WATCH LIVE: Mountain Stage this Sunday With The Steel Wheels, Miko Marks, The Whitmore Sisters And More

We’re excited for this week’s Mountain Stage and we know that many of us are feeling the urge to go out and hear some live music “just as soon as we can.” If that’s the case then we have a fantastic show lined up for this Sunday, February 20. Let’s say you aren’t ready or able to leave the house for a live show yet – we have you covered. We are once again offering a live stream for fans that may be unable to make it. You can watch from wherever you are at MountainStage.org or LiveSessions.NPR.org when the show streams live Sunday night at 7 p.m. EST. This free stream is provided by the video production department at WVPB and our colleagues at NPR Music’s LiveSessions. Anyone who wishes to support the show can purchase a donation-based “Pay What you Wish” Ticket via Eventbrite. After all, we could never do what we do without your support, and we never forget that.

1 of 2  — Miko Marks

Genre-blending singer and songwriter Miko Marks makes her Mountain Stage debut this Sunday, Feb. 20

2 of 2  — Scott Cook

Canadian roots writer and singer Scott Cook appears on Mountain Stage this Sunday. Watch live at 7p.m. EST at MountainStage.org

Steven Teeuwsen

If you do make plans to join us, there are still tickets available to be a part of the 50% capacity audience. We ask that in-person attendees remain masked throughout the duration of the performance and sincerely appreciate everyone’s cooperation in keeping each other safe.

This weekend’s live show features a roots-based lineup steeped in strong songwriting and tradition, but with a contemporary slant. Hailing from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains and returning to the show for their fifth appearance is modern bluegrass outfit The Steel Wheels, Miko Marks brings her country-infused R&B/soul, sibling harmonies from The Whitmore Sisters, Canadian singer-songwriter Scott Cook, and The Steeldrivers’ own Tammy Rogers duo with acclaimed songwriter and guitarist Thomm Jutz. As usual, host Kathy Mattea is at the helm, accompanied by the all-star Mountain Stage band.

Below is a quick snapshot of what you’ll hear this Sunday:

The Steel Wheels – Simultaneously familiar and fresh, The Steel Wheels bring singular energy to every note they play and sparkling craft to each song. This potent combination, paired with a robust tour calendar, has made the veteran band hands-down favorites of fans and peers alike. From their base in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, The Steel Wheels have played the most prestigious festivals, listening rooms, and clubs in the world, earning a reputation as one of the top independent bands on the scene today.

Miko Marks – Miko Marks proves to be a bonafide maverick that has blazed an unprecedented trail in the music industry. After a long-overdue hiatus from music, Marks is eager to spread not only her music, but a message of unity and outspokenness for black musicians in country music and beyond. She has done much more than just make a splash and now she is ready to make waves. Marks works towards an ever-evolving dream of creating art that is not stereotyped or pigeonholed by a specific genre and is created with no borders or boundaries.

Vanessa Dingweo

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The Whitmore Sisters – Ultimately, Ghosts Stories’ cathartic songs embrace the beauty and the experience of living. What came from lockdown and shared experiences —hiking the Grand Canyon at five, playing bars at 15, or just embracing the beauty of living — is an album to take you places and make you feel so alive. “Music should move people,” Eleanor affirms. “Or at least cause some kind of reaction. Sometimes it’s comforting, or you can rock out! I’ve always liked Woody Guthrie’s way of looking at it: “Music is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the

comfortable.”

Scott Cook – Alberta’s Scott Cook (www.scottcook.net) has been living out of a van or a backpack for a dozen years now, touring almost incessantly across Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, and elsewhere, and distilling his experiences into straight-talking, keenly observant verse. His fourth independent release, One More Time Around, was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award, and its opening track “Pass It Along” won the Folk and Acoustic category in the 2013 UK Songwriting Contest, with UK magazine Maverick Country naming him “one of Canada’s most inspiring and imaginative storytellers”. His sixth studio album Further Down the Line won him his second CFMA nomination (English Songwriter of the Year), and comes packaged in a 132-page book containing a look back, in words and pictures, on a decade of full-time travel. He’s currently touring in support of his seventh collection, Tangle of Souls, which comes in a hardcover book of road stories and ruminations, both personal and political. Cook is one of the hardest-working DIY troubadours on the road today, averaging around 150 shows including a dozen festivals every year since 2007. All the hard miles notwithstanding, he still believes that songs can change your life, and your life can change the world.

Tammy Rogers & Thomm Jutz – The pair met in 2016 when seated at the same table at a music industry gala, yet their creative paths had run parallel for years. Rogers may be best known as a co-founder and fiddler in the Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band, The SteelDrivers. Meanwhile, Grammy nominated Jutz toured as a guitarist for Mary Gauthier, Nanci Griffith, and David Olney before developing a reputation as one of bluegrass music’s most prolific songwriters. At the end of that industry event, they exchanged phone numbers intending to write together sometime. Five years later, they’re still collaborating on a near-weekly basis. Among a catalog of more than 140 songs, they selected a dozen of the best for Surely Will Be Singing.

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