Mountain Blog

This weekend we're going to record at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY which is just across the river from Huntington, WV.

Mountain Stage received a nice write-up in the Herald-Dispatch - an interview with Larry Groce, Andy Ridenour and Kym Warner of The Greencards.

Click HERE to read the story and HERE to get your tickets for our 7pm show in Ashland. More details in our LIVE SHOW SCHEDULE.

This weekend's radio show is an encore broadcast recorded at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA. Our friends at WXPN hosted Mountain Stage featuring Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Martin Sexton, the Cowboy Junkies, Ben Arnold and Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman of the Hooters.

Find a station near you by clicking HERE or tune in via WV Public Radio's live stream this Sunday at 3pm.

September 27 we'll do a show at the Culture Center Theater. We have a couple of exciting guests in the works, so keep an eye right here for those announcements. We've got all our Men At Work on it as we speak.

We've added songwriter and actor Jill Hennessy to the lineup September 29 at the Clay Center, along side the Indigo Girls, Chris Smither and Alison Browne. Some of you might recognize Jill as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh from the hit TV series Crossing Jordan, but she's got an album of folk-rock just out that will establish her as a serious songwriter as well.

Tickets are going FAST for this one, so visit the Clay Center.org or Taylor Books for tickets.

We're already looking towards November also with Federico Aubelle and the exciting new super group, WPA- featuring Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek), Luke Bulla (Jerry Douglas Band) and Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket), joining us November 8.

November 15 we'll feature the Vagabond Opera, a gypsy-fied orchestra of madness. Just up our alley!

Both November shows will go down at the Culture Center Theater and tickets are already available. So mark your calendars and get 'em while you can. 

This weekend we're heading to the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY. We'll host Nanci Griffith (above), The Greencards, Todd Snider, Ashleigh Flynn and Holsapple & Stamey.

You can read all about it, including more information on upcoming shows, our podcasts, Song of the Week, facebook and more, in the latest edition of OUR NEWSLETTER (PDF reader required).

Forgot to mention in yesterday's post that you can get a glimpse at this weekend's radio broadcast via our  Song of the Week  page, where we have a stellar version of "Skin Deep," performed live by Buddy Guy. It's a great song and Buddy is in top vocal form. Tune in this weekend on a RADIO STATION NEAR YOU to hear much more from Buddy, Shemekia Copeland (watch her interview Backstage in the post below), Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials and Duke Robillard and his band. 

Stay tuned to NPR Music today for a set from Brooklyn based indie-pop band King Wilkie. Not sure if that description does them justice. They are a group that has evolved out of the "Post-O'Brother" era to become a unique, captivating group under the direction of Reid Burgess who revised the group upon moving to Brooklyn. Their latest, King Wilkie Presents: The Wilkie Family Singers, has more in common sonically with the Beatles than Bill Monroe, that's for sure, although they close out with a nice fiddle tune. 

This weekend's Radio Broadcast features a blues line-up that can't be beat. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Buddy Guy does an extended set, plus outstanding performances by Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, Duke Robillard and Shemekia Copeland. For a list of stations in your area, CLICK HERE to see where and when to tune in. You can also listen online via the WV Public Broadcasting streaming audio HERE, This Sunday at 3pm.  

You can get a sneak peak right now thanks to two new videos to your YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/mtnstage: One is a blues medley by Buddy Guy, the other an in-depth interview with Shemekia Copeland, spliced with performance footage from the show. Big thanks to Bob Wilkinson and Andy Ridenour for producing the latest video installments.

Legendary guitarist with the Blasters and the seminal band X, Dave Alvin has a varied career, stylistically and musically speaking. Alvin returns to record for Mountain Stage for the sixth   time this Sunday, July 26, at the Culture Center Theater. Also joining us are Ben Kweller, Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers, The Duke & the King, and Cyril Neville.

