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.
Mountain Stage After Midnight: The Fruit Bats, Mavis Staples, Todd Snider
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Memorial Day Weekend and the livin’ is easy, especially when we’ve got your late nights covered with superb live performance radio. But don’t take our word for it: hear it for yourself on Mountain Stage After Midnight.
Broadcast from 1am-5am Saturday and Sunday mornings here on West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 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.
Stay up late to hear rock’n and roll’n sets Saturday May 23 and Sunday May 24 on Mountain Stage After Midnight.
First up is a 2010 show from WVU’s Creative Arts Center. It features Lizz Wright, The Holmes Brothers, Deolinda, Raul Midon, The Paper Raincoat and The Fruit Bats.
Still hanker’n for more Mountain Stage? Check out our 24/7 Mountain Stage stream, which currently features artists who performed at last week’s WXPN Non-Commvention. See behind-the-scenes snapshots on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. Join our monthly email newsletter for up-to-the-minute show announcements and ticket deals. And if you’re itching for a trip, come down and see what live performance radio looks like with one of our live shows!
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.
Federal funding for arts and culture has been curtailed. Trey Kay looks at the reasons in the latest Us & Them. Also, the state board of education has approved another round of school closures and consolidations, the state Legislature is expected to take up several bills in the coming session to address foster care and children who are homeless, and U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was laid to rest Tuesday at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton.
Our Song of the Week comes from The Critton Hollow String Band, a band that has been performing traditional American music to audiences around the world since 1975. The trio stopped by Mountain Stage during their 50th anniversary and performed a handful of songs, including "A Better Life to Find," which is our Song of the Week. The song features an old melody and a traditional refrain, with lyrics updated by the group's Joe Herrmann.