Adam is the Executive Producer of Mountain Stage, and he welcomes the audience before each taping begins. Adam is a native of Greenbrier County and graduated from Radford University in 2005 with a degree in Music Business and minor in Media Studies. After completing an internship with Mountain Stage, he was hired as Assistant Producer in October 2005. He became Executive Producer when his predecessor and the show's co-founder Andy Ridenour retired in August 2011.
We’re saying “Thanks” by offering a live stream to our sold out 36th Anniversary show, December 1.
Mountain Stage is about to celebrate 36 years of live performance radio, and to show our gratitude to the many people who support the show year-round, you’ll be able to join the celebration from wherever you are.
Thanks to the video production team at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, a live video stream of the 36th Anniversary Mountain Stage will be offered free on the new NPR Music Live Sessions this Sunday, December 1.
Appalachian country singer and recent Grammy nominee Tyler Childers will lead the bill, which already includes West Virginia’s mandolin super-picker Johnny Staats & The Delivery Boys. The line-up has been finalized with the addition of songwriting great Mary Gauthier, Nashville’s Miss Tess & the Talkbacks, and a special visit from champion liar Bil Lepp.
Point your browser to this post, MountainStage.org, or livesessions.npr.org, to watch live starting at 7p.m. EST on Sunday, December 1. This free stream is made possible thanks to the support of Mountain Stage Members and those who support West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
Credit Laura Partain
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Rifles & Rosary Beads, the most recent record from Mary Gauthier (“Go-SHAY”), was named Best Album of the Year by the International Folk Music Awards and was a 2019 Grammy nominee for Best Folk Album. Rifles & Rosary Beads, her tenth album, contains eleven songs, all co-written with and for wounded veterans. Eleven of the nearly four hundred songs that highly accomplished songwriters have co-written as part of the five-year-old SongwritingWith:Soldiers program.
Credit Courtesy of the Artist
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Based in Nashville, rootsy blues modernist Miss Tess and her band The Talkbacks convened with veteran producer Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff) at his studio in East Nashville to create a new record, “The Moon is an Ashtray,” The record is getting its finishing touches and will be released Feb 7. Wide Open Country recently premiered the first single, True Flood, which features Rachel Price of Lake Street Dive.
Storyteller Bil Lepp is a WV treasure when it comes to the long-standing Appalachian tradition of tall tales. Since he first won the WV Liars Contest in 1992, Lepp has been entertaining audiences and listeners with his stories. Most recently he released his CD Book Report, and his latest book, The Princess and the Pickup Truck.
Our Song of the Week comes to us from two flat-picking champions, Tyler Grant and Robin Kessinger.
A treasure of West Virginia flatpicking and old-time music, Robin Kessinger comes from a prominent musical family. Kessinger first met Tyler Grant in 2005 at the Wayne Henderson Festival and Contest in Virginia. Kessinger was a judge for a flatpicking contest that was won by Grant. The pair developed a friendship and, eventually, made some duo arrangements of classic material connected in some way to the Kessinger family. The friendship and arrangements would grow into the album called Kanawha County Flatpicking.
Our Song of the Week, “My Blue Ridge Mountain Home,” was used as a theme by Robin’s father Bob Kessinger and his band, “The Mountaineers.”
Hear Tyler & Robin’s entire set, plus music from Shovels & Rope, Cris Jacobs, Kelsey Waldon and Wayne Graham on this week’s new episode of Mountain Stage. Find a station in your area here and be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a note.
Credit Brian Blauser/ Mountain Stage
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Members of the Mountain Stage cast return to the stage for one last number. Hear the entire show starting this Friday on 240 NPR stations across the country.
Mountain Stage returns to Morgantown on January 19. Tickets for all three Charleston shows are available online to Mountain Stage Members first.
Friday, November 14, 2019-Larry Groce and the entire team at Mountain Stage are pleased to announce the first run of live events for the public radio program’s 37th season.
