Americana Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Podcast Takes Up Snake Handling Churches — But Leaves Behind The Stereotypes

Folkways reporter Zack Harold interviews musician, songwriter, painter and former preacher Abe Partridge about his podcast “Alabama Astronaut,” which chronicles the world of Appalachian snake handling churches and the unique genre of music found within their walls.

This story originally aired in the Nov. 4, 2022 episode of Inside Appalachia.

Folkways reporter Zack Harold interviews musician, songwriter, painter and former preacher Abe Partridge about his podcast Alabama Astronaut, which chronicles the world of Appalachian snake handling churches and the unique genre of music found within their walls.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Harold: Can you give us a brief introduction on how you became familiar with the world of snake handling churches?

Partridge: I guess it depends on how far we want to go back, but I pastored in Middlesboro, Kentucky when I was in my mid 20s. I went through a crisis of faith, I guess you could say, and I was in the process of leaving the church.

During that time, I met a guy by the name of Jamie Coots, who was pretty well known in the serpent handling faith. We probably had a 30 or 45 minute conversation, but in that 30 or 45 minutes, it was a real striking conversation that I never forgot. He gave me his phone number — I think he knew that I was struggling.

Well, I started playing songs and painting and stuff like that. I was touring on the West Coast with artists by the name of Jerry Joseph and this other Alabamian from Birmingham named Will Stewart. He had a song that he wrote called “Brush Arbor.” It had a line in it that mentioned “copperheads and the Holy Ghost.” And I thought that was odd. I asked Will what it was about and he’s like, “It’s about a book I read called ‘Salvation on Sand Mountain.’” I read it at the beginning of the pandemic. And guess who’s in it? Jamie Coots.

So I said, “I’m going to go find this serpent handling church and I’m going to go.” Well, I found a few. And at every one that I went to, I had heard songs that I never knew — that I’d never heard before. And I had spent a large portion of my life in church.

*Musician, singer-songwriter, painter, podcaster and former preacher Abe Partridge*

Harold: For people that haven’t heard the podcast — what makes it special, compared to church music they might be familiar with?

Patridge: It differs, number one, in the lyrical content. These people happen to believe a certain passage of scripture that’s found in the book of Mark, chapter 16, verses 18 and 19. It draws from Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. And the last things that he told his disciples was there were five signs that were going to follow them that believe. Very quickly, the five are: cast out devils, laying hands on the sick and they shall recover, speaking in tongues, “they shall take up serpents,” and then “if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.”

Now there are hundreds of millions of Pentecostals that exist on planet Earth. And nearly all of those Pentecostals will do three of those signs — speaking in tongues, they profess to cast out devils and they profess to lay hands on the sick and then they recover. But outside of these few believers, I’m not aware of any other ones in the world where they literally take up serpents and literally, if they consume a poison that it does not hurt them.

So whenever you hear a song that references those, you know that it had to originate within this sect of believers — because there is literally no other sect of believers on planet Earth that falls under the realm of Christianity that believe these things.

Harold: The musical style is also unique. How would you describe that?

Partridge: Dennis Covington wrote the book “Salvation on Sand Mountain.” He described it as a mixture of Salvation Army and acid rock. And then other people have called it rockabilly, rock and roll, rock and roll sacred music. I call it serpent handling gospel music. They just call it music.

Harold: So how is this tradition being passed down?

Partridge: The same way that music was passed down for all the centuries before man had access to means of recording. Person to person, church to church. I have yet to meet a serpent handling musician that had any type of formal training in music. They pass down both the songs and the style of their playing, I guess you would say, orally.

Harold: But you’ve got churches all the way from Alabama up into West Virginia. It’s a pretty big swath of territory. Are they visiting one another and passing along songs? How does that cultural exchange happen?

Partridge: The serpent handlers know each other. They sometimes have special meetings they call them “homecomings.” Sometimes they have meetings called “revivals.” And people will travel from the other churches to attend. I’ve actually been in services before where, if you listen to the audio, you would assume there was only one guitar player. But in actuality, there were multiple guitar players. They pass the guitar along as each one feels led. But they play the same style, because it all derives from their sacred music.

Harold: Has there been a change over the years in the kind of music that the snake handling churches are playing? Or has it maintained some kind of consistency?

Partridge: I wouldn’t call them “changes,” I would call them “tweaks” with the introduction of electric instruments, probably in the ‘60s. But before that even, they were playing acoustic instruments, and they were playing the same type of songs they’re playing now.

It’s still actively, right now in 2022, being passed down. And I’ve got hundreds of hours of recordings that show this kind of music being played back into the ‘50s.

