Mountain Blog

Mountain Stage is deeply saddened to learn of gospel music legend Marie Knight's passing last night, August 30, 2009.

Marie visited us in October 2007 and made a lasting impression on everyone in the short time we spent with her. You can hear her Mountain Stage performance over at NPR Music. 

The following is from Mark Carpentieriat MC Records:

With heavy hearts M.C. Records announces the death of Gospel legend Marie Knight. She died in New York City on August 30 due to complications from pneumonia.

Marie first came to prominence in 1946 when she met and started working with Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Together they would be one of the most popular gospel artists of the 1940's and make music history through a string of gospel hits including "Didn't It Rain," "Up Above My Head," and the gorgeous "Beams of Heaven."

Marie Knight and Sister Rosetta Tharpe would tour frequently together through the 1950's. In the 1960's Marie had several R&B hits, but in 1970's Marie rededicated herself to Gospel music and became a minister at the Gates of Prayer Church in New York City.

Marie Knight's recent comeback began in 2002 when producer and M.C.Records owner Mark Carpentieri invited Marie to record on "Shout Sister Shout, A Tribute To Sister Rosetta Tharpe." Mark recalls the phone call. "Gayle Wald who was writing the liner notes for the project asked me if I had contacted Marie Knight about participating in the project. I didn't know she was still alive! I called Marie and she sounded so vibrant that I arranged studio time and we’ve been working together ever since."

After the release of  "Shout Sister Shout, A Tribute To Sister Rosetta Tharpe" (MC-0050) tour work came in regularly for Marie Knight. In 2007 Mark Carpentieri put together Marie Knight's first full length album in over 25 years "Let Us Get Together." The project was a tribute to Rev. Gary Davis and was co-produced with Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan, Ollabelle, Levon Helm). The record was a critical success with great reviews  from The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer and many more.

Thanks to everyone who came to our live recording last night in Charleston at the Culture Center Theater. You'll be able to hear yourselves on the radio during the weekend of October 16-18 in most areas.

For a list of radio stations and airtimes, click HERE. Thanks to our guests Jason Isbell & 400 Unit, Madeleine Peyroux, Jill Sobule, Ben Sollee and Poco for being our guests.

We have some pictures, including some from the late-night jam at the Empty Glass, over on our MySpace page.

Our next live recording (#702) will be at the Culture Center Theater on Sunday, September 27 with Colin Hay, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Amy Speace, and The Proclaimers. Tickets are available online or by calling 800.594.TIXX.

We've added the immensely innovative pianist/songwriter/singer Regina Spektor to our October 4 line-up at the WVU Creative Arts Center in Morgantown, WV. Tickets will go on sale NEXT WEDNESDAY, September 2. Also on the bill are slide-guitar great Sonny Landreth and rocker Will Hoge.

Tickets will be available online at ticketmaster.com, by calling 304.293.SHOW or 800.745.3000, or locally at the Mountainlair Box Office on the WVU Campus, Mon.—Fri. 9:00am to 6:00pm.  

The Proclaimers will make a return appearance to Mountain Stage, their first since 1994, on September 27, at the Culture Center Theater. Their  eighth CD "Notes & Rhymes" is in stores September 9 and it's available for preorder.

Identical twins Craig and Charlie Reid have been blending pop, folk, new wave and punk for more than two decades. They found world-wide success with the hit "I'm Going to Be (500 Miles)" and have sold some 7 million records since.

Yep, in case you were wondering, they ARE on twitter, MySpace,  YouTube, and Facebook.

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears emanate from Austin, TX and have been making a lot of noise all over the world of music. It's a sound that resounds with echoes of James Brown and gritty funk of Johnny "Guitar" Watson, and they even cover the Bar-Kays on their debut full-length CD "Tell Em What Your Name Is."

They count fellow Texans Okkervil River and Spoon among their fans as both groups have asked asked BJL&H to open shows for them (Spoon's Jim Eno produced "Tell 'Em").

New York based singer-songwriter Amy Speace was signed by Judy Collins to her Wildflowers record label, and released her latest CD, The Killer In Me, in June. Collins recently performed Speace's "Weight of the World" at the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Folk Festival. You can hear more on her MySpace page.

Born in Baltimore and raised in small-town Pennsylvania, Speace became heavily involved in theater, acting and even taught Shakespeare before becoming a full-time musician.

All that plus Men At Work songwriter and singer Colin Hay, when we record episode #702, Sunday, September 27, at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, WV.

Tickets are available online and by phone at 800.594.TIXX. You can also swing by Taylor Books in downtown Charleston to pick up tickets. Doors open at 6:30pm and showtime is 7pm.

Click here for the complete Live Show Schedule for links and more info on tickets.

We've finalized the line-up for our September 29 show at the Clay Center here in Charleston, WV.