Alvin made two solo stops and four appearances on Mountain Stage with The Guilty Men. This time around Alvin has built up a tremendous super-group of female performers - calling themselves the Guilty Women. A number of these women - Cindy Cashdollar, Nina Gerber, Laurie Lewis, Christy McWilson, Sarah Brown, Amy Farris and Lisa Pankratz - have appeared on Mountain Stage before, either on their own as members of other groups.

Alvin has also played a large role in the production of a tribute to his friend, and longtime Guilty Man, Chris Gaffney, "Man of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute to the Songs of Chris Gaffney." Gaffney and his band, The Hacienda Brothers, appeared on Mountain Stage in 2006.

Tickets for this Sunday are available online, at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston, or at the Culture Center Theater on the Capitol Grounds on show-day. We look forward to seeing you there.

This just in from Austin, TX: The legendary Flatlanders — Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore — will appear on The Late Show With David Letterman on Tuesday, July 21.  

The following day the group heads overseas for a three week tour of Europe, performing in France, Switzerland, Ireland and England, in support of their latest album, Hills and Valleys (New West Records).

Upon their return, they will record for National Public Radio broadcast of Mountain Stage on Aug. 16 along with The Robert Cray Band and Robin and Linda Williams, Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson and Mike Seeger. (The episode will broadcast in October.)

Hills and Valleys topped the Americana Charts for five weeks and garnered tremendous praise from such publications as Spin, Rolling Stone, Mojo, Uncut, Esquire Magazine, Paste, Revolver and Maverick Magazine, to name but a few.

The Flatlanders is comprised of three of Texas’ most respected singer/songwriters - Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock. Since the release of Hills and Valley’s earlier this year, the group has toured North America relentlessly.

Hills And Valleys was produced by Grammy® Award winning producer Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chicks, Home), who also appears on the album playing acoustic guitar, Dobro, pedal, steel and more.

This weekend's radio broadcast , recorded at the new Chuck Mathena Center in Princeton, WV features  Steve Earle, Sara Watkins, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, King Wilkie and the Lovell Sisters.

Brimming from start to finish with spectacular musicianship, great songwriters and great singing, this Mountain Stage radio show offers the best in modern American music, with lots of nods to the greats (Jimi Hendrix, Townes Van Zandt, Lindsey Buckingham and John Hartford all have direct influence on this episode).  

You can preview the show with our Song of the Week featuring Sara Watkins, former Nickel Creek fiddler with a solo album of her own, doing a John Hartford classic "Long Hot Summer Days." She even incorporates a Hartford-style stomp board (above) and she leaves nothing behind when it comes to her vocal. A great performance of a great "summer" song.

A list of radio stations and air-times can be found HERE. If we're not on in your area, log on to WVpubcast.org and click the Listen Live button (above) this Sunday, July 19, at 3pm to hear the show via streaming audio.

Haven't found us on Facebook yet? We're approaching 3,000 fans and we want you to be one of them.

Go to facebook.com/mountainstage and become a fan! It's a great way to give us some feedback and stay up to date on the latest radio and Web content.

Over at NPR music we have complete sets by Martin Sexton, Rocco DeLuca & the Burden and true blues and soul from Ruthie Foster. Stay tuned to npr.org/mountainstage for Brooklyn-based roots group Yarn (above) and pop-singer/songwriter Meaghan Smith.

We're about a week away from our upcoming live show on July 26 with Dave Alvin & Guilty Women, Ben Kweller , Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers, Cyril Neville and The Duke & The King.

Read more in our Press Release and get your tickets online, by calling 800.594.TIXX or by stopping by Taylor Books on Capitol St. in downtown, Charleston. We'll see you there!

Click over to BLURT magazine to read a great review of a Holsapple & Stamey concert by Fred Mills, who cut his teeth on their early work with the dBs' and has been following them ever since. Their Web site is hinting at a reunion album, but if you're uninitiated, CLICK HERE.

