with a new record, Hills & Valleys.

Their debut album (that almost never was) preceded "Americana" by about 35 years.The housing crisis, natural disasters, immigration and the pale of the blue collar worker are all tackled on Hills & Valleys.

Also added to the bill is Prairie Home Companion favorites, Robin & Linda Williams, who have just released their latest CD, Buena Vista. 

We'll post ticket information here on the blog as soon as it becomes available.

If you were in the audience at our February recording featuring the Drive By Truckers and listened on the radio, you probably noticed a song missing from songwriter Steve Poltz's set.

Sometimes this happens due to time constraints placed on the radio broadcast. Thanks to NPR Music, however, we have as much time as we need.

Therefore you can hear "Sewing Machine," the remarkable final song of Steve Poltz's set, TODAY over at Mountain Stage's home at NPR Music. "Sewing Machine" was written, as Poltz tells it, as part of a songwriting game between Poltz and Bob Shneider. The results are as eccentric and wacky as Mr. Poltz himself.   

This is Poltz bringing up the tune, which features piano by A.J. Croce and a sewing machine sample, on his trusty iPhone. 

By his own admission, Poltz had very little sleep after driving from Memphis to Charleston for the show.

Poltz slapped his hands in the air, jumped, boogied and woogied and kept the audience in a trance. 

As you can see, his jacket, cowboy hat and button-up shirt were all lost during his performance- perhaps one of the most theatrical and engrossing performances of all time.

Here is part one of a video package put together in celebration of Mountain Stage's 25th Anniversary in December 2008.   It is culled from video footage from the show's first 12 or so years and features interviews and musical clips from that period, as well as background info on our host Larry Groce and other key members.

And part two... 

This weekend's radio broadcast features the acclaimed southern-gothic rockers from Athens, Ga the Drive By Truckers , Austin, TX string-band newcomers The Belleville Outfit, indie-pop trio The Spring Standards, the chronically sleep-deprived Steve Poltz and roots trio Sometymes Why. You're gonna dig the Trucker's version of Spooner Oldham/Freddie Weller's song "Lonley Women Make Good Lovers," sung by Shonna Tucker.

To find a station in your area that broadcasts Mountain Stage, click here , or you can listen to WV Public Radio's stream every Sunday at 3pm by clicking here. Tune in next week to NPR Music for extended sets featuring songs not heard on the radio.

Tune in to hear Steve Poltz (above) tell the hilarious story about how he came to write "You Were Meant For Me," the monster hit for Jewel.

More on that iPhone he's holding next week.

Here's a nice shot of the finale song, featuring Sometyme's Why's Aoife O'Donovan, Phoebe Hunt of the Belleville Outfit, Kristen Andreassen and Ruth Ungar Merenda of Sometymes Why, Heather Robb, James Smith and James Cleare of the Spring Standards and Steve Poltz, all joining for a soul-rock rendition of "Soul of a Man." Here's the playlist for the radio broadcast.

You can get a preview of the show over at our Song of the Week page. The Belleville Outfit, a string band from Austin are ready to release what will surely be their breakthrough album. Click here to hear their song "Sunday Morning."  

Anyone else hear pop-starlet Lenka on MTV's "The Hills" Monday night?

No?

Ok, us either, but we did read on Lenka's Web site that her song "Trouble is a Friend" (Available on Amazon)was used during an episode called "Keep Your Enemies Closer." 

Allow me to spoil it for you. The song comes in just as Lauren is forced to fire her incompetent best friend Stephanie, 19:41 minutes in, and continues over the end-credits. Get it? "Trouble" is a friend?

But, chances are if you didn't tune in on Monday, you'd be more likely to click over to NPR Music to hear the song, with four others, performed live. You'll have her songs in your head all day long while you ponder over Justin's confrontation with Audrina about that clandestine Brody sleepover (the shame).

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our live recording last night at the Cultural Center. There are some pictures up on our MySpace page, thanks to Chris Morris of Music in Motion Promotions. If you were in the audience, you can hear yourself, along with Martin Sexton, Rocco DeLuca & the Burden, Yarn, Ruthie Foster and Meaghan Smith during the weekend of July 10-12 in most areas.

