This week, a new report finds the number of black lung cases is at its highest since the 1970s. The human cost is high. Also, the author of a new book says reintroducing nearly extinct animals back into the wild can boost damaged ecosystems, but they can't repair them. And, roadside attractions pay tribute to our enduring fascination with weird.
Don’t get us wrong, we love doing themes for “Mountain Stage After Midnight” (see: Celtic music for St. Patrick’s Day, archived sets in honor of new releases). But this week’s archived shows are nothin’ but good music, plain and simple.
Broadcast from 1am-5am Saturday and Sunday mornings here on West Virginia Public Broadcasting, “Mountain Stage After Midnight” takes the best episodes from the show’s 31 year history and shares their memories and songs with our late-night listeners.
Take a mid-day nap and stay up late to hear some amazing live performance radio on Saturday April 18 and Sunday April 19 during “Mountain Stage After Midnight.”
First up is a January 2008 show featuring Bill Evans Soulgrass with Sam Bush & Richard Bono, Marc Cohn, Jeremy Fisher, Kelly Sweet and Amy Correia.
Credit Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage
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Tim Finn on the Mountain Stage in 2008.
We’ll also hear a February 2008 show featuring Tim Finn, Otis Taylor, Grant Lee Phillips, Patty Larkin and Joe Rathbone.
On this week’s encore broadcast of Mountain Stage, host Kathy Mattea welcomes Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Jack Blocker, Cole Quest & The City Pickers, Courtney Hartman, and The Critton Hollow String Band.
This week’s encore broadcast of Mountain Stage was recorded at the Peoples Bank Theatre in Marietta, Ohio in 2025. Guest host David Mayfield welcomed Hannah Cohen, Boulevards, Amy Millan, Lera Lynn, and Oyo to record episode 1,069.
Our Song of the Week is “Suitcase Song,” performed by stylistic chameleon Nellie McKay. Originally featured on Nellie’s 2004 debut album, Get Away from Me, “Suitcase Song” was rereleased on Gee Whiz: The Get Away from Me Demos, in 2025.
Appalachia is home to many types of music: Old-time and bluegrass, of course, but also rock and hip hop, Americana and jazz, metal and hardcore — and dungeon synth. In fact, that genre, which spun out of black metal, will be showcased outside Whitesburg, Kentucky this weekend, June 13 and 14, at Appalachian Dungeon Fest.