One of America’s pioneering filmmakers had nothing to do with Hollywood but nevertheless left his mark on the emerging industry. Oscar Micheaux was a homesteader, who then turned his attention to making movies in the early 1900s. He was a Black man who made movies for Black audiences at a time when they weren’t allowed into mainstream, white-only theaters. And for several pivotal years in the 1920s, he operated out of Roanoke, Virginia.
Listen: Robbie Fulks Has Our Mountain Stage Song Of The Week
Robbie Fulks performs on Mountain Stage.Chris Morris/Mountain Stage
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Starting this Friday, Feb. 9, episode 1,012 of Mountain Stage will be heard on nearly 300 NPR stations nationwide. Our guest host Larry Groce steps in for this week’s show, with alt-country pioneer Robbie Fulks, award-winning bluegrass band The Gibson Brothers, folk rocker Jaimee Harris, Portland singer-songwriter Anna Tivel, and emerging Kentucky artist Nicholas Jamerson.
Our Song of the Week comes from Robbie Fulks, whose witty, yet sophisticated songs captivated our audiences for years. As one of the pioneers of the popular alt-country scene, Fulks has a gift for a wide variety of roots-music sounds — rolling out tunes that are equal parts honky-tonk, country, bluegrass and rock and roll.
Fulks’ song “Fare Thee Well, Carolina Gals” is our Song of the Week, which originally appeared on his 2016 album Upland Stories. His most-recent release is Bluegrass Vacation.
Make sure you’re watching our podcast page for the newest episodes, and sign up for email updates to help plan your trip to be a part of a live show here in #AlmostHeaven or on the road.
WVPB will be screening excerpts of Ken Burns’ recent PBS documentary series "The American Revolution" this week at Marshall. Us & Them host Trey Kay will moderate the event, and he spoke recently with WVPB News Director Eric Douglas about why revisiting the nation’s founding story matters today. Also, a bill to temporarily delay moving a child to homeschooling during an active case of abuse or neglect hit a snag in the Senate on Monday.
One of America’s pioneering filmmakers had nothing to do with Hollywood but nevertheless left his mark on the emerging industry. Oscar Micheaux was a homesteader, who then turned his attention to making movies in the early 1900s. He was a Black man who made movies for Black audiences at a time when they weren’t allowed into mainstream, white-only theaters. And for several pivotal years in the 1920s, he operated out of Roanoke, Virginia.
This week, in the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux was an entrepreneur filmmaker in western Virginia. He became a world-renowned director and producer. Also, Kentucky’s poet laureate lives down the road from what has been called the country’s most lethal cryptid. Attempts to spot it have led to deaths. And, we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who’s passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.
We listen to an excerpt from the latest Inside Appalachia and learn about the influence and contributions of Oscar Micheaux, an African American filmmaker who lived in Virginia in the 1920s and shattered stereotypes.