Click here for our broadcast schedule and here for a list of stations in your area.  

Here is Rocco DeLuca & the Burden, a slide-guitar/drums duo with a little space-age manipulation by Bryan Ritchie. They blew away the crowd with tracks from their latest, Mercy, produced by Daniel Lanois. 

About mid-way through the set by YARN the building had to be evacuated when the fire-alarm began blaring throughout the Cultural Center. Thankfully it was a false-alarm and everyone was back inside with the music back underway in about 15 minutes. Thanks for sticking around!

I asked our photographer Brian Blauser if this had ever happened to him. "NEVER!" he said matter-of-factly. There's a first time for everything.

We never dwell too long on one show because there is always another in our sights. We'll put the band and crew on a bus June 7 and head to Princeton, WV for a 7 pm show at the new Chuck Mathena Center.

There we'll meet up with our guests for the evening, Mr. Steve Earle, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, King Wilkie, the Lovell Sisters and Sara Watkins of Nickelcreek. Tickets are on sale now and are available by phone at 877.425.5128.  

Steve Earle's latest CD Townes, available TOMORROW May 12, is the subject of a great New York Times article you can find HERE. The promotional efforts continue on to the Tavis Smiley Show on PBS Wednesday night, May 13. Check your local listings.

DTB on NPR Music - Those of you who tuned in to the radio this past weekend heard the Derek Trucks Band, whose set is being featured today over at NPR Music. Streaming audio, recorded LIVE, from Lenka, Dr. Dog, Jeff Ellis and Scrapomatic are all in-store for this week!

Stay tuned and don't get left out on the live music.

We'd like to say congratulations to some of our upcoming guests who won big at the Blues Music Awards last night (May 7) in Memphis. Presented by the Blues Foundation,  the awards (formerly known as the WC Handy Awards) are given out each year to the best and brightest in the blues genre.

Lil Ed & the Blues Imperials, who'll be joining us June 19 for a recording here in Charleston, took home BAND OF  THE YEAR. There should be no wonder why once you've witnessed the group in action. More on tickets in a bit.

Buddy Guy, the seminal blues man from Chicago, took home three awards, ALBUM OF THE YEAR and CONTEMPORARY BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR for his latest CD Skin Deep, and CONTEMPORARY BLUES ARTIST OF THE YEAR. Both Buddy and Ed will join us June 19, along with Shemekia Copeland and Duke Robillard, for a Mountain Stage recording at The Clay Center as part of our FestivALL Kick-Off event.

Tickets are available ONLINE, by phone at 304 561-3570,  or at the Clay Center Box Office.

Here's Buddy performing the title track and his voice is as clear as ever- and so is the message: "Underneath we all look the same."

Speaking of the Duke, Duke Robillard is featured on the cover of the most recent issue of Blues Revue magazine, the world's most read blues magazine. Click here to check it out.

Janiva Magness took home the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award last night. We're proud to have had Ms. Magness on Mountain Stage, so we can vouch for her win. Click over to NPR Music to get a glimpse of the Blues' Entertainer of the Year doing her thing right HERE.  Janiva is coming to Charleston for the annual Blues, Brews & BBQ event at the University of Charleston. You can find out more at FestivALLCharleston.com . 

This weekend's radio broadcast is from a sold-out show we did in February featuring a stellar line-up including The Derek Trucks Band (above), Australia pop-singer Lenka, Philly indie-rockers Dr. Dog, Huntington, WV's own Jeff Ellis and acoustic soul-blues duo Scrapomatic. Click HERE for a list of radio stations, or you can listen via streaming audio to WV Public Broadcasting's "Listen Live" Function by clicking HERE. Here's the playlist for a bit of a preview. 

