On this West Virginia Morning, the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival in Pineville, Kentucky has staged a formal dance for nearly a century that has remained the same for generations. Folkways Reporter Will Warren takes us for a visit.
Now we’re rolling out two July shows and both on sale now!
Our Mountain Stage Members have had access to these tickets for a week already. If you’d like to be first in line for tickets, consider making a sustaining gift directly to the program and receive seven days of exclusive, online pre-sale to all our Culture Center shows. You’ll also get periodic playlists, discounts and dispatches from the Mountain Stage office.
On Sunday, July 29 we welcome back singer, songwriter, guitarist- oh yeah and Emmy award winning actor- Jeff Daniels, along with the Ben Daniels Band. The BDB is led by Jeff’s son, and the group is embarking on their “Acoustic Sittin’ Tour,” which is also a newly released album.
We’ve also confirmed Dawn Landes for July 29. She recently did her first record in Nashville, called “Meet Me At The River,” and has moved from New York to Music City. The album, due later this year, features our friend and West Virginia Music Hall of Fame member Charlie McCoy on harmonica!
Landes is beloved collaborator, having done work in recent years with Sufjan Stevens, Justin Townes Earle, Jim James and Piers Faccini, and she has a sweet, heartfelt cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” which we shared below.
We’re pleased to announce that The Handsome Family has been added to the July 29 show. During their 25-year career Brett and Rennie Sparks have created songs that transform the mundane landscape of modern life. Their work has been covered by the likes of Jeff Tweedy, Jason Lytle and Andrew Bird, who released an entire record of songs by the Handsome Family.
Both July shows are at the Culture Center Theater on the State Capitol Grounds. All tickets are general admission, $20 in advance, $35 on Day of Show, when available. Tickets are available online, by phone at 877.987.6487 and at Taylor Books.
This week the U.S. Department of Education is launching a multimillion-dollar program to help boost the completion of FAFSA nationwide. We’ll also learn more about the state’s largest methamphetamine seizure in history. And we’ll hear about a rupture in the Mountain Valley Pipeline during a pressure test.
On this West Virginia Morning, Curtis Tate tells us about problems with the Mountain Valley Pipeline as it nears completion, Emily Rice discusses children’s mental health with state expert and Mountain Stage brings us the Song of the Week with Watchhouse performing “The Wolves.”
Winners of the 2023 Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Awards were announced March 23 at the Awards Luncheon and Annual Membership Meeting at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. WVPB brought home five first place awards and seven second place awards in eight different categories.
Amy Ray returns to Mountain Stage on this week’s encore broadcast, along with her band, New York trio The Lone Bellow, progressive banjo player Alison Brown, slide guitar master and banjo champion Tony Furtado, and Nova Scotia folk group Villages. This episode was recorded at the People's Bank Theatre in Marietta, Ohio with guest host Larry Groce.