Harold: It seems the depth you’ve gone into all this — is it all just about the music? Or is there something else behind it too?

Partridge: So it’s always been music first. That was my goal. But I will tell you this, if it was just about the music, I wouldn’t still be going. I’ve already got hundreds of hours of recordings. I could put a record out but two weeks ago, I was still there.

It’s actually helped rekindle my own faith. I wouldn’t necessarily like to line out what that looks like. And, you know, I’m not going to start picking up snakes. But I have witnessed things in the moment that felt absolutely supernatural.

Harold: So you’ve got the recordings. What’s the plan to present those to the public?

Partridge: We have released the Coots Duo album, which is an album that we recorded inside of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus’ Name in Middlesboro, Kentucky — which is Jamie Coots’ old church — with his son Cody, and his wife, Cassie.

Cody happens to be a fourth generation serpent handler, serpent handling preacher and songwriter. So we’ve recorded music with them. And we’ve already put that out on our website. It’s already available for download.

The Coots Duo album, produced by Partridge, features snake handling preacher Cody Coots and his wife Cassie.

The goal is to create a documentary record that is captured within the church. But now I need to find the most powerful moments and get these things mixed and mastered — which I do not personally have the skills to do. So that’s where we’re at right now.

And let me tell you when it gets done, it is going to blow your mind. Because it’s so good.

Harold: This is one of the most compelling podcasts I’ve heard in a long time. It gives a peek into a side of American culture that I don’t think a whole lot of people have thought about. A lot of people don’t even know exists. And it handles it with such respect and an apparent love of the subject matter.

Partridge: It’s not hard to treat them with respect. It’s not hard, but it never gets done. I think the overall theme is, there’s a lot of people in this world. And like Dr. Hood said in the podcast, if we’re going to have diversity in this country then it requires a respect.

You can find more information about the Alabama Astronaut podcast, the Coots Duo album and Partridge’s other projects at AlabamaAstronaut.com.

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This story is part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project, a partnership with West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Inside Appalachia and the Folklife Program of the West Virginia Humanities Council.

The Folkways Reporting Project is made possible in part with support from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies to the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more stories of Appalachian folklife, arts, and culture.

Drum Softly and Carry Two Big Sticks: A Conversation with West Virginia's Go-To Drummer

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and A Change of Tune, this is 30 Days of #WVmusic, the interview series celebrating the folks who make the West Virginia music scene wild and wonderful.

And today’s interview is with the Huntington drummer with the best seat in the house, keeping time for William Matheny and Tyler Childers. This… is Rod Elkins.

Rod Elkins can be seen (and heard) on tour with William Matheny & the Strange Constellations and Tyler Childers. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Connect with A Change of Tune on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds.

Rod Elkins performing with Tyler Childers.

Interview Highlights

On beginning in music:

I’ve been into music pretty much my entire life. My dad has a band, The Elkins Brothers Band, and ever since I was a little kid, I’d go and watch him play. Mostly at the Milton Fire House or various VFWs, and I would just sit there, swinging my legs. It’s always been around, and I can never think of a time it wasn’t. I started playing drums in the 6^th grade, enrolled in band at school and started playing in his band.

I always thought the drums were the coolest instrument on the planet. Every drummer my dad had, they were just cool dudes. I loved to be around them and loved watching them, and I thought it was the best instrument in the band. My dad’s a guitar player, kind of picked that up naturally. He would put one in my hand, teach me a few things, I would download songs off Napster when I came home from school and learn them.

He was really nurturing. I used to teach at Route 60 Music and people would tell me how they bought their kids electronic drum sets because they didn’t want to hear it. I always thought about how my mom and dad gave me a couple of hours to make as much noise as I wanted, but at like 8pm, if it wasn’t done… [laughing]!

On what he listened to growing up:

The classic country, outlaw stuff. My dad is a huge Waylon Jennings fan. I always thought he sounded like him when he sang.

I had a Fisher-Price record player, and I remember as a kid, I was just crawling across the floor, maybe 4- or 5-years-old, I took the Fisher-Price record off and waddled over to a stack of my dad’s records and pulled it out, and it was Creedence Clearwater Revival, one of the greatest hits records, “Down on the Corner,” was the first song. I was pretty hooked after that.

Rod Elkins as a Marshall University drummer.

On his jazz studies at Marshall University inform his Americana/rock drumming:

I always wanted to do music in college. I wanted to go to college because not many people in my family went to college. Me and my sisters did. My dad didn’t go; my mom went to beauty school. Staying in town just made sense.