Holsapple & Stamey will appear on Mountain Stage at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY on  August 2. Get your tickets HERE and we'll see you in Ashland. Also joining us will be Nanci Griffith, The Greencards, Todd Snider and Ashleigh Flynn.

We're excited to add our good friends in Cracker to the line-up August 9 at the Clay Center. You can get tickets here or at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston. Charge by phone at 304.561.3570. 

Cracker has released Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey which you can preview on their Web site. They also have several videos from the new record on YouTube. This will be Cracker's 7th time on Mountain Stage since 1992, including a trip as Camper Van Beethoven.

Other guests on that recording will be the Blues Music Award's Pinetop Perkins: Piano Player of the Year, Marcia Ball, blues-rockers Hill Country Revue (featuring members of the North Mississippi All-Stars), indie-folk from Oklahoma band Other Lives and Maia Sharp. 

This weekend's  radio broadcast  features the impeccable Martin Sexton, Rocco DeLuca & the Burden's eerie and powerful drum/vocal/resonator guitar combo, the fantastic gospel-soul from Ruthie Foster, Brooklyn's Americana troupe Yarn and Canadian pop-newcomer Meaghan Smith.

A complete list of stations and airtimes can be found HERE and you can preview the show NOW over at our Song of the Week page.

No station in your area? You can stream the show Sunday at 3 pm via WV Public Radio's LISTEN NOW function.

Thanks to podcasts, you can take the show with you.
If you happen to miss a radio broadcast, or didn't catch the whole thing, remember you can always take an mp3 with you by visiting our ARCHIVES page at mountainstage.org. Just right-click on that speaker icon (beside the photo) to save the file to your computer.

It's a great way to hear what you missed or listen to your favorite parts over and over again. You'll also find a playlist link there, as well as links to each guest artists' home page if you hear something you like.

You can grab our most recent podcast, featuring Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Holmes Brothers, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Howie Beck and Dale Ann Bradley, and much more, on the Archives page. 

Maia Sharp on All Things Considered - In case you missed this great interview with Maia Sharp on ATC yesterday, you can hear it over at NPR.org. Maia joins us on Mountain Stage, August 9 at the Clay Center.

Tickets are available at the Clay Center or by phone at 304.561. 3570. 

We've added Roots/Jazz/Bluegrass luminary Alison Brown to our Tuesday, September 29 recording at The Clay Center here in Charleston alongside Indigo Girls and Chris Smither. You can preview Brown's latest CD, filled with her trademark jazz-grass banjo, over at Compass Records.

Brown was recently featured, along with recent guest Dale Ann Bradley and WV native Missy Raines, in a high-profile Wall Street Journal Article, " The Sisterhood of Bluegrass." 

Tickets are available for September 29 at The Clay Center or by calling -304-561- 3570. 

As previously noted, talented songwriter and singer Maia Sharp will visit Mountain Stage on August 9 in Charleston, WV at the Clay Center. This afternoon she's visiting with Melissa Block on NPR's All Things Considered to talk about her latest CD, Echo.  (All Things Considered airs at 4pm on WV Public Radio; to stream the program, by click HERE.)

Also joining us August 9 will be blues pianist/singer Marcia Ball, electric blues rocker Hill Country Review, indie-folk band Other Lives and one more TBA. Visit our Live Show Schedule for how to buy tickets.

This weekend's radio broadcast features some outstanding talent which can be previewed over on the Song of the Week page. We've given you a glimpse of Meaghan Smith with her song "If You Asked Me." The live version is stripped down compared to the studio version, but it swings just as hard.

The whole broadcast is talent-packed, with mesmerizing sets by Rocco DeLuca & The Burden, versatile singer Martin Sexton, soaring gospel-soul from Ruthie Foster and Brooklyn Americana band Yarn. Go to our List of Stations for a radio station and airtime in your area.

Can't hear Mountain Stage in your area? Tune in online.

