This week on Inside Appalachia, a West Virginia baker draws on her Finnish heritage to make a different kind of cinnamon roll. Also, for nearly a century, some of Appalachia’s best wood carvers have trained at a North Carolina folk school. Newcomers are still welcomed in to come learn the craft. And, we have a conversation with Kentucky poet Willie Carver Jr.
Tupelo, Mississippi born songwriter Paul Thorn has appeared on Mountain Stage nine times since 1997, each time charming the audience with his trademark humor, wit and introspection. During his appearance in November 2017, he brought extra reinforcements as he presented his Mission Temple Fireworks Revival, featuring renowned family gospel singers The McCrary Sisters.
The band takes its name from this week’s Song of the Week, the outrageous Thorn and Billy Maddox composition “Mission Temple Fireworks Stand”- about a man of faith who sells “Cherry bombs for Jesus in a tent beside the road.”
Paul’s most recent release, “Don’t Let The Devil Ride,” was released this past March.
You’ll hear the entire set from Paul Thorn’s Mission Temple Fireworks Revival on this week’s encore broadcast across 240+ public radio stations, plus performances by North Mississippi Allstars, Bonnie Bishop, Ireland’s Declan O’Rourke as well as a special appearance by WV Storyteller Bil Lepp.
This week's encore broadcast of Mountain Stage was recorded on the campus of West Virginia University (WVU) at the Canady Creative Arts Center. On this episode, we hear live performances from Duke Robillard Band, Cedric Burnside, Sam Weber, Las Cafeteras, and The Black Feathers.
Our encore broadcasts continue this week with episode 1,030 of Mountain Stage featuring guest host David Mayfield. Joining us in live-performance are Shenandoah Valley bluegrass band Nothin’ Fancy, 10-time International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year Missy Raines & Allegheny, acoustic roots and blues guitarist Rory Block, singer-songwriter and guitarist Ed Snodderly, and multi-instrumentalist folk artist Meredith Moon.
In this album, Soltis performs works all by American female composers, highlighting a group of underrepresented musicians in the Classical realm. Soltis says this album shows how “American women in classical music are not isolated novelties … but rather they represent an unbroken tradition of compositional excellence.” Some highlights from the album include Amy Beach’s “Berceuse” and Florence Price’s "Adoration."