I got really bored with just doing classical performance with symphonic band and percussion ensembles. Not that I don’t like the music or anything, but at the time, I was just really out of it and not really enjoying it. I think I was the only drum set major at the time in jazz studies. I took a little break and came back in 2012 and finished three years ago this December.

It helped playing with different groups, playing something you just got a week ago. Reading, making charts. Sometimes if we want to play a song now, the fastest way for me to learn it is if I jot it down on a piece of paper and chart it out. I got to see a lot of great drummers being in school. We had great faculty, and they would always bring great people in. It was really inspirational seeing them play.

On his favorite drummers:

Levon [Helm], for sure. I’ll never forget… me and Craig Burletic. I was in the music library, and I was supposed to be doing something but I wasn’t actively doing anything, and [Craig] comes in and says, “Dude, you got to stop what you’re doing and listen to this.” And I think it was the Rock of Ages video of The Band doing “Don’t Do It.” It was lifechanging, the way he played, the nuances and the sound he got out of the drums. That and Steve Gadd. I always wanted to play like Steve Gadd ‘cause that guy’s perfect.

Rod Elkins performing at The V-Club in Huntington, WV.

On what it means to be a drummer in the band:

Drummer is the bus, that’s what I always thought, and the bass player drives that bus. It’s a team effort, something to lean on. A good drummer doesn’t get in the way of the song. It’s a nice blanket for soloists or singers to lean on and to stay out of the way. That’s always a goal in my head when I play. I feel like I’m naturally strong, and I have to work hard at the drums to stay out of the way. I constantly worry that I’m too loud.

On his first bands playing in the #WVmusic scene:

I was playing in a VFW band called 60 East. I played guitar and sang. It was pretty good, right out of high school. James [Barker] and Craig Burletic had a rock band and a drummer who was moving away. I was late for a math class, and I didn’t go because I was late, I was getting coffee and [Craig] said, “You have to play in my band. I talked to James, and we don’t want anyone else. We want you.” I just wanted to do this original music. That was the first thing with Huntington music… Deadbeats & Barkers.

That transformed into like 68 consecutive Sundays at Shamrocks. [Shamrocks owner Ian Thornton] gave us a shot, and I think [Deadbeats & Barkers] already had the Sunday gig when they asked me to play. We dove right in, and it was great. That period… I understand why they call it the good old days. I met Bud Carroll for the first time, Doug Woodward, The Demon Beat. Anybody and everybody would come on Sundays. Sometimes it would be so special. We’d play a set, take a break and then anybody who’d want to jam could jam. I think I quit my job at Amazon because of Sundays because I had to be at work on 8 on Monday morning.

On joining up with Tyler Childers:

It was kind of a joke at first. Jack Browning, a good buddy of ours who lives in L.A. now, thought, “Y’all should play together and be the Food Stamps.” Tyler Childers opened for us at Shoops, and he sang and it was beautiful, everybody was shocked. I’ll never forget after the show I said, “Man, you’re great, you’ve got great songs. You want to party?” His response was, “Man, I’m 18 and 45 minutes from home, I think I need to go.”

We kept crossing paths, and then the joke came back around, and it was one of our friend’s birthday parties where we finally did it. A little bit later, we were goofing around playing covers, and I took the initiative to put our name in the hat for a music festival in Cincinnati. We went to Bud’s and cut some demos. We got in, and it was the first time we played Tyler’s songs, and we’ve been doing it ever since.

Bud Carroll, Rod Elkins, William Matheny, Adam Meisterhans and Ian Thornton backstage before their June 2016 Mountain Stage.

On playing with William Matheny:

Nothing short of magical. I love that guy to death. It’s kind of hard to place when I first met William because once I did, it’s like he’s been in my life forever, it’s like he’s always been there. He probably knows better than I do. I filled in for Bud [since] Bud was playing drums. I can’t remember why he couldn’t play, but I learned the songs, and after those strings of dates it was like, “Would you like to be in this band? We can put Bud back on guitar.” [Billy’s] songs are great, he’s a great person, a true bandleader. I’m fortunate enough to play with the two best songwriters in West Virginia. It’s been nothing short of great, I don’t know how I did it. I’ve been really fortunate to hang in there with some of the best.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

Rod Elkins- “DonDon”

Tyler Childers and The Foodstamps- “Feathered Indians”

Rod Elkins- “PanGan-Anini”

William Matheny & the Strange Constellations- “Living Half to Death”

Support for 30 Days of #WVmusic is provided by Kin Ship Goods, proud supporter of DIY music and the arts. Locally shipped worldwide at kinshipgoods.com.