Episode 7 in our series Backstage @ Mountain Stage is online now, featuring Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers, formerly of Archers of Loaf.

Hear Bachmann talk about the break-up of AoL, his decision to carry on and his latest sources of inspiration in this interview with Larry Groce, spliced with some performance footage, in the video below.

We had the great fortune to video some conversation between a few of our guests and Mountain Stage host Larry Groce in past months. The interviews have been edited by WV Public Broadcasting's Bob Wilkinson with performance footage done by Bennett Chandler. 

 

Here is Greg Brown, episode #6. Head over to NPR Music to hear Brown's complete performance.

Head over to Wilkinson's YouTube Channel for previous episodes featuring Vic Chesnutt, Neko Case, Lee Harvey Osmond, Cowboy Junkies and Fountains of Wayne. Our official YouTube page is in the works, we just couldn't wait to get this out.

Ten-time Mountain Stage guest Chris Smither has just been announced as the second guest to join us for a special Tuesday recording of Mountain Stage in Charleston, WV at the Clay Center.

Along with the Indigo Girls, making their seventh appearance, Smither will be with us on the day his newest CD, Time Stands Still, hits record stores nationwide. The record ties to WV nicely, as it contains "Miner's Blues" from early country-blues pioneer, and West Virginia native, Frank Hutchison. 

Visit our LIVE SHOW SCHEDULE for more info. For tickets, call the Clay Center Box Office at 304.561.3570 or buy online at www.theclaycenter.org. Some tickets are also available at Taylor Books on Capitol St. in downtown Charleston.  

If your Fourth of July celebration plans include spending some time with the radio, then we've got a great encore presentation lined up for your listening pleasure. Featured performers are songwriting great Mary Chapin Carpenter, indie-folk star Elvis Perkins in Dearland, soul-blues from the Holmes Brothers, songwriter Howie Beck and 2-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the year (2007, 2008) Dale Ann Bradley. 

You can preview the broadcast over at the Song of the Week page. We feature Bradley's version of  "Me and Bobby McGee" with her all-star band featuring (from left) Jeremy Abshire (now fiddling for the Grascals), banjo player Ramona Church, MVP-bassist Mike Bub and Tim Laughlin on mandolin.

For a list of radio stations in your area, CLICK HERE.

We've completed three of the line-ups for our upcoming live performances and they are all shows worth getting excited about.

July 26 - We've made an exciting addition in The Duke & the King, a duo featuring Simone Felice (of the Felice Brothers) and Robert "Chicken" Burke. They've got plenty to chew on over at their MySpace page. Their CD, Nothing Gold Can Stay, was recorded on a two-inch tape machine in Burke's one-room, woodstove-heated cabin - affectionately known as The Chapel - in Woodstock, NY.

They'll join us Sunday July 26 for a 7pm show featuring Ben Kweller, Dave Alvin & Guilty Women, Cyril Neville and Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers. This show is going to be delightfully eclectic, which is how we like 'em! Get your tickets HERE or call 800.594.TIXX (8499). 

We've built another stellar night of American folk music with some international flavor built in for our friends at the Paramount Arts Center in beautiful Ashland, KY. We've added Ashleigh Flynn to the August 2 line-up. Flynn and her from-the-earth soul are a perfect match for this show. 

We saw her open for Todd Snider this year, who is also on the bill, and Flynn has done shows with Ms. Nanci Griffith as well. The Greencards, the best in American music imports, longtime collaborators and pop gurus Holsapple & Stamey round out the guests. Tickets are just $20 and available at the PAC website or via TicketMaster.

Finally, we've completed the line-up for August 30 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston. We've added dusty soul singer Madeleine Peyroux to the line-up featuring Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Poco, Ben Sollee and Jill Sobule. Peyroux's latest, Bare Bones, is out now on Rounder Records.

Check out the entire Live Show Schedule for more on tickets, venue and show times, and come see us on the radio!