Mountain Blog

Mountain Stage is back this week with another exciting premiere broadcast. Recorded live on the campus of West Virginia University, you’ll hear from legendary Texas blues-rock guitarist Johnny Winter, along with Ruthie Foster, Magic Slim & The Teardrops, Patrick Sweany, and Bhi Bhiman.

Click here to find a station and time where you can listen in your area. If there’s a song you’re hoping to hear, check out the show’s playlist. And click here to see our entire schedule of upcoming broadcasts.

Arguably the first artist to drag electric blues kicking and screaming into the land of hard rock, Johnny Winter remains one of the most respected guitarists alive. The clear link between the British blues-rock explosion and American Southern rock, Winter joined his own powerhouse band on Mountain Stage for one of his first and only nationally-broadcast performances in years.

You’ll also hear from Ruthie Foster. Foster has won seemingly contradictory Blues Music Awards for both Best Traditional and Best Contemporary Female Blues Artist in back-to-back years, and her album The Truth According to Ruthie Foster was nominated for a Grammy. Backed by her own band, Foster all but stole the show with her signature blend of blues, folk, and gospel. You can sample her performance here, via our Mountain Stage Song of the Week.

Guitar in hand, Patrick Sweany kicks off the show solo. He’s released five albums, including 2007’s Every Hour is a Dollar Gone, produced by fellow Ohio-native Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. The follow up, 2011’s The Old Southern Drag was recorded in his new home of Nashville, where he can be found regularly performing at The Basement and Family Wash, also moonlighting in a vintage soul outfit The Tiger Beats. He’s shared the stage with The Black Keys, The Gourds, Paul Thorn and Sonny Landreth, among others.

Magic Slim & the Teardrops kick off the second hour of the show. Born Morris Holt in Torrence, Mississippi in 1937, Slim has been called “a national treasure” by Living Blues magazine. Slim and The Teardrops performances are known for their undeniable intensity, earning a diehard following the world over. His latest release on Blind Pig records is Raising the Bar.

Finally, you’ll hear from Bhi Bhiman Mountain Stage. A first generation Sri Lankan-American, Bhiman's soulful, instantly striking voice has been compared to Bill Withers, Richie Havens and Jim James, while the Willamette Week described him as "a traveling Dust Bowl folkie crossed with Nina Simone." Check out our Backstage at Mountain Stage video, where Bhiman chats with host Larry Groce about his influences as a singer, songwriter and guitarist.

Find a radio station in your area where you can listen by clicking here, and connect with us on Facebook to stay in touch with the latest information, and follow us on Twitter for even more.

Thanks for listening to Mountain Stage!