Daniel Johnston recorded songs in his parents' basement in rural West Virginia that would eventually inspire artists such as Kurt Cobain, Beck, Wilco, and Sonic Youth. In this award-winning episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay explores the life, art, and enduring legacy of the late singer-songwriter and visual artist whose creative genius and struggles with bipolar disorder made him one of America's most influential outsider artists.
This Sunday: Bottle Rockets, Amy Helm and More on Mountain Stage in Charleston.
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Tickets are still available for this Sunday’s Mountain Stage with Larry Groce featuring Bottle Rockets, Amy Helm, Alela Diane, John R. Miller & the Engine Lights and Hubby Jenkins. Now, thanks to our colleagues at VuHaus and West Virginia Public Broadcasting you can watch along wherever you are.
This Sunday Mountain Stage will be celebrating the fall with live-performances from some returning favorites and a few new faces. We’ll record episode #933 at the Culture Center Theater. Doors open at 6:30pm and showtime is 7pm. Come back to this post or point your browser to MountainStage.org or VuHaus.com to watch live from anywhere with a web connection.
Be sure to send us a Tweet or post on Instagram to let us know where you’re watching from.
Road-tested, listener-approved rock and rollers Bottle Rockets, return for their eighth appearance on Mountain Stage since 1995. The band’s brand-new album Bit Logicwas released Oct. 12, and Wide Open Country recently called the title track “a roots rocker made for anyone who finds their head spinning over our society’s obsession with social media and technology’s advance into do-it-all virtual assistants. (Or all-knowing, all-seeing surveillance overlords, depending on how you may feel.)”
Amy Helm makes her second solo appearance on Mountain Stage this Sunday at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston. Tickets are still available.
Amy Helm’s most recent release This Too Shall Light uses what the singer calls a “circular sound.” You can hear wisps of genres ranging from Americana to blues throughout the album which was produced by Grammy Award winner, Joe Henry. This will be Helm’s second appearance on Mountain Stage, the first being in December of 2015, after appearing three times as a member of the modern folk group Ollabelle.
Previously of the Grammy Award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, Hubby Jenkins will pull you into a trance with his ability to pick like the legends. He has also been a regular member of Rhiannon Giddens’ band, and he will join us as for a solo performance this weekend. Have a listen below.
Alela Diane makes her first appearance on Mountain Stage with Larry Groce this Sunday in Charleston.
“This music is about motherhood,” says singer, songwriter and vocalist Alela Diane, of her highly anticipated fifth album Cusp. “Even just by saying that, it feels like people will write you off. It’s like you’ve suddenly lost the charm of being youthful and even attainable––you’ve been commoditized as available. There is not a big place in the music industry for 30-something women with kids making music.” She laughs as she pauses, then adds, “Maybe we can create that space.”
A founding member of West Virginia bands Prison Book Club and The Fox Hunt- and a professed favorite of Appalachian luminaries Tyler Childers and William Matheny-John R. Miller & The Engine Lights carries along his own torch of country blues & folk with his new full-length album, The Trouble You Follow.
You can get tickets online or head over to Taylor Books in downtown Charleston, W.Va. More details here.
This episode is scheduled for distribution by NPR Music starting November 9. Find a station where you can listen to Mountain Stage each week here.
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The WVPB News Department was honored with Overall Excellence in the Radio Small Market category. Us & Them, which is hosted by Trey Kay, was honored with Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the episode Us & Them: Black West Virginians With Substance Use Disorder Face Unique Challenges. Regional winners automatically move on to the national round for consideration.
Our Song of the Week is “The False Lady,” performed by Dublin-born singer-songwriter and guitarist John Doyle and Manchester-born flute, whistle, and uilleann pipes maestro Michael McGoldrick.
On this West Virginia Week, the primary election in the state turns ugly and racist, an ambulance driver is indicted for the death of a man in Elkview and Democrats call for an investigation of Senator Jim Justice.