Mike Mattison is an incredibly versatile singer, as evidenced by his appearance in two different bands on the same show! His blues duo with Paul Olsen opens up this weekend's show- My guess is you'll love the song "Crime fighter." They're joined by flute/keyboard player Kofi Burbridge, drummer Yonrico Scott and bassist Todd Smallie from the Derek Trucks Band for a couple of numbers also. 

We are treated to a catchy blast of sweet pop music from Australian-born California transplanted singer Lenka and her band, which includes plenty of keyboard and trumpet. She dedicated "We Will Not Grow Old" to Mountain Stage in honor of our 25th Anniversary. Thanks for the well wishes, Miss Lenka!  

Jeff Ellis released Covering the Distance last year on caustic-eye productions, but he's already at work on its follow-up. Jeff previews three new songs from the record in this segment.

He's got the same crew backing him up this time, including producer Eddie Ashworth (Sublime, Pennywise) and the stellar backing of Huntington musical luminaries Bud Carroll & the Southern Souls. We love to see a West Virginia boy continually knocking it out of the park.

An interesting fact surfaced when the guys in Dr. Dog arrived for their load-in. Turns out singer/guitarist and songwriter Scott McMicken (above) lived in Buckhannon, WV a couple of years in his early life. He didn't remember much about it, understandably, but we'll claim him as an honorary West Virginian anyhow. The band have listened to Mountain Stage for years and were happy to see what was "behind the mystique." Their swirling, wall-of-sound rock is as thick as the fog that sometimes fills the hills of Buckhannon. 

We hope you'll tune-in to hear what was a sold-out show here in Charleston. Be sure to tune in next week as the guest's sets arrive at NPR Music with some songs that weren't heard on the radio broadcast.

Stay tuned!

We're excited about our live recording this Sunday here in Charleston. Tickets are still available ON-LINE, in downtown Charleston at Taylor Books (226 Capitol St.) or by phone at 800.594.TIXX.

Chances are you're already familiar with one, if not all, of the performers visiting us, but HERE is our latest newsletter (PDF format, ADOBE required) if you'd like to get caught up on their latest. Thanks to Shawn Patterson for compiling it.

We'd love to see you in Charleston. We've got great shows coming up in June and tickets are already on-sale. If you havne't planned your trips to West Virginia yet, check out our Live Show Schedule and start making your travel plans.

Here is Roco DeLuca & the Burden's video for "Save Yourself," starring...you know who it is.

Speaking of Summer, we're gearing up full steam for FestivALL Charleston, the multi-faceted, city-wide arts and enterainment festival here in town. It's ten days of music, dance, theater- all the arts, all over town- and it's coming June 19-28. The FestivALL website has gone through a makeover and the schedule continues to build! Check it out HERE and come see us as a "A City Becomes a Work of Art." 

Tickets are on sale now for Mountain Stage at the Chuck Mathena Center in beautiful Princeton, WV. We're proud to be a part of the inaugural season for this new performing arts center in southern WV.

Tickets are $18 & $20, with applicable service fees, and are available exclusively through the Chuck Mathena Center box office, by calling 877.425.5128 or you can order online at www.chuckmathenacenter.org.

Joining us in Princeton will be seminal songwriter Steve Earle, who is releasing an album tribute to one of his predecessor's and mentors, Townes Van Zandt. You can sample some of Townes on Steve's website and there is an EP available on iTunes.

Legend of the bluegrass circuit for a better part of four-decades, mandolin player and tenor singing Doyle Lawson will bring his latest class of Quicksilver to Mountain Stage for his fourth appearance on the show. You can read a review of the band's latest on the Bluegrass Blog and preview three songs from their newest release, Lonely Street, at DoyleLawson.com.

One of the more progressive names in Bluegrass music is King Wilkie. The band came to prominence amidst the initial Nickel Creek buzz, but the band has evolved into more of a chamber folk ensemble that play their unique, meticulously arranged music on acoustic instruments.

Their previous record, Low Country Suite, was a beautiful, captivating effort and their latest, King Wilkie Presents: The Wilkie Family Singers, is another broad step in the continuing evolution of the group. Here's a synopsis of the record from Dirty Linen.

