This week on Inside Appalachia, we speak with the author of a new graphic novel about the West Virginia Mine Wars. Also, professional storyteller James Froemel invents quirky characters, like a sign maker who can't spell. And, one of the most common animals to get hit by cars are possums. But, there’s a kind of animal rescue called pouch picking. We talk with author Laura Jackson.
The July 4 weekend brings about a new way of hearing Mountain Stage as we present “Mountain Stage After Midnight,” from 1am-5am Saturday and Sunday mornings here on WV Public Radio. It’s all part of the improved radio schedule that we know you’ll appreciate, and we’re excited to be sharing the greatest episodes from our 31 year history with our late-night listeners. Each week we’ll hand-pick two of our favorite episodes and they’ll alternate order each night.
Here’s what is in store for you Saturday July 5 and Sunday July 6 on Mountain Stage After Midnight.
First, an episode from September 2009 featuring Indigo Girls, Chris Smither, Jill Hennessy, Alison Brown Band and Gary Jules. We taped this show at The Clay Center and it features an extra special rendition of “Closer to Fine,” with Jill Hennessy and Alison Brown both joining Emily & Amy of The Indigo Girls. See the playlist.
"Mary Chapin Carpenter taught me this tuning and I wrote like 16 songs with it. Never paid her a dime." – Emily Saliers, introducing "Galileo"
Next you’ll hear an episode recorded at the WVU Creative Arts Center in Morgantown with WVU Arts & Entertainment featuring the wonderful Regina Spektor, progressive indie-darlings Yo La Tengo, slide-guitar genius Sonny Landreth, double-threat singer-songwriter Will Hoge and Canada’s Great Lake Swimmers. Listen for Hoge performing “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” which would go on to be his first #1 when it was cut three years later by the Eli Young Band. See the playlist.
"Rock and Roll, the reason that we're all here, is such an innocent thing. You hear a record or a song and it changes you forever. This is a song about falling back in love with rock-n-roll." -Will Hoge, introducing "Even If It Breaks Your Heart."
On this week's encore broadcast of Mountain Stage, you'll hear performances from Bettye LaVette, Kim Richey, Keller Williams, The Langan Band, and Megan Jean’s Secret Family. This episode was recorded live at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium in Athens, Ohio with our friends at Ohio University and WOUB.
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."