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The hillbilly stereotype is frequently used to shame mountain people, but there are gentler versions, like Snuffy Smith, the long-running comic strip character. Snuffy Smith originally started out as a supporting character in his comic strip, which first launched in 1919 when Billy DeBeck created Barney Google. Artist Fred Lasswell was brought in during the ‘30s to create Snuffy Smith and his friends. And now the strip is written and drawn by John Rose, who lives in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
Watch Joy to the World's Holiday Jazz Program this Sunday!
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Missed seeing this year’s live performance of Joy to the World with Bob Thompson and guest vocalist Lena Seikaly? No humbugs here! You can watch it this Sunday, December 20 on WVPB television (7pm on WVPB HD and 11pm on WVPB-2).
Now in its 23rd year, Joy to the World is an annual live performance holiday jazz program hosted by pianist Bob Thompson and produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting. In addition to a distinguished solo career as the leader of the Charleston-based Bob Thompson Unit, Thompson has also been a member of the Mountain Stage band since 1991. Earlier this year he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
Credit Josh Saul
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Lena Seikaly made her Joy to the World debut this year.
For this 2015 show, Bob Thompson and his band are joined by guest vocalist Lena Seikaly, a fresh voice on the national jazz scene from Washington, D.C. Most recently she was recognized as a 2015 semifinalist in the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition. Named “one of Washington’s preeminent jazz singers” and “brightest voices in jazz” by The Washington Post, Lena is already making her mark as both a revivalist of traditional jazz vocals, as well as an innovator in contemporary vocal jazz styles.
Sunday’s Joy to the World broadcast features such holiday favorites as “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “The Christmas Waltz” and “Christmas Time is Here.”
West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) will host a public screening of selected excerpts from The American Revolution, the landmark documentary series by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, followed by a community conversation at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Brad D. Smith Business and Innovation Center on the campus of Marshall University.
Shannon Silverman, an astrophysicist at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences in Charleston, West Virginia, guides us through the cosmos above the Mountain State.
Join West Virginia Public Broadcasting this evening at 7 p.m. for Gov. Patrick Morrisey's 2026 State of the State address. You can watch the broadcast on WVPB-TV, The West Virginia Channel or stream it with WVPB Passport or our YouTube channel.