The album features guest spots by Peter Rowan, Abigail Washburn, Sam Parton of the Be Good Tanyas, Robyn Hitchcock and David Bromberg. Listening to some of the arrangements, with horns, poppy piano, and lots of vocal "aahs" and "oohs," this could be their Sgt. Pepper's ...

Speaking of Nickel Creek, our mountain stage in Princeton will also feature founding member and fiddler Sara Watkins , who is touring in support of her debut solo record, produced by John Paul Jones.

Sara keeps pretty impressive company. She showed up with her brother Sean and Jon Foreman as a member of Fiction Family not too long ago, so it'll be interesting to see what she has in store for us in Princeton.

Another exciting group emerging on the bluegrass scene is the Lovell Sisters. Get a hint of their new record, Time  To Grow, by launching the Lovell Sisters Music Player. Jessica, Megan and Rebecca have opted to remain independent after a foray with a major label didn't focus on their burgeoning songwriting skills.

The girls have already traveled far and wide, with dates in Northern Ireland, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands, so we are happy to bring them to Mercer County, WV.

Check out the live-show schedule for more upcoming dates and stay tuned to the blog for lots of extras and brand new information.

Have you heard this week's Song of the Week yet? It's a special treat as we get to hear the Mountain Stage theme song in its entirety, as peformed by the composer and host of the show, Larry Groce.

We took the show to Grafton, WV in May 2008, home of the International Mother's Day Shrine, to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the special holiday.

When a guest had to cancel due to health problems, Larry agreed to step in an do a set of "Mother Songs." He included a special rendition of "A Simple Song," the song you hear abbreviated every week at the beginning of Mountain Stage.

You can hear the song, with moving lyrics appropriate for Mother's Day, by going to our Song of the Week page. 

You can hear Larry's full set, along with music by Lucy Kaplansky, Rory Block, Sara Hickman and the Hillbilly Gypsies on this weekend's edition of Mountain Stage.

Click here for a list of stations in your area, or you can listen on-line via the WV Public Radio web-stream (click the link to open). Log on Sunday at 3pm for the Mountain Stage Mother's Day Celebration.

Living legend and icon of folk music Joan Baez has released a deluxe collector's edition of her acclaimed album Gone from Danger which includes a second disc recorded entirely on Mountain Stage in 1997.

This special edition of Mountain Stage featured Baez in addition to many of the songwriters who contributed tracks to Gone from Danger. Joan is joined by Dar Williams, Sinead Lohan, Richard Shindell and Betty Elders.

Also on the expanded edition is a never-before released concert favorite, "Long Bed From Kenya" and a duet with Lohan on Bob Dylan's "To Ramona."

"We're delighted to be able include this performance on this CD," says Baez's manager Mark Spector, "It's such a great listen."

The Mountain Stage staff is generously credited in the linear notes, including chief engineer and co-founder of the show, Francis Fisher, who  mixed the original recording for broadcast.

You can pick the record up on Joan's own label, Bobolink, here.

Mountain Stage is honored to be associated with such a great album from a seminal artist like Baez. She's made four appearances on Mountain Stage, most recently in 2003 (pictured above).

Joan's new studio record, Day After Tomorrow, is produced by an upcoming guest, Steve Earle, and features instrumentation by Wheeling, WV native Tim O'Brien. You can sample Day After Tomorrow on Joan's MySpace.

Baez has been especially active in recent months. She has guested on albums by John Mellencamp and Thea Gilmore, appeared on a tribute to Judy Collins and received the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award at the Americana Music Association's seventh annual awards show.

She performed at the First Inaugural Peace Ball following the presidential inauguration. Grammy-winning classical guitarist Sharon Isbin's Journey To The New World contains vocals by Baez as well as a guitar suite comprised of songs from Baez's early career.  Most recently she performed at a concert to celebrate the 90th birthday of Pete Seeger.

As a matter of fact, today she will make a special guest appearance at Songs of Survival: Voices from Burma, a benefit event for the Foundation for the People of Burma at Fort Mason in San Francisco.