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.
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.
Nellie McKay – “Small Day Tomorrow”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fp_Tj9iQ-s
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.
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.
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
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
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.”
Railroad Earth – “If You Will Be My Lady”
https://youtu.be/BVOlRbDneGk”,”_id”:”00000174-a7c2-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbfa0a0007″,”_type”:”035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2″}”>https://youtu.be/BVOlRbDneGk”><brightspot-cms-external-content data-state="{"url":"https://youtu.be/BVOlRbDneGk”,”_id”:”00000174-a7c2-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbfa0a0007″,”_type”:”035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2″}”>https://youtu.be/BVOlRbDneGk
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.