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Brian Blauser Ben Taylor performs live on Mountain Stage |
This week, Mountain Stage returns with another all-new
episode, recorded on the campus of West Virginia
University in Morgantown.
You’ll hear mellow soul and folk from Ben Taylor, jazz singer Kat Edmonson,
roots music ensemble The Trishas, renowned banjo and dulcimer player Bob
Shank, and indie-folk newcomer Logan Venderlic.
Click here for a list of
stations and times where Mountain Stage can be heard in your area. If there’s a
song you’re hoping to hear, check out the
performance playlist. And as always, you can preview the show via our Mountain Stage Song of
the Week – this time, it’s Ben Taylor with “It Really Doesn’t Matter to
You.”
After traveling the world, from Tibet
to the Darien Rain
Forest, Ben Taylor initially aspired to
become a gardener. However, In the end, music won out. After all, as the son of
James Taylor and Carly Simon, Taylor’s
life has been steeped in music. On “Listening,” the follow-up to 2008's “The
Legend of Kung Folk Part 1," his wit and skill as a singer-songwriter are
evident in songs he calls “organically handcrafted.”
Taylor
seamlessly melds a melange of styles - folk, pop, soul, urban, reggae and
country/western - with melodies that the BBC called “heart-melting.” Taylor
has been featured in “People Magazine,” “Vogue” and appeared on the cover of
“Rolling Stone.” He has toured with Sheryl Crow, Blues Traveler and Ziggy
Marley.
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Brian Blauser Kat Edmonson live on Mountain Stage |
After quickly becoming one of the most talked about singers
on the crowded Austin music scene,
classic jazz singer-songwriter Kat Edmonson is making her mark
nationally. Thanks to her acclaimed 2009 debut, “Take to the Sky,” she landed
gigs singing with Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett.
After recording a version of
the classic Christmas duet “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with Lovett, the two
performed it on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Her sophomore release “Way
Down Low” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and a Boston
Globe reviewer called it “one of the greatest vocal albums I’ve ever heard.”
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Brian Blauser The Trishas, live on Mountain Stage |
The buzz surrounding The Trishas is reserved for groups that
bring a special chemistry to the stage, which was obvious the first time Jamie
Wilson, Liz Foster, Kelley Mickwee and Savannah Welch shared a stage together.
Just three years later, the three have toured with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
Todd Snider, Raul Malo and Ray Wylie Hubbard, co-wrote songs with Bruce
Robison, Kevin Welch (Savannah’s
father), Jason Eady and Jim Lauderdale, and found time to release their full-length
debut, “High, Wide & Handsome.” Guests on the CD include Kenny Vaughan,
Harry Stinson, Viktor Krauss and Tammy Rogers.
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Brian Blauser Logan Venderlic, live on Mountain Stage |
Hailing from St. Marys, Pleasants
County, Logan Venderlic
issued a pleasantly quirky set of indie pop songs that led Yahoo Music to name
him one of the top artists for the first half of 2012. His CD alternates
between love songs for the troubled and folk-punk that recalls The Clash. His
paean to his hometown, “Jerkwater Town,”
offers up the mixed emotions that many young West Virginians
have about their home state, although he comes to the conclusion: “I could
never stay away for too long - the mountains are calling me back.”
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Brian Blauser Bob Shank, live on Mountain Stage |
Renowned banjo and dulcimer player Bob Shank from Bruceton
Mills, WV performs songs from
his newest release "Don't Worry About the Moon." The work features
new and original compositions recorded in his home studio.
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information and stories.