Mountain Stage Announces June 25 FestivALL Live Show

Mountain Stage will record episode number 899 on Sunday, June 25 as part of FestivALL Charleston. Tickets on sale now on  mountainstage.ticketfly.com, by phone at 877.987.6487, or locally at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.

On Sunday, June 25 Mountain Stage returns to the Culture Center Theater on the state capitol grounds to record the radio program’s 899^th episode. The show’s Assistant Producer Joni Deutsch will return to the host’s microphone,  becoming the first person to guest host a second time, filling in for the co-founder and artistic director Larry Groce. Deutsch’s first opportunity came during last year’s FestivALL Charleston when she guest-hosted with Lucius, Rachel Yamagata, Margaret Glaspy, William Matheny and Adia Victoria. Hear that episode in our archives.

Credit Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage

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“It’s an honor and a privilege to step up to the Mountain Stage microphone,” says Deutsch, “Last year we kept my guest hosting a surprise up until show time. This time around, I’m happy to be able to say loudly, and proudly, ‘I’ll be guest hosting Mountain Stage for the second time on June 25.’ ”

As part of a new initiative, tickets will be available for seven days exclusively to Mountain Stage Members, who make a sustaining gift to Mountain Stage via this new membership form:

https://secure.wvpublic.org/donate/mtnstage.php

Mountain Stage Members will be given exclusive ticket pre-sale access, plus monthly newsletters, playlists,  behind the scenes updates from the Mountain Stage staff, as well as periodic discounts and other special offers.

Advance tickets for the show are $30 and will be placed on sale to the public on Friday, March 31 at 10a.m. Tickets can be purchased online at mountainstage.ticketfly.com, by phone at 877.987.6487, or locally at Taylor Books,  226 Capitol Street in downtown Charleston.

Scheduled to appear on June 25 is the Marcus King Band, led by up and coming guitarist, singer and songwriter Marcus King. The band made a big impact with the release of their 2015 album  “Soul Insight.” Raised in Greenville, South Carolina, King was brought up on the blues, playing shows as a pre-teen sideman with his father—bluesman Marvin King—before striking out on his own.

King and company are making their national television debut on Saturday, March 25 on CBS This Morning.

Credit Matt Wignall

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Their latest release, “The Marcus King Band,” was written on the road and recorded during a series of live takes at Carriage House Studios in Stamford, CT. The album captures the energy of the band’s blazing live show, as well as the talent of a rising young songwriter reaching well beyond his years.  Joining the band on the new album are a number of mentors and collaborators, including Derek Trucks (who plays guitar on “Self-Hatred”).

No guest plays a bigger role than Warren Haynes, though. A longtime champion of King’s songwriting and guitar prowess, Haynes produced every track on “The Marcus King Band” (and contributed his trademark slide guitar on “Virginia”), expertly capturing the group’s live sound for a cohesive collection reflecting the band’s expansive explorations.

Joining the Marcus King Band is “Nashville’s best-kept secret” singer-songwriter Tristen, who gained notice as an artist with “pop hooks and pure inspiration” through her 2011 folk-oriented record Charlatans at the Garden Gate and was later recast as “a synth-pop siren” with her 2013 record CAVES. Tristen has a reputation for having a “preternatural sense of melody, energetic live shows and emotive vocals” and bringing along Nashville’s hottest musicians as her backing band. Both of her albums were named the best local album by the Nashville Scene and placed in American Songwriter’s top 50 albums of their respective years. 

Credit Courtesy of the artist

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Tristen spent 2015 as a backing singer and keyboard player in Jenny Lewis’s band and released her first book of poetry, Saturnine, in 2016 which features a foreword by rock and roll poet Ezra Furman. Tristen’s new record Sneaker Waves  is due out in 2017.

A complete list of Mountain Stage events can be found at mountainstage.org/shows.

Mountain Stage is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed by NPR Music. This episode will be scheduled for nationally distribution later this year to 211 affiliate stations across the country.