This week, the region is known for exporting coal, but it’s losing people, too. Also, folk singer Ginny Hawker grew up singing the hymns of the Primitive Baptist Church, but she didn’t think of performing until she got a little boost from Appalachian icon Hazel Dickens. And, the chef of an award-winning Asheville restaurant was shaped by memories of growing up in West Virginia.
Pops Staples on Mountain Stage in the early 1990s.Mountain Stage Archive
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Our Song of the Week is the title song for this week’s special episode of Mountain Stage. Larry has curated a show in four parts, turning an ear to songs about the oppressed, the overlooked, and the experiences of those who are misunderstood.
Roebuck “Pops” Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000) was the patriarch of the gospel-soul family band The Staples Singers. Pops performed twice on Mountain Stage, in 1992 and 1994, and both times he performed his song “Why Am I Treated So Bad?”
Staples performed the song while traveling with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and he tells in his introduction, that King called it “My song.”
This episode is called “Why Am I Treated So Bad” and highlights songs about experiences of people of color, Native Americans, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, women, and those living on the economic edge.
Credit Mountain Stage Archive
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Mavis Staples, acclaimed singer and daughter of Pops, also appears on this week’s broadcast, singing one of her father’s songs.
We also hear from Mavis Staples, Arlo Guthrie, John Trudell, Odetta, Amy Ray, Rhiannon Giddens and others.
This week, the region is known for exporting coal, but it’s losing people, too. Also, folk singer Ginny Hawker grew up singing the hymns of the Primitive Baptist Church, but she didn’t think of performing until she got a little boost from Appalachian icon Hazel Dickens. And, the chef of an award-winning Asheville restaurant was shaped by memories of growing up in West Virginia.
Halloween may be over, but mountain state spookiness continues on with a new film called “Self-Help.” Shot in locations near Huntington, the horror movie follows a college student who infiltrates a dangerous self-actualization community after her mother becomes entangled with its leader.
Halloween may be over, but Mountain State spookiness continues on with a new horror film called "Self-Help" shot in locations near Huntington. The film was produced by brothers Erik and Carson Bloomquist. Bill Lynch spoke with Carson about the film and their experience in West Virginia.