Conor Knighton Returns Home to Host Mountain Stage

On Sunday October 23 Mountain Stage will welcome special guest host Conor Knighton to present the long-running radio show’s event as part of FestivALL Fall. Mountain Stage has also added “Nashville gonzo outlaw” songwriter Todd Snider to the line-up that already includes Shovels & Rope, Rhett Miller, Joe Purdy and River Whyless. The show takes place at the Culture Center Theater and ticket info is available here. Less than 100 tickets remain as of this writing. UPDATE: Advance Tickets to this event have sold out.

Conor Knighton is currently out “On The Trail,” taking a year-long, cross-country look at America’s National Parks, airing every other week on CBS Sunday Morning.  From Acadia to Zion, Conor will be reporting and producing the series of stories from the parks, coinciding with the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service.

“I’ve been headed to all the national parks for CBS Sunday Morning,” Knighton said in a video released on Monday. “But I think the trip I’m most excited for is for a Sunday evening in October. Larry Groce has invited me to come home to West Virginia where I grew up, and host Mountain Stage.  I can’t tell you what a huge honor it is. I’ve been such a fan of the show ever since I was a kid.”

Conor joins a short list of guest hosts in the show’s 32 year history, joining Tim O’Brien and Joni Deutsch, as the only hosts to fill in for Larry Groce in over 878 episodes.

In addition to his work on Sunday Morning, Knighton has had stints on AMC (“The Movie List”) and Biography Channel  (“My Viral Video”) and he helped launch Current TV in 2005.  His commentary has been featured on CNN, HLN, TV Guide, MTV, E!, Oxygen, and KNBC.

Find out more about Conor on his website and check out his https://youtu.be/_6udZ8YcsnE”>hosting reel.

October 23 will be Todd Snider’s 14th appearance on the show since 1995 . Snider is touring in support of his latest album, “East Side Bulldog”, set for release on October 7. The new album brings life to Snider’s Elmo Buzz pseudonym, a name he has used to play in Nashville while dodging radius clauses. The song “Hey Pretty Boy” is available to stream now.

This episode of “Mountain Stage” is scheduled for distribution via NPR Music starting November 18.