The year begins in Morgantown, WV as Mountain Stage will once again be guests of the WVU Arts & Entertainment series on the campus of WVU. Appearing at the WVU Creative Arts Center’s Lyle B. Clay Concert Theatre on Sunday, January 19 will be undefinable singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Nellie McKay, and the modern hot jazz/western swing trio Hot Club of Cowtown. Both of these artists have a history of crowd-pleasing performances on Mountain Stage, which the audience in Morgantown will soon experience. Tickets for Sunday, January 19 are available now online and at 304.293.SHOW. For venue and ticket details, visit WVU Arts & Entertainment.
Credit Shervin Lainez
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Nellie McKay will appear on Mountain Stage in Morgantown, WV Sunday January 19 as the show kicks off their 37th season.
Nellie McKay has released seven acclaimed albums, won a Theatre World Award for her Broadway portrayal of Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, co-created and starred in the award winning off-Broadway hit Old Hats, and has conceived and performed musical biographies of Barbara Graham, Rachel Carson, Joan Rivers, and Billy Tipton (named one of the Best Concerts of the Year by the The New York Times). Produced and performed by Nellie, her latest EP Bagatelles is the companion release to 2018’s Sister Orchid.
Hot Club of Cowtown appear on Mountain Stage Sunday Jan. 19 in Morgantown, WV
Since 1998, the Western swing-gypsy jazz trio Hot Club of Cowtown has traveled the world bringing their own brand of magical musical chemistry to audiences far and wide. The veteran trio are equal partners in this original marriage of gypsy-jazz-inspired by the music of Django Reinhardt — which accounts for the “Hot Club” portion of their name — with the hoedowns, traditional tunes, and Western swing-inspired music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, represented in the “Cowtown” of their name.
Stay tuned for more artist additions to the January 19 line-up.
Larry Keel, Keller Williams, and Jenny Keel will appear on Sunday Feb. 9 on Mountain Stage in Charleston, WV as Keller & the Keels.
The first “home show” of 2020 will take place on Sunday, February 9 at the Culture Center Theater, the longtime venue for Mountain Stage. Teaming up for a joint Mountain Stage appearance on February 9 will be jam-grass legends Keller Williams & The Keels. Made up of guitar wizard Keller Williams, and the husband and wife duo of high-octane pickers Larry and Jenny Keel, the trio is set to release a second collaborative album, Speed, due on November 22.
Making their first appearance on Mountain Stage is the Portland-based roots-rockers Fruition, who are in the midst of releasing a string of singles and a new EP. Available everywhere November 8th, Fruition’s Wild As The Night “conveys the emotions of our darkest, and sometimes weakest, moments.”
The first single, “Wild As The Night,” was highlighted as part of NPR Music’s most recent “Station Breaks” feature, compiled by VuHaus stations.
More guests for Feb. 9 will be announced soon. Keep scrolling for more live show news.
The SteelDrivers are back on Mountain Stage Sunday, February 16 at the Culture Center Theater.
It’ll be a bluegrass lovers’ night on Sunday, February 16 as we welcome back the newest configuration of The SteelDrivers. Handling lead vocals with the group these days is selecting Kentucky native Kelvin Damrell, who joins the band’s long-standing core members- songwriter and fiddler Tammy Rogers, bass player Mike Fleming, banjo player Richard Bailey and multi-instrumentalist Brent Truitt. The Grammy-winning band lead The Philadelphia Inquirer to declare “You can call it power-bluegrass or country soul, but whatever you call it, Nashville’s SteelDrivers have bushels of it.”
The SteelDrivers – “Long Way Down” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-IOLc5emC4
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
Also on the bill Sunday, February 16 is Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out. In September, Moore became the International Bluegrass Music Associations most awarded male vocalist of all time when he won his sixth trophy for “Male Vocalist of the Year.” The group’s vocal prowess has built them a reputation as one of the finest bands in the land, and we can’t wait to have them on Mountain Stage in February.
