This week, a poet and musician draws inspiration from a distant family connection to the Grand Ole Opry’s Little Jimmy Dickens. Also, for 15 years, a Virginia library has been hosting a weekly Dungeons & Dragons game for teens.
And, a taxidermist in Yadkin County, North Carolina found her calling before she could drive a car.
It was a Mountain Stage Radio Show match for the ages: Randy Newman vs. Robert Cray vs. Colin Hay vs. Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. Which performances would we choose for “Mountain Stage After Midnight?” Luckily, you made the tough call by voting for your favorite performances on Mountain Stage’s Facebook, and now it’s time to listen to the winners on this week’s “Mountain Stage After Midnight.” Broadcast from 1am-5am Saturday and Sunday mornings here on West Virginia Public Radio, “Mountain Stage After Midnight” takes the best episodes from the show’s 31 year history and shares their memories and songs with our late-night listeners. Each week we’ll hand-pick two of our favorite episodes and they’ll alternate order each night.
By popular demand, West Virginia Public Radio will air Bela Fleck & the Flecktones’ 2003 performance and Robert Cray’s 2009 performance this Saturday October 18 and Sunday October 19 on “Mountain Stage After Midnight.”
Credit Brian Blauser / Mountain Stage
/
Bela Fleck rehearsing before his 2003 Mountain Stage performance.
First you’ll hear the 400th episode of Mountain Stage featuring performances from the the late/great R&B singer Fontella Bass, Virginian instrumental trio The Holmes Brothers, West Virginia troubadour Todd Burge, American folk singer Chris Smither, Americana couple Tim & Mollie O’Brien, and the innovative “blu-bop” group Bela Fleck & the Flecktones.
Credit Brian Blauser / Mountain Stage
/
Robert Cray rehearsing for his 2009 Mountain Stage performance.
Next is Mountain Stage’s 700th show featuring performances from old-time banjo player Riley Baugus, husband-and-wife country-folkers Robin & Linda Williams, Australian singer-songwriting couple Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, iconic Texas grassroots band The Flatlanders, and the blues-rock’n Robert Cray Band. See the playlist.
On this West Virginia Week, another round of school consolidations in the state, the Republican caucus lays out plans for the upcoming legislative session and a Nashville poet and songwriter channels a connection to LIttle Jimmie Dickens.
...
This week, a poet and musician draws inspiration from a distant family connection to the Grand Ole Opry’s Little Jimmy Dickens. Also, for 15 years, a Virginia library has been hosting a weekly Dungeons & Dragons game for teens.
And, a taxidermist in Yadkin County, North Carolina found her calling before she could drive a car.
A lot of people who came of age listening to the Grand Ole Opry know Little Jimmy Dickens. With his clever songs and his rhinestone-studded outfits, the West Virginia native influenced a generation of performers. Now he’s remembered in a new book of poetry.
For some Americans, this year’s political earthquakes hit close to home. Trey Kay reflects on federal budget cuts, the elimination of programs and agencies and the resulting layoffs of hundreds of thousands of workers. 2025 was also a year highlighting escalated immigration enforcement, and the deployment of National Guard troops in U.S. cities. One of those missions resulted in the tragic loss of a West Virginia National Guard soldier. On this end-of-year episode of Us & Them, we examine how today’s culture-war battles are reshaping the nation’s foundation.