This week on Inside Appalachia, we talk with East Tennessee’s Amythyst Kiah. Her new album contemplates the cosmos. Also, hair salons are important gathering places where Black women can find community. And, West Virginia poet Torli Bush uses story to tackle tough subjects.
Television Premiere: "Traveling the Mountain Music Trail"
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting is proud to announce the premiere broadcast of “Traveling the Mountain Music Trail,” a 30 minute travelogue guiding viewers through the five-county region of eastern West Virginia that makes up the “Mountain Music Trail.”
Watch “Traveling the Mountain Music Trail” on Sunday, April 3 at 7p.m. and again on Friday, April 15 at 10:30p.m.
The culmination of a year-long collaboration with “Wild, Wonderful West Virginia” and producers from WVPB and “Mountain Stage,” the project also includes an interactive digital map that showcases vignettes, musicians, venues and other points of interest specific to Monroe, Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Randolph and Tucker counties.
“We are thrilled to come together with Mountain Stage and local partners to showcase the Mountain Music Trail,” Commissioner of Tourism Amy Shuler Goodwin said. “Music is a significant part of West Virginia’s cultural identity and this program will encourage folks to not only explore the Mountain Music Trail, but other destinations along Route 219 as well.”
The Mountain Music Trail consists of venues throughout five counties in eastern West Virginia that came together to promote and present the traditional music, dance, and folkways of the Allegheny Mountain region. Several months ago, the West Virginia Public Broadcasting production team took to the road to capture the essence of the trail which runs through Tucker, Randolph, Pocahontas, Greenbrier and Monroe counties as part of a partnership between Wild, Wonderful West Virginia and Mountain Stage, a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting to promote the Mountain Music Trail.
Credit Vasilia Scouras
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The Hans Creek String Band performs at a Monroe County Ruritan Picnic.
Our Song of the Week comes from the charming, topical folk singer-songwriter, Loudon Wainwright III, who has made over 17 appearances on Mountain Stage across every decade that the show has existed since 1983. His performance of “Middle of the Night” is our Song of the Week.
Listen this week for an encore broadcast of Mountain Stage featuring Larkin Poe, Victoria Canal, Raye Zaragoza, Ron Pope, and Christian Lopez. This episode was recorded with our host Kathy Mattea on the campus of West Virginia University, thanks to our friends at WVU College of Creative Arts and Media.
Our Song of the Week comes from the legendary jazz fusion band, best known for their 70s era records with the great pianist Herbie Hancock, The Headhunters. “Watermelon Man” was written by Hancock and was first released in 1962. On this live recording, you’ll hear Michael Clark on drums, William Summer on Vocals and Percussion, Donald Harrison on Saxophone, Shea Pierre on Piano, and Chris Severin on bass.