Mountain Blog

This week’s broadcast of Mountain Stage is another special edition that we’ve selected from our archives. Originally recorded in December 2007, you’ll hear from singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, Justine Currie of Scottish hitmakers Del Amitiri, Ingrid Michaelson, Moya Brennan and Matt Nathanson.

Click here to view the playlist, and click here find a time and station where you can listen. And as always, you can catch a preview of the show via our Song of the Week. This time, you can stream Vega’s touching, breakthrough hit “Luca.”

Widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation, Suzanne Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980s when, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, she sang what has been labeled contemporary folk or neo-folk songs of her own creation in Greenwich Village clubs. 

Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has given sold-out concerts in many of the world’s best-known halls. In performances devoid of outward drama that nevertheless convey deep emotion, Vega sings in a distinctive, clear voice that has been described as “a cool, dry sandpaper- brushed near-whisper” and as “plaintive but disarmingly powerful.”

Justin Currie was still in his teens when he co-founded Del Amitri in his hometown of Glasgow, Scottland. Between 1982 and 2002, the band evolved from resourceful D.I.Y. indie combo to international hitmakers, releasing six much-loved studio albums before amicably parting ways. 

As that band's lead singer, bassist and main songwriter, Currie built a formidable body of work that showcased his knack for melding infectious melodies and barbed lyrics.  He's continued to make accessible yet challenging music in his solo career, which he launched with 2007's widely acclaimed What Is Love For. 

With her piano-fueled songwriting, witty wordplay, and slight vocal vibrato, Ingrid Michaelson carries the tradition of the female singer-songwriter into the 21st century. Befitting a musician of the digital age, Michaelson first gained wide exposure through spots on TV soundtracks, including Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill.

Born and raised on New York's Staten Island, she began exploring music through piano lessons at the age of four. After college, she toured with a national theater troupe and spent her free time writing songs, later compiling and distributing them online. Michaelson released her proper debut, Girls and Boys in 2006. Following the inclusion of her music in several episodes of Grey's Anatomy, she then released a remastered version of the album in January 2007. Three months later, she won the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest.

Renounced is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist Moya Brennan began performing professionally in 1970 when her family formed the band Clannad, and is now widely considered as the "First Lady of Celtic Music". Moya released her first solo album in 1992 called Máire, and her solo career has remained successful to this day, many years after Clannad took a hiatus in 1996.

She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards, and has won an Emmy. She has recorded with many world-famous musicians and has provided music for several soundtracks, including Titanic, To End All Wars and King Arthur.

Matt Nathanson’s 2007 release Some Mad Hope produced the smash hit single “Come On Get Higher” which sold over 2 million copies, and subsequent singles “Car Crash,” “Falling Apart,” and “All We Are.”

The success earned Nathanson the coveted spot as a VH1 You Oughta Know artist, and he has graced the stages of such national television shows as David Letterman, Ellen, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson. His songs have been featured in numerous film and television programs, and his live shows have resulted in sold out tours across the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest. And check us out on Tumblr for a behind the scenes look at the show. Thanks for listening!