Gary Jules, who won a lot of fans with his chilling cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" on the Donny Darko soundtrack (9 million plays on MySpace) will join us along with the Indigo Girls, Chris Smither, Jill Hennessey and Alison Brown.

Jules' song "Falling Awake" raised his profile again thanks to an episode of Grey's Anatomy, which lead to a full page spread in Billboard because the guy basically had no publicist, manager or agent. Pretty impressive, indeed.

His latest disc "Birds" is his first with a full band, Gary Jules & the Group Rules, and features a guest spot by past-guest Jim Bianco.

Tickets, going fast, are available at TheClayCenter.org, by calling 304-561-3570 or by stopping by Taylor Books on Capitol St. here in Charleston. Doors are at 7:30pm and showtime is 8pm. 

We've got an exciting addition to our October 11 line-up at Ohio University in Athens, OH. One of the most popular bands of the 90s, The Squirrel Nut Zippers, have reunited the original line-up and are set to release a new live CD, "Lost At Sea," on October 25 as they announced Friday on their blog.

Tickets go on sale TODAY and are available ONLINE, by phone at 740.593.1780, and at the Alumni Auditorium Box Office, M-F 12N-5PM. Also joining us are Southern Culture on the Skids, These United States and The Coal Men.

We will record episode #701 in Charleston, WV this Sunday at the Culture Center Theater. Doors open at 6:30pm and show time is 7pm. Tickets are available online and by phone at 800.594.TIXX. You can also swing by Taylor Books, 226 Capitol St., in Charleston and pick up tickets there.

The Huntington Herald-Dispatch has an interview with Jason Isbell, who brings his band the 400 Unit to Mountain Stage this Sunday after a club show in Huntington on Saturday. Click here to read all about it. We hope to see you on Sunday.

We've added some new guests to our upcoming live recordings as well.  On November 1 at the Culture Center Theater we'll welcome Miss Nellie McKay (above), the outspoken genre-bending songstress from New York, for her fourth appearance on Mountain Stage since 2004. Her latest CD, due in October, is a tribute to her idol and inspiration, Doris Day. Read what the New York Times had to say HERE.

Other confirmed guests that night are Elivs Perkins in Dearland and AA Bondy. Tickets are on sale now, both online and by phone at 800.594.TIXX, or drop by Taylor Books.  

Joining us on November 15 at the Culture Center will be radio hit-makers Sister Hazel, who have just released their seventh CD release .

The gypsy ravers Vagabond Opera will join us as well.

Tickets are available now. See the Entire Live Show Schedule and make your plans now!

Thanks to everyone in Bristol who came to see Mountain Stage record episode #700 this past Sunday. Our friends at the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance made us feel right at home, as always, and we look forward to getting back down your way. A bit of rain fell just before show time - we think it was our friend Mike Seeger letting us know he was there in spirit.

You can hear yourselves on the radio, cheering on the likes of the Robert Cray Band (above), Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, The Flatlanders, Robin & Linda Williams and Riley Baugus, during the weekend of October 9-11. Click HERE for our Broadcast Schedule.

This weekend on the radio, we present an encore episode recorded in Morgantown, WV at the WVU Creative Arts Center (we'll be back October 4). Our featured guests are the Jerry Douglas Band, Jayme Stone & Mansa Sissoko, Julie Fowlis, Brooke Waggoner and the Drew Emmitt Band. Click HERE for our LIST OF STATIONS and airtimes in your area. We hope you can tune in.

Get a preview over at our Song of the Week page, featuring Jerry Douglas Band's killer instrumental, "Who's Your Uncle."

We've made it back to Charleston, where we'll record episode #701 at our home in the Culture Center Theater, Sunday, August 30. We've got quite the line-up: former Drive By Trucker Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, jazz-songstress Madeleine Peyroux, always clever Jill Sobule, cellist and emerging artist Ben Sollee and classic, country-rock pioneers Poco.

Tickets are still available and it's General Admission, so get there early. Doors open at 6:30pm and Showtime is 7pm. Click HERE to get tickets online, charge by phone at 800.594.TIXX(8499) or stop by Taylor Books on Capitol St. in downtown Charleston if you're in the area.

Have you been to one of our recent live recordings? Head over to the Friends of Mountain Stage profile on MySpace and click on Photos to see some pix from one of our promotions specialists, Chris Morris.

And if you haven't become a fan of Mountain Stage on FACEBOOK, we'd love to have you join our 3,200+ fans. It's a great way to keep up on the latest happenings online, on the radio and on the air.

Racin' fans know that it's Speed Week in Bristol, TN, and Mountain Stage is happy to be the kick-off event. As you may know, Bristol Motor Speedway is the "World's Fastest Half-Mile," offering up "Racin' the way it ought'a be!"

