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This week, a new novel about two girls and an astronomy textbook draws inspiration from one of the quietest places in West Virginia. Also, author Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle talks about growing up as part of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. And, a Kentucky tattoo artist practices traditional tattooing and traditional music. He says they’re not too different.
"I just can't believe the people that I'm sharing the stage with tonight." -Patty Loveless
Want to celebrate musicians’ birthdays late at night from the comfort of your home but don’t know how? This weekend’s “Mountain Stage After Midnight” performances have got you covered. Broadcast from 1am-5am Saturday and Sunday mornings here on West Virginia Public Radio, “Mountain Stage After Midnight” takes the best performances from Mountain Stage’s 31 year history and shares them with our late night listeners. Each week, we’ll hand-pick two of our favorite episodes and they’ll alternate order each night.
Since bluegrass-country virtuoso Alison Kraus and eclectic rockabilly band NRBQ’s Alan “Al” Anderson celebrated birthdays this past week, expect to hear their music (among others) on the Saturday July 26 and Sunday July 27 editions of “Mountain Stage After Midnight.”
First, an episode from August 2001 featuring “The Queen of Mountain Soul” Patty Loveless, Canadian alt-folk band Crash Test Dummies, silky-voiced Americana artist Irene Kelley, and July birthday girl Alison Krauss.
Speaking of anniversaries, did you know that NRBQ celebrated Mountain Stage’s 100th show back in 1988?
Next, you’ll hear a 2003 episode featuring the likes of American blues guitarist Robert Cray, blues harmonica master Kim Wilson, Chicago blues singer-songwriter E.G. Kight, legendary pop producer and musician Don Dixon, and spontaneous rock group NRBQ (of which July birthday boy Al Alderson was the lead guitarist from 1974-1994).
Have a Mountain Stage performance in mind that you’d love to hear overnight weekends? Send us your recommendations over at the show’s Facebook and Twitter. While you’re at it, make sure to check out The Mountain Stage Podcast for even more reasons why Mountain Stage remains the home of live music on public radio.
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On this week’s encore broadcast of Mountain Stage, host Kathy Mattea welcomes Dan Tyminski, Darrell Scott, I Draw Slow, Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert, and Jacob Jolliff Band. This episode was recorded live at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, WV.
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah released "Still + Bright" last year, which featured guests like S.G. Goodman and Billy Strings. Inside Appalachia host Mason Adams spoke with Kiah from her home in Johnson City, Tennessee at that time. We listen to an encore of that conversation.
America continues to wrestle with racial division, but music has often been a space where those barriers are challenged. In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay revisits a 1960s moment when a band refused to perform unless a mixed-race couple was allowed to dance — and paid the price for taking that stand. It’s a story about courage, consequences and the uneasy intersection of music and race in America.
The struggle against racial discrimination has hundreds of years of history in the United States. On the next episode of Us & Them, Trey Kay looks at the intersection of music and race in the 1960s. It’s about a band that took a stand against racism – and musicians who suffered the consequences.