Adam Harris, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Listen: Hot Club of Cowtown Have Our Song of the Week

This week on Mountain Stage we look back to another classic episode from 2010, this time featuring live performances from Cake, Hayes Carll, Old 97s and Hot Club of Cowtown. Tune in on one of these public radio stations starting this Friday, May 1.

When they appeared in 2010, Texas trio Hot Club of Cowtown were touring in support of their excellent Texas swing album What Makes Bob Holler? This tribute to the pioneer of Western Swing Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys found the band covering classics like “Stay a Little Longer” and “Faded Love.” Our Song of the Week, “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby” appears on their 2003 album Continental Stomp.

Hot Club of Cowtown joined us earlier this year with songs from their latest The Finest Hour. A live album recorded in Minneapolis, The Finest Hour is filled with a “glorious array of music on the radio across the United States in 1945 at the end of WWII and celebrates artists from Bing Crosby to Billie Holiday, Bob Wills to Doris Day.”

Members of Old 97’s, Hot Club of Cowtown, Hayes Carll and Cake gather for the finale song on December 5, 2010,

You’ll also hear an interactive set from alt-rockers Cake, a band set from Hayes Carll, and a predictably raucous set from country-rockers Old 97s. Check out the playlist and find out where you can hear the show on one of these public radio stations and enjoy the sound of audience applause that we’re all admittedly missing right about now.

Listen: Chuck Prophet Has the Mountain Stage Song of the Week

This week we’re looking back to a 2010 episode we recorded at the Clay Center as voted on by our listeners.

Mountain Stage this week looks back to a 2010 episode that we recorded at The Clay Center in Charleston, W.Va. with Ani DiFranco, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Andy McKee, Erin McKeown and Chuck Prophet.

San Francisco band leader and journeyman rocker Chuck Prophet performed songs from his album ¡Let Freedom Ring!, recorded, coincidentally, during the early onset of the H1N1 virus, in Mexico City, Mexico in 2009. Prophet and his band wore their masks to the studio, all the while enduring the regular power-outages common in the area resulting in multiple lost takes.

Our Song of the Week, “Hot Talk.” is a breezy and cryptic jaunt that captures the immediacy and the chaos of the album.

Trombone Shorty, Erin McKeown and Ani DiFranco join for the finale song in February, 2010.

Hear the entire set from Chuck Prophet plus more from Ani DiFranco, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Andy McKee, and Erin McKeown on this week’s episode of Mountain Stage. Find a station where you can join us this weekend to enjoy the reassuring sound of audience applause that we are all missing right now. Be sure to check in with us on Facebook and sign up for our email newsletter if you’d like some comforting sounds in your inbox once in a while.

Listen: The Holmes Brothers on Mountain Stage From 1990

This week Larry Groce is going back four decades to pull some “Gems From the Archive.” We’ll hear some of our favorite performances from 1990 on this week’s special episode.

The music of The Holmes Brothers-Sherman and Wendell Holmes, with their life-long friend Popsy Dixon- has always held a special place in the pop music canon. Their songwriting and instrumental chops, coupled with topical subject matter, made for powerful performances. Our Song of the Week, “Big Boss Man,” is from the band’s first of many appearances on Mountain Stage, recorded May 6, 1990.

The song would be included in the band’s 2010 release Simple Truths.

Sadly drummer Willie “Popsy” Dixon died on January 9, 2015 of cancer. In April 2015, Wendell Holmes, vocalist, guitarist, pianist and songwriter, announced his retirement from touring and performing due to health concerns, and passed away on June 19.

Older brother, Sherman Holmes, vocalist, bassist, pianist, and songwriter with The Holmes Brothers, continues to celebrate and explore The Holmes Brothers legacy, leading a new band: The Sherman Holmes Project, who appeared on Mountain Stage in July 2017.

See the entire playlist from our “Gems From the Archive: 1990” here, and listen starting Friday April 17 on these NPR stations.

Listen: Rodney Crowell Has the Mountain Stage Song of the Week

This week we are revisiting a special edition of Mountain Stage that our host Larry Groce originally compiled in the wake of September 11, 2001. “Songs of Hard Times and Hope” includes uplifting and inspirational songs from Sarah McLachlan, R.E.M., Billy Bragg, The Band, June Tabor, Richard Thompson and more.

For our Song of the Week, Larry chose Rodney Crowell’s “Love Is All I Need,” which originally appears on Crowell’s 2001 album Houston Kid.

Join us on one of these NPR stations starting Friday, April 10 for the entire show. The playlist can be found here.

Listeners Choice: Help Pick Classic Shows for Broadcast

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who voted! We'll announce the top vote-getters next week on our Facebook page and we hope you will listen for them on these…

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who voted! We’ll announce the top vote-getters next week on our Facebook page and we hope you will listen for them on these NPR Music stations in the coming weeks.

We’re looking to you, our audience, to help choose some of our upcoming broadcasts.

Since we’re unable to record the fresh episodes we intended to this month, we’re going back in the archive to share some of our favorite episodes. We’re going to fill in six weeks of broadcasts that will air through the end of May, and we are asking YOU to help choose which shows we revisit. We’ve chosen 15 options between the years 2010-2017 which you can see below. You have until Friday, April 10 to vote for the six episodes you’d like to hear again. The top vote-getters will hit stations near you soon.

Listen: Joe Pug has the Mountain Stage Song of the Week

Songwriter Joe Pug has made six appearances on Mountain Stage since 2008. His ability to paint a scene is among his greatest gifts, as you can hear in our song of the week, “After Curfew.”

The song appears on Pug’s latest release, The Flood In Color. Like many artists, Pug is adapting to the current state of affairs by getting creative. He has started his own “Social Distancing Tour” by offering personal concerts online.

You can hear the entire set from Pug, plus exciting performances recorded last February by Railroad Earth, ukelele phenom Jake Shimabukuro, songwriting duo The Mastersons, and Emily Scott Robinson, on this week’s broadcast. Find the playlist here and tune in via one of these NPR Music stations.

Guest artists gather for one more number to close out this week’s episode. This is the last fresh episode we recorded prior to the national pandemic.

This week’s show is the last of the fresh episodes we recorded before the pandemic. In the coming weeks we’ll be airing some favorites from our archive, and soon we’ll be asking you to vote on which episodes we revisit on the radio this May.

Stay tuned to Mountain Stage on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for news.

As always, we thank you for listening and we hope hearing the applause during Mountain Stage will resonate with you in new and familiar ways.