This Sunday, Mountain Stage will start the engines of music-lovers with the fastest 2-hour radio program to blast through Bristol with The Robert Cray Band, The Flatlanders, Robin & Linda Williams, Riley Baugus and Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson.

There are still a VERY FEW tickets remaining. Get your seat now at the Paramount Center for the Arts or by calling 423.274.8920.

Les Paul, inventor, engineer and, not the least of which, guitarist, whose name was on the headstock of millions of those iconic Gibson electric guitars, has died at age 94.

Here is the NPR news piece.

He will be dearly missed but most certainly never, ever, forgotten.

We've added guitar-great and rock-n-roller Will Hoge to the line-up on October 4 in Morgantown, WV. We'll return to our home away from home, the Creative Arts Center on the campus of WVU.

Hoge has a long touring history, including opening spots for the Black Crowes, My Morning Jacket and the Drive-By Truckers, among many others, as well as dates at Bonnaroo and the Austin City Limits festival. You can pre-order his new album,  The Wreckage , on Amazon now, and preview it with the powerful tune below.

Also joining us on October 4 is unmatched slide-guitarist Sonny Landreth.

Tickets will be available on August 25 via TicketMaster.com or by phone at 304.293.SHOW.

The very next week we'll travel from WVU to OU - Ohio University in Athens, OH, for a show featuring Southern Culture on the Skids, These United States and the latest addition to the show line-up, Murfreesboro, Tennessee's bona-fide rockers, The Coal Men.

You can hear their new record Kids with Songs on their Web site. Recently their song "Farther Find Me Now" was used on the Discovery Channels hit show "Deadliest Catch."

We'll begin November at our home venue, the Culture Center Theater, in Charleston, WV.

November 1 we have invited Elvis Perkins in Dearland to the show for his second appearance. Contemplative folk singer AA Bondy will also be there. Tickets are already available HERE or by calling 800.594.TIXX. 

This weekend we load up our 3.5 tons of equipment and head south to historic Bristol, TN/VA, site of the legendary "Bristol Sessions," where the Carter Family, Jimmy Rodgers, The Stoneman Family and many others cut some of the world's first commercially succesful recordings in 1927 -  widely referred to as the "Big Bang" of Country music.

This will be our fourth Mountain Stage radio production at the Paramount Center for the Arts, this Sunday August 16. Again it is with the help of our friends at the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, that makes this trip possible. This Sunday's show will be a fundraiser for the organization.

There are still a few tickets left, but they are going fast, so we hope you can make it a point to join us in this beautiful city for a road-show edition of Mountain Stage. You can read more about the show in our "Setting the Stage" newsletter (by Shawn Patterson, PDF reader required) by clicking HERE. The newsletter includes info on tickets and our guest artists. 

We'll have more on this weekend's RADIO BROADCAST coming up soon. It's an encore presentation featuring folk-icon Janis Ian, who had her first hit at the age of 14; Janiva Magness, who took home this year's BB King Entertainer of the Year honor at the Blues Music Awards; Nashville alt-pop star Matthew Perryman Jones; Ellis Paul, whose song "The World Ain't Slowin Down" was heard in the "Me, Myself & Irene" soundtrack; and Joshua Radin, whose somber, contemplative lyrics have been heard underneath credits and during gripping emotional scenes of TV's hottest shows.

Click HERE for a list of stations and airtimes, or listen Sunday afternoon at 3pm via WV Public Broadcasting's STREAMING AUDIO by clicking HERE.

Be sure to check out our LIVE SHOW SCHEDULE. We have some great shows lined up, beginning this weekend in Bristol TN/VA, August 30 back in Charleston, and two star-studded shows scheduled for September.

We'll hit the road in October, so we hope you can make plans to join us at a live recording, especially if you've never been. Click HERE for more and stay tuned as we have more great guests to announce. 

Everyone in the Mountain Stage family sends their regards to the family and friends of Mike Seeger who lost his battle with cancer last night, August 7. Seeger was a true luminary in the world of folk music and he will be missed. His finely crafted art and passion for music will continue to inspire.

Mike Seeger lost his battle with cancer last night. On Thursday, July 30, Mary Katherine Adlin at Folklore Productions informed us that Mike Seeger, one of the founding members of the New Lost City Ramblers and the half-brother of folk singer Pete Seeger had been battling leukemia for several years; just recently he was diagnosed with a new and very aggressive form of cancer, called multiple myeloma. In the same forthright way that he has lived his life, he made the decision to discontinue treatment and enter hospice care. Last night, August 7, his battle ended.

There is more here.

This weekend's radio broadcast is an encore presentation recorded in May 2007 as part of the first "Moving the Mountain" tour. We recorded three shows in six days with a travel day in between, lugging 3.5 tons of recording equipment and a crew of twenty-something up the east coast.