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out- “Pretty Little Girl from Galax”
Christopher Paul Stelling, a deft guitarist and golden-voiced singer, will be there February 16 to showcase songs from his upcoming Ben Harper-produced album, Best of Luck, due February 7 on ANTI- records. “It’s not Americana or alt anything, it’s really just soulful folk music,” Harper says of Best of Luck.
Christopher Paul Stelling – “Trouble Don’t Follow Me” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxqGu1msdhw
Credit Shredded Elements Photography
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Railroad Earth will appear on Mountain Stage for the fourth time since 2003 on Sunday February 23.
On Sunday, February 23 we welcome back Railroad Earth for their fourth appearance on Mountain Stage since 2003, and their first in nine years! The band followed 2017’s Captain Nowhere with The John Denver Letters, a dual-sided single featuring recently discovered lyrics by Denver set to music by the Railroad Earth. The single was released on Earth Day and a portion of the proceeds go to environmental causes. American Songwriter premiered the video for “If You Will Be My Lady.”
Also making a long-awaited return to Mountain Stage, for the first time since 2007, is ukulele phenom Jake Shimabukuro, whose masterful arrangements and dazzling technique have led him to prestigious venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House, and he has dazzled audiences at music festivals including Bonnaroo, SXSW, the Playboy Jazz Festival and Fuji Rock Festival.
Tickets for all three February shows are $20 in Advance and $30 at the door when available. Good news for Mountain Stage Members, as your tickets are only $15 each for all three shows.
Those $15 tickets are available online to Mountain Stage Members* now. Members should check their email inbox for instructions on how to get their presale access.
Tickets for the February shows will be available online and at Taylor Books starting Friday, November 22 at 10a.m.
*Mountain Stage Members make a recurring gift of $10/month or $120 annually and receive exclusive online presale access to Culture Center Theater shows. If you’d like to become a Mountain Stage Member, click here to browse the membership levels and make your contribution. Once your membership has been processed, please allow 2-3 business days, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to gain presale access.
Mountain Stage began taping regularly scheduled episodes in December 1983 and has been the home of live music on public radio for more than 35 years. Artists who have been featured on the show include Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Norah Jones, Patti Smith, R.E.M., Mavis Staples, Martina McBride, Wilco and thousands more. Mountain Stage is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting and is distributed to 240 public radio stations every week by NPR Music.
The Virginia-based roots group The Steel Wheels have expanded their sound with additional percussion for their new album Over the Trees. Hear their performance of “Keep On” as our Song of the Week.
In their fourth appearance on Mountain Stage since 2011, roots music collective The Steel Wheels showcase their expansive sound, layering percussion, fiddle and plenty of vocal harmony beneath their introspective and often inspirational lyrics.
Our Song of the Week, “Keep On,” appears on the band’s latest album, the Sam Kassirer-produced Over the Trees.
On Sunday, December 1 Mountain Stage with Larry Groce, the long-running live music program heard weekly on 240 NPR stations, will celebrate the show’s 36th Anniversary at the Culture Center Theater.
Anniversary shows are always special for us and this one is no different. Advance tickets sold out in 11 minutes when the public on-sale was opened Friday morning at 10a.m., thanks to increased interest in the scheduled return of Appalachian country music star Tyler Childers. The Kentucky songwriter will make his third appearance on Mountain Stage December 1st, along with West Virginia bluegrass royalty Johnny Staats and the Delivery Boys. More guests will be announced soon.
As you can imagine, there was a great deal of interest in this show, since Childers and his band have appeared twice on national television and sold out Colorado’s legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater in recent months. With only 460 seats in the Culture Center Theater, this will be one of the most intimate venues they’ll perform in, and there is far greater interest than there is capacity.
We are glad to have welcomed so many Mountain Stage Members on board and want you to know that there are more perks just around the corner. Our Members will be the first to access online sales for our next round of show announcements which will hit member inboxes on Friday, November 15. We’ve got more great stuff planned for the first shows of our 37th season.
