West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Telling West Virginia's Story
The first family of banjo, Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn join us for this podcast episode recorded in 2014. We’ll also hear from Australian Kate Miller-Heidke, composer and witty songwriter Gabriel Kahane, blues vocalist Janiva Magness, and Irish folk-pop duo, Storyman.
Support for the Mountain Stage Podcast is provided by Digital Relativity. https://digitalrelativity.com
Lovingly referred to as The First Family of the Banjo, partners in love, life and music Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn join us on the Mountain Stage for an extended set during this week’s encore broadcast.
This week’s encore broadcast also features performances from The Del McCoury Band, Malcolm Holcombe and West Virginia’s own Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys on Mountain Stage.
Like what you hear? Subscribe to the Mountain Stage podcast where you can find our episodes in their entirety.
Mountain Stage with Larry Groce is proud to announce the return of Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn and The Del McCoury Band to Charleston, West Virginia.
On Sunday, May 14, Mountain Stage will celebrate its 34th season of live performance radio at The Clay Center in Charleston, West Virginia, with the unofficial “First Family of the Banjo” Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn. The duo are widely credited with reinventing the sound and image of the banjo — Fleck through the three-finger Scruggs style and Washburn via the traditional clawhammer approach. A fifteen-time Grammy winner, Béla has devoted time away from his genre-busting ensemble Béla Fleck and the Flecktones to a staggeringly broad array of musical experiments, from writing a concerto for the Nashville Symphony to exploring the banjo’s African roots to jazz duos with Chick Corea, while Washburn has drawn critical acclaim for her solo albums, done fascinating work in folk musical diplomacy in China, presented an original theatrical production, contributed to singular side groups Uncle Earl and The Wu-Force and become quite a live draw in her own right.
The show will also feature the return of The Del McCoury Band. One of the most respected and beloved performers in bluegrass music, Del McCoury began working as a musician in the ’60s, touring and playing as a singer and guitarist with various groups, including Bill Monroe’s famous Bluegrass Boys. He made his first trip to Mountain Stage in 1989, backing legendary mandolin player David Grisman. It was also around this time that he began spending more time with his own band, which included his young sons Ronnie on mandolin and Robbie on banjo. The band’s popularity has continued to rise over the years, and they remain one of the few groups capable of headlining both traditional bluegrass festivals and jam band shows with equal success and adoration.
More acts for this show will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets are already available for Clay Center subscribers. Single tickets go on sale for the general public online and at the Clay Center Box Office on Friday, January 6, and are $25 in advance and $40 day of show. All tickets are assigned seating for this May 14 show, with doors opening at 6:30pm and the show promptly starting at 7pm.
Stay up to date on Mountain Stage show news and ticket deals by following us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram and signing up for our e-mail newsletter. And if you’re looking for a new soundtrack between now and then, listen back to our favorite performances of 2016 and subscribe to the Mountain Stage podcast on iTunes.
First Family of the Banjo Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn return to Mountain Stage this week, with songs from the first album they’ve recorded together as a duo. Over a bed of intertwined banjos, Abigail takes the lead on a song Bela wrote, lyrics and all, “What’cha Gonna Do?”
Between the two of them, Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn have appeared on Mountain Stage over 15 times in the last twenty years. Until the First Family of the Banjo make their next appearance on the show (get to writing, Bela/Abby!), we’ll go ahead and listen back to their past pick’n tunes on Mountain Stage After Midnight.
Broadcast from 1am-5am Saturday and Sunday mornings here on West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Mountain Stage After Midnight takes the best episodes from the show’s 31 year history and shares their memories and songs with our late-night listeners.
Tune in this Saturday July 4 and Sunday July 5 for some great tunes on Mountain Stage After Midnight.
We’ll hear a March 2006 show featuring Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Lynn Miles, Gus Black, Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca and Teddy Thompson.
Another show comes from November 2006, this time recorded at the Tamarack Conference Center in Beckley, WV. Guest artists include Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet, Bearfoot, Jim Lauderdale, Todd Burge, The Klezmatics and Doug & Shelley Harper.
Which archived shows do you want to hear on the next #MSAM? Send us your favorite show memories on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. Take a walk down (musical) memory lane with our 24/7 Mountain Stage stream, which is supported by music fans like you. Sign-up for our monthly email newsletter for the latest show announcements and come see what live performance radio looks like at one of our live shows. And if Mountain Stage isn’t available wherever you are, contact your public radio station and let them know what they’re missing out on!
This Valentine’s Day weekend, let Mountain Stage be the Abigail Washburn to your Bela Fleck and the Julie Miller to your Buddy Miller. Broadcast from 1am-5am Saturday and Sunday mornings here on West Virginia Public Broadcasting, “Mountain Stage After Midnight” takes the best episodes from the show’s 31 year history and shares their memories and songs with our late-night listeners.
Hear some musically-minded couples this Saturday February 14 and Sunday February 15 on “Mountain Stage After Midnight.”
First up is a 2013 show, recorded in Sunny Buckhannon, West Virginia. It includes sets from folksy roots group The Stray Birds, Tennessee bluegrass band The SteelDrivers, alternative country outfit Houndmouth, Toad the Wet Sprocket singer/songwriter Glenn Phillips and “husband-and-wife banjo adventurers” Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn.
Next up is a 2011 show featuring Boston-based guitarist Patty Larkin, American folk duo Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer, bluegrass companions Jim Hurst & Missy Raines, alt-country legend Lucinda Williams and Americana husband-wife team Buddy & Julie Miller.
If you find yourself in the mood for more magical, musical goodness, Mountain Stage is but a click away. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram, carry us on your favorite device with The Mountain Stage Podcast on iTunes and be in the audience for our next live show.
