On this West Virginia Week, the body of a missing miner was recovered, guaranteed median income comes to Mercer County, and with Halloween over and Thanksgiving a few weeks away, what can you do with those leftover pumpkins?
April 4, 1980: Musician Red Sovine Dies in Nashville
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Musician Red Sovine died in Nashville following a car crash on April 4, 1980. He was 61.
Born Woodrow Wilson Sovine in Charleston, he was influenced by local radio musicians Frank Welling and Buddy Starcher, who were known for their sentimental monologues.
Sovine’s early radio career on WCHS in Charleston and WWVA in Wheeling was slow to take off. So, he took a factory job in the Putnam County town of Eleanor while performing on radio. After World War II, he pursued a full-time musical career in Montgomery, Alabama, Shreveport and finally Nashville.
Joining the Grand Ole Opry in 1954, he became famous for his recitations, especially ‘‘Giddyup Go,” “Phantom 309,” and this number-one hit from 1976:
Red Sovine was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
On this West Virginia Week, the body of a missing miner was recovered, guaranteed median income comes to Mercer County, and with Halloween over and Thanksgiving a few weeks away, what can you do with those leftover pumpkins?
This week's premiere broadcast of Mountain Stage was recorded live at the Canady Creative Arts Center on the campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. Host Kathy Mattea welcomed SHADOWLANDS feat. S. Carey and John Raymond, Tae & The Neighborly, Damn Tall Buildings, Erin McKeown, and Ken Yates.
We have a conversation with Marshall University's Turning Point USA chapter president. We also learn about a recently released horror film shot near Huntington, and the population decline in central Appalachia that may be getting worse.