In with the Old, Out with the New: Welcome to Union Sound Treaty's Outlaw Country

“We felt that by coming together to write authentic music, we offer a modern-day “sound treaty” to the legends and heroes of grassroots, outlaw country and bluegrass music.”

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and A Change of Tune, this is 30 Days of #WVmusic, the interview series celebrating the folks who make the West Virginia music scene wild and wonderful.

And today’s interview is with an Americana/country outfit out of Morgantown who are paying tribute to the rabble-rousers and outlaw country giants before them. This… is Union Sound Treaty.

How did the band get together?

Union Sound Treaty began humbly in 2015 when singer-songwriter Charles Godwin decided he wanted to expand his musical horizon and bring new life to his catalog of music by forming a full band. From childhood friendships with Ross Justice (drums) and Nate Colombo (pedal steel/banjo) and networking at Morgantown’s local music store, John Schooley (guitar) and Shawn Wilhelm (bass) completed the lineup for Union Sound Treaty. The band was formed to write, record and perform original music… a sound similar to “old” country, but infused with homegrown Appalachian energy. It is the goal of the band to make a career out of our music and bring the sounds of West Virginia to the rest of the country.

Union Sound Treaty are Charles Godwin, Shawn Wilhelm, John Schooley, Ross Justice, Nathan Colombo.

What previous bands have you all been in?

Vandalia (Charles and Nate), The Hide and Seek Effect (Ross), SpaceHoney (John, Shawn) and too many cover bands to name.

Where does the name Union Sound Treaty come from?

We take pride in the authenticity of our music and felt the name Union Sound Treaty accurately represented our mission as we create music for ourselves and anyone who would like to listen. Our interpretation of country is one that negates the sound of pop-influenced radio hits that play day in and day out. We felt that by coming together to write authentic music, we offer a modern-day “sound treaty” to the legends and heroes of grassroots, outlaw country and bluegrass music.

Where can folks see you play in and around West Virginia?

Schmitt’s Saloon (Morgantown), 123 Pleasant Street (Morgantown), The Boulevard Tavern (Charleston), Live on the Levee 2017 (Charleston), Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company (Lewisburg), Cheat Fest 2017 (Albright), The Purple Fiddle (Thomas), Black Bear Burritos (Morgantown) and Clay District Fair (Fairview).

What’s been the highlight of the band’s musical journal thus far?

We have been able to have two great recording sessions at Blackbird Studios in Nashville. Being surrounded by such great equipment and even better people has enabled us to record some great tracks, including our debut album Next Year, which we released in November of 2016.

What’s it like making music in West Virginia?

Making music in West Virginia is special. There is a real energy in West Virginia that enables us to create music that is authentic but rooted in Appalachian music’s past. We typically draw writing influence from life events and stories that highlight the joy, struggle, fights and triumphs of people that call West Virginia home.

Do you feel held back by being in West Virginia? Or does it feel like a musically-supportive place?

If a musician is serious about a touring career, it seems that he or she is never satisfied with his or her surroundings. In that respect, we might always feel a bit held back (regardless of location) until we are playing throughout the country on a daily basis. We certainly feel supported by the people we meet and our family and friends in West Virginia, which ultimately keeps us grounded and focused.

What, in your opinion, needs to happen in the West Virginia music scene for it to move forward?

The West Virginia music scene is filled with well-known acts and hidden gems of talent. By municipalities embracing artists within their communities, the music scene will naturally move forward. Increasing the opportunities for artists to perform – all the while increasing opportunities for crowds to listen – will have a lasting impact on the West Virginia music scene that will keep folks playing and listening for years to come.

Any advice for anyone who is starting to make music?

Stay true to yourself and the music you honestly want to create, especially when just starting to make music. The journey should be filled with joy and authenticity, not pressure.

Union Sound Treaty’s latest release is Next Year. Keep an eye (and ear) on the band’s social media for tour dates and new releases (including a set of new Nashville recordings). Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Connect with A Change of Tune on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds.

Support for 30 Days of #WVmusic is provided by Kin Ship Goods, proud supporter of DIY music and the arts. Locally shipped worldwide at kinshipgoods.com.

Bridgeport's Annie Neeley: 'It's Important to Keep Focused on Your Own Sound'

Since the show began almost two years ago, A Change of Tune has highlighted some of the best up-and-coming artists out of these West Virginia hills with podcast-y chats ranging from Heavy-Set Paw-Paws to Of the Dell, TeamMate’s Scott Simons to Qiet and beyond.

