Adam Harris, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Listen: Wynonna & the Big Noise Have Our Song of the Week

Our Listeners’ Choice series of special broadcasts continues this weekend with a 2016 episode featuring Indigo Girls, Patty Larkin, Lydia Loveless and…

Our Listeners’ Choice series of special broadcasts continues this weekend with a 2016 episode featuring Indigo Girls, Patty Larkin, Lydia Loveless and country mega-star Wynonna & the Big Noise.

Wynonna Judd made her Mountain Stage debut on this 2016 episode, and she brought her band The Big Noise, including her husband Cactus on drums, and songs from their self-titled debut release together.

Hear the entire engaging performance on this week’s broadcast starting Friday, June 5 on these NPR stations. You’ll also be treated to sets from Indigo Girls, alt-country roots rocker Lydia Loveless, and the outstanding guitar and song stylings of Patty Larkin. View the playlist here and be sure to let your station know you appreciate them bringing live performances every week by way of Mountain Stage.

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Wynonna instantly wins over the audience with her powerful voice and magnetic stage presence, evidenced by the crowd’s response to the powerful and uplifting song of gratitude, “Things That I Lean On.”

Listen: Joan Osborne's Version of 'Brokedown Palace' is Our Song of the Week

This week’s broadcast continues our Listeners’ Choice series with a 2015 episode we recorded at The Clay Center in Charleston, W.Va. during FestivALL Charleston. We’ll hear performances by Chris Stapleton, Joan Osborne, Joe Ely, and a collaboration between The Fairfield Four and The McCrary Sisters called “Rock My Soul.”

Revered vocalist and song stylist Joan Osborne first appeared on Mountain Stage in 1995 and has continued to return, always with a different batch of songs wrapped in her singular vocal style.

Our Song of the Week, “Brokedown Palace,” is a Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia collaboration from the Grateful Dead cannon, performed here by Osborne with keyboardist Keith Cotton accompanying.

When writing about the song for Dead.net, David Dodd theorizes “The song can be a song to someone departed from life, or just from the relationship with the singer. Or maybe the singer is departing, and possibly departing this life, or possibly departing a relationship. Some have suggested it is a song about reincarnation, and the journey through existences”

This 2015 set from Osborne also includes a remarkable, stripped-down version of her mega-hit “One of Us.” Take a peek at the playlist and find a station where you can listen here starting Friday May 29.

The McCrary Sisters’ and The Fairfield Four’s collaboration is called “Rock My Soul.” Hear some of the songs recorded live on this week’s encore broadcast starting May 29.

This show was taped at The Clay Center during FestivALL Charleston, our hometown’s multi-faceted arts festival that takes place each June. This year their summer event is taking place online, with special FestivALL VirtuaLL events scheduled from June 14-28. Click here to view the entire schedule, and set a reminder for our special virtual presentation, “There’s a Stream…” scheduled for June 28, at 7p.m.

Make sure you’re following Mountain Stage on Facebook, and sign up for our e-mail newsletter to get live performances in your inbox every so often.

Listen: Our Song Of The Week Is By Dumpstaphunk

It’s a certifiable all-star line-up on this week’s show with performances by acclaimed soul troop Robert Cray Band, gospel legends The Blind Boys of Alabama, blues torchbearer John Hammond, and Dumpstaphunk, recorded in Charleston, W.Va. on March 23, 2014.

Led by keyboardist and vocalist Ivan Neville, New Orleans based funk outfit Dumpstaphunk showcased their instrumental prowess and unmatched liveliness when they appeared on Mountain Stage in 2014. Our Song of the Week is their performance of the title track of their 2010 album Everybody Want Sum.

Hear the entire performance, which also includes songs from their 2013 album Dirty Word, on this week’s Listeners’ Choice episode of Mountain Stage with Larry Groce, airing on these stations starting Friday May 22.

The Blind Boys of Alabama and John Hammond join Larry Groce and Julie Adams for the finale song on this week’s Listeners’ Choice episode.

Listen: Dawes Has The Mountain Stage Song Of The Week

Our Listeners’ Choice episodes of Mountain Stage continue this week with a classic show from 2011 featuring Dawes, Jason Isbell & 400 Unit, Blitzen Trapper, James McMurtry and Matthew Sweet.