Last week's radio show (up for podcast at our Archives) with Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Cowboy Junkies, Martin Sexton, Ben Arnold and Eric Bazilian & Rob Hyman was recorded at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA, the first stop on the tour. We were welcomed warmly by our friends at WXPN in Philadelphia, and World Cafe host David Dye showed up to introduce Larry Groce (below).

From there we went to Boston to record at the famed Berklee College of Music with our friends at  WUMB . We welcomed two distinct icons of American folk music in Mavis Staples and Judy Collins. Both talented singers have very different backgrounds and careers and both are consummate performers the audience seemed to enjoy equally. "I don't know about you," Mavis said from the stage, "But I'm havin' myself a good time!"

A bunch of us tuned in at our hotel room the night before to see Mavis performing on David Letterman. You can hear one of her songs from the show, "Eyes on the Prize," on our Song of the Week page.

At the time, songwriter Lori McKenna was living in Boston and had just released Unglamorous , a CD of her country-flavored tunes, some of which she performed on the show (see the set list). She's written songs for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, which led to an appearance on Oprah.

Most recently her material can be found on the latest CD by Mandy Moore, Amanda Leigh (who is coincidentally married to Ryan Adams). I climbed into the scaffolding to capture the above photo during Lori's set.  

As you might imagine there were pianos all over the place at Berklee, including in our catering room. I turned the corner to find Todd Snider, who just made his 10th appearance on the show this past weekend, plunking intently on the piano. "Brown Eyed Girl" if I remember correctly.

Todd did some of his greatest hits on the show and was in top form both in song and in between songs. He is great at his funny and profound songs, but he proves with "All My Life" that he's capable of writing a tender love-song as well.

We received two very nice write-ups in local newspapers about Maia Sharp and her appearance this Sunday, August 9, on Mountain Stage. Tickets are still available at The Clay Center or by phone at 304.561.3570. Locally you can swing by Taylor Books as well. Tickets are $12.50 in advance and $18 at the door.

Read the Charleston Gazette story HERE.

And the Charleston Daily Mail feature HERE.

And another Gazette story on Marcia Ball you can read HERE.

It's been a couple of years since Mountain Stage took the show over to Athens, OH, home of Ohio University. So we're pleased to announce our return to the home of WOUB on October 11 at the Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium (Mem-Aud as the kids call it).

Making a long-awaited return to Mountain Stage that night will be Dave, Mary and Rick- Southern Culture on the Skids. The NC rockabilly stars have an album of classic country songs done "on the skids," called Countrypolitan Favorites. 

Also on the bill are indie darlings These United States, who'll join us before heading to New York for the CMJ Music Marathon. They're sure to garner even more praise there. Here is a video with some live performance and a little background on the group.

We have added old-time master Riley Baugus to the line-up for August 16 as we return to Bristol TN/VA, at the Paramount Center for the Arts, to record Mountain Stage episode #700! Riley was featured on the Cold Mountain soundtrack and was a key player in the recent Grammy-winning Alison Krauss & Robert Plant collaboration.

Tickets are going fast so we hope you can come enjoy this special occasion with us. Tickets are available HERE or by calling 423.274.8920.

We will span the stylistic globe with the soul-blues troupe Robert Cray Band, living legend Texans The Flatlanders, Aussie-great Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson and public radio favorites Robin & Linda Williams (whose new record Buena Vista was produced by Tim O'Brien). Read our press release HERE.

Mike Seeger, a scheduled guest for our August 16 recording has cancelled due to health problems. Our thoughts are with Seeger and his family.

We've added a show September 27 at the Culture Center featuring former Men at Work front man Colin Hay. His latest is called American Sunshine.

His first solo release, Man at Work, featured a couple of acoustic versions of Men At Work's widely known hits "Who Can It Be Now," and "Land Down Under." He'll perform a solo-acoustic set on Mountain Stage.

AA Bondy, the former Verbena front man, will be joining us Nov. 1 here in Charleston. He is doing contemplative folk-songs now with acoustic guitar and harmonica. There's a live performance over at NPR music from South By Southwest (SXSW). Tickets are available now online and soon at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our live recording this past Sunday in Ashland, KY at the beautiful Paramount Arts Center. We had a great time and look forward to returning to Ashland in the future.

You'll be able to hear yourself on the radio the weekend of September 25-27 in most areas. For a list of radio stations and air-times, see our List of Stations. We hope you'll tune in every weekend.

Here are some photos from Chris Jackson at the Herald-Dispatch.

We'll record another episode, #699, this Sunday at the Clay Center in Charleston, WV. Our guests will be blues pianist Marcia Ball, rock-hard blues from Hill Country Revue, some Oklahoma-raised indie-folk by Other Lives, rockers Cracker and songwriter Maia Sharpe.

For tickets call 304.561.3570, visit the Clay Center box office or CLICK HERE to go directly to buy tickets. See you there!