Thank you to everyone who supports Mountain Stage, through ticket sales, membership or listening on the radio. Without you there’d be no Mountain Stage and we never forget that.
Mountain Stage continues its production schedule this Sunday with episode #955 at the Culture Center Theater on the state capitol grounds in Charleston, W.Va. Tickets are still available online and at Taylor Books at 226 Capitol St. in downtown, Charleston.
Update: Friday 9/27, 2:00p.m. Amy Speace has asked to postpone her appearance on Mountain Stage, originally scheduled for Sunday, September 29, because of a family emergency. We will work with her to reschedule as soon as possible. Our entire team sends Amy our best.
Returning to Mountain Stage for the fourth time since 2011 is Virginia based, modern roots group The Steel Wheels. The band followed up two recent live EPs, Volume 1: Live at the Station Inn and Volume 2: Live at The Jefferson Theatre, with their latest studio record Over the Trees.
The album was recorded with producer Sam Kassirer, who worked with The Steel Wheels on 2017s’ Wild As We Came Here. The band has also expanded their core group to become a quintet, with the permanent addition of percussionist Kevin Garcia to the longtime lineup of Brian Dickel, Trent Wagler, Jay Lapp, and Eric Brubaker.
With Me And The Ghost Of Charlemagne, songwriter and vocalist Amy Speace returns with for her fifth appearance on the show since 2009. Me And The Ghost Of Charlemagne finds Speace focusing on the real side of pursuing a musical dream, filled with an ever-shifting balance of struggle and joy. Produced by longtime collaborator Neilson Hubbard and recorded during the final weeks of Speace’s pregnancy with her first son, Me And The Ghost Of Charlemagne captures Amy Speace at her most nakedly honest, with sparsely-decorated songs with her larger-than-life voice and detail-rich songwriting.
Me and the Ghost of Charlemagne- Amy Speace
Award winning songwriter Radney Foster, whose hits include “Nobody Wins” for himself and “Crazy Over You” with his duo Foster & Lloyd, has just released his first work of fiction and a companion album. “For You To See The Stars” is a project comprised of two parts – a book and a CD. The book is a collection of short stories published by Working Title Farm. Though the stories are fiction, they are informed by Foster’s upbringing on the Mexican border in Del Rio, TX. The beauty of this CD/book combo lives within Foster’s extensive imagery, which not only further expands the meaning behind his songs, but gives the reader a look at the thought process behind his songwriting.
Nashville’s Kieran Kane joined us on Mountain Stage for the first time in 1994 on a show that also featured The Band and Cowboy Junkies. He is known as a “godfather of Americana” thanks to his solo work, his tenure as a member of The O’Kanes, and the trio Kane Welch Kaplan, who appeared on Mountain Stage in 2008.
His musical partner Rayna Gellert has joined us as a member of the all-star string band Uncle Earl and alongside Virginia’s Scott Miller. Now, she and Kane will debut on the show together, with songs from When the Sun Goes Down, their follow-up to their debut, The Ledges. Recorded live at home, When the Sun Goes Down captures the duo’s grounded, restrained playing and singing with a shimmering intimacy.
Rounding out the line-up will be Boise-based blues/roots/soul/country purveyor Eilen Jewell and her band. Jewell’s new album Gypsy finds her picking up the electric guitar while putting a personal and politically spin into the lyrics. She first joined us in 2007 and will make her third appearance on Mountain Stage this Sunday. We’re loving the swampy feel to “Crawl.”
Eilen Jewell appears on Mountain Stage this Sunday in Charleston.
Show time is 7p.m. this Sunday, September 29 at the Culture Center Theater. Box Office opens in the great hall of the Culture Center at 5p.m. and the doors to the theater open at 6:30p.m. All seats are general admission and tickets can be found online and at Taylor Books. Advance tickets are $20 and $30 on the Day of Show.