Check out the playlist here and find out where you can listen on these public radio stations starting Friday.

In October 2011 California quartet Dawes were touring in support of their acclaimed album Nothing is Wrong. Our Song of the Week is a performance of the final track on that album, a creative and emotional high watermark for the band, “A Little Bit of Everything.”

In March the band released “I Will Run,” a previously unreleased song from the recording sessions for their 2018 album Passwords. All proceeds will benefit the North Shore Animal League America and the MusiCares Covid-19 Relief Fund.

James McMurtry, performing on Mountain Stage in October, 2011. Catch an encore broadcast of this show starting May 15 on Mountain Stage affiliate stations.

Hear the entire set from Dawes, plus performances by Jason Isbell & 400 Unit, James McMurtry, Matthew Sweet and Blitzen Trapper, on this week’s encore broadcast of Mountain Stage. We hope you can find comfort in the sound of the applause that we hear in these classic episodes.

Be sure to follow Mountain Stage on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We’re not sure when we’ll be back to producing new episodes, but you can sign up for our email newsletter to be among the first to hear about it when we do.

Listen: Vince Gill Has Our Song of the Week

This week’s Listeners’ Choice episode of Mountain Stage comes from a road-show recorded in Bristol, TN/VA with the Birthplace of Country Music.

Our listeners voted on which vintage episodes of Mountain Stage we air throughout the country this Spring. This week, we look back to a show recorded August 21, 2011 at the Paramount Center for the Arts on State Street in the Virginia/Tennessee border town of Bristol. Mountain Stage made regular trips to Bristol from 2006 to 2014 to help raise awareness about the now-completed Birthplace of Country Music museum.

This show featured one of Country Music’s most awarded and beloved performers, Vince Gill. A highly regarded vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, Gill performed perhaps his most recognizable song, “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” in what host Larry Groce calls one of the best sets ever performed on Mountain Stage.

Gill’s latest album, Okie, can be purchased or streamed now.

We’ll also hear performances by Red Molly, David Mayfield Parade, Jim Lauderdale, and West Virginia honky-tonk singer and songwriter John Lilly, during this vintage Mountain Stage.

Hear the entire episode starting this Friday on these public radio stations. While a lot has changed recently, Mountain Stage is still bringing you live performances, on-air, online, and in our podcast. Please consider a gift of support to West Virginia Public Broadcasting to help remember the fun times during these unprecedented times. Your support means a great deal to us. Thank you.

June Mountain Stage Events Canceled

Due to the current circumstances, Mountain Stage is canceling our live shows scheduled for June 7, June 21 and June 28, in Charleston, West Virginia.

We’ll be working to reschedule the artists for another time. We’re unsure when we’ll record our next new episode, but we look forward to doing so when it’s safe for everyone. Be sure to sign-up for our e-mail newsletter so you can be among the first to receive updates when we have them.

If you purchased your tickets through our online ticketing service Eventbrite or at a live show, your refund will be processed soon. This normally takes 5-7 business days, but it could be longer due to staff reductions at Eventbrite.

Our local box office Taylor Books remains closed as a preventative measure, therefore, refunds for tickets purchased at that location cannot be offered at this time. If you purchased your tickets at Taylor Books, please send a photo of the tickets (including the full barcode), along with your mailing address, to live@mountainstage.org. We will send a gift certificate via U.S. Mail in the coming weeks, for an amount equivalent to the tickets purchased.

In the meantime, please enjoy classic episodes from our archive on these public radio stations and in our podcast feed; watch some videos from our Live Sessions channel at NPR Music, and be sure to follow along on social media for more content and updates.

Here’s a finale song shot, just because.

Mountain Stage has now canceled nine live events, including three shows in March, one April event in Athens, OH, and our two events scheduled for May. These include the May 17 show scheduled with Saving Grace feat. Robert Plant and Suzi Dian at The Clay Center. Please call the Clay Center box office at 304-561-3570 to request a refund if you have tickets to that particular show.

We are working to reschedule all these guests though nothing has been finalized. Be sure to sign-up for our e-mail newsletter so you can be among the first to receive updates when we have them.