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.
LISTEN: Amy Ray Band Has The Mountain Stage Song Of The Week
Amy Ray Band performs on Mountain Stage with Alison Brown.Chris Morris/Mountain Stage
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Amy Ray returns to Mountain Stage on this week’s encore broadcast along with her band. We’ll also hear New York trio The Lone Bellow, progressive banjo player Alison Brown, slide guitar master and banjo champion Tony Furtado, and Nova Scotia folk group Villages. This episode was recorded at the People’s Bank Theatre in Marietta, Ohio with guest host Larry Groce.
Our Song of the Week is by Amy Ray Band, who has been performing on Mountain Stage since 1990 as a solo artist and with Emily Saliers to make up the Indigo Girls.
“A Mighty Thing” is the leading title off her 10th solo album, If It All Goes South. On the recorded album and for this live performance, Ray includes the banjo skills of Alison Brown and her live touring band to round out its rich harmony-driven chorus.
Be sure to check out our podcast page for the newest episodes, including this episode (1,014), and check out our live show schedule to help plan your trip to be a part of our live radio audience.
Lindsay Lou and Larry GroceAmy Ray Alison BrownVillagesTony FurtadoThe Lone Bellow
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.
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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.