But those interviews have been a bit infrequent, and since West Virginia Day is coming up (not to mention A Change of Tune’s second birthday), we thought we’d do something special: 30 days, 30 brand new #WVmusic interviews that range from Morgantown alt-rockers and Parkersburg singer-songwriters to West Virginia music venues and regional artist management and beyond, all of which contribute to this state’s wild and wonderful music scene.

And today, we are chatting with Annie Neeley from up in Bridgeport, West Virginia. After living in D.C. and making music in Nashville, Annie recently returned to the Mountain State to start a new life for herself, not to mention a new musical life with the Annie Neeley Band. Which begs the question…

Annie Neeley is a blues-icana musician out of Bridgeport, West Virginia.

How did you and the band start playing music (when, where, why, etc.)?

I’ve been singing for forever: church choir, school choir, county choir, state choir, etc. I spent an entire year of junior high listening to nothing but The Beatles until I learned every single harmony on every single song. In high school, I joined a rock band that did mostly Rolling Stones covers, and my buddy and I used to sing the Ike & Tina version of “Proud Mary.” Playing music was, and continues to be, the most fun I have ever had.

I joined a band in college in Washington, D.C., got an acoustic guitar when I was 19, and I’ve never stopped. Wherever I went, I was always singing and playing. If I wasn’t in a band, I’d play by myself or put one together.

After many years away from West Virginia, I returned for a short time in 1997, joined a band, and met my husband at band practice in Fairmont. He’s a great bass player, and we quickly realized that we had tons of common ground, musical and otherwise. We played in a few different bands around West Virginia including The Road Dawgs, The Davisson Brothers, Shotgun Annie and Liquored Up (an early incarnation of my country band), and then decided to head to Nashville to see what that was like. Our hope was to meet a community of people that was as crazy about playing as we were. We found it. And then some. We spent 16 years in Nashville and considered it our “flatland” home, where our son was born and where music continues to be the lifeblood of so many beautiful creative souls.

We’ve been back in West Virginia now for exactly one year. The transition has had its rough patches, but I am thrilled that we have been able to reconnect with so many of our musical friends. There are so many great players and singers in this state, and I am heartened by how much folks in West Virginia obviously love live music. We’re looking forward to keep the songs rolling through the hills for many years to come!

Where does your current band name come from?

I call the band the Annie Neeley Band, primarily because the band can have a rotating lineup depending on if we are in West Virginia or Nashville or wherever, but also because I am no damn good at coming up with band names. All my ideas end up being terribly silly.

How has the Annie Neeley Band’s sound changed over time (if at all)?

When we recorded our newest release Cold Heart Blues, we were playing primarily with bluegrass instrumentation, although I always called the band a “blues-grass” band because I am far from a traditional bluegrass singer. I was doing a regular Saturday shift down at Layla’s Bluegrass Inn on Lower Broadway, and the band line-up on the record was pretty much that band. Since then, we have added at different times drums, pedal steel, lap steel, and electric guitar. At the moment, we play with a banjo and an electric guitar, which is fairly uncommon. I like the band to have an acoustic/electric feel, kind of like Emmylou Harris’s The Hot Band or The Byrds or Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance. That’s what we aspire to, anyway.

Where do you all play in and around West Virginia (venues, festivals, etc.)?

So it’s been a year, and I’m still learning the ropes (as it were), but I’ve played the Bridgeport Farmer’s Market, The Chestnut Ridge Concert Series (with The Wild Rumpus), some Harrison County Cultural Society events, and a couple of weddings and parties.

A snapshot of Annie Neeley at a recent band practice.

What’s been the highlight of your musical journey?

I have had so many wonderful musical experiences, but there was this one gig… It was with the same band that I had gotten together in Nashville that played down on Lower Broadway. We also had a regular monthly gig at the VFW on Charlotte’s Pike on the west side of the city. A bunch of really nice folks would come out to see us, and it was always on a Friday night. Anyway, my banjo player double-booked himself that night and couldn’t play with me, so I needed a sub. My dobro player, Gene Bush, himself a Nashville legend, says, “Well, I’ll call Alan and see if he’s available.” Alan, in this case, was Alan O’Bryant, the banjo player and lead singer of the Nashville Bluegrass Band, a multi-Grammy winner, an acclaimed songwriter, and so on. I said, “Sure, Gene, that’d be great,” thinking, of course, that there is no way that Alan O’Bryant is going to play a VFW gig with me. But, Nashville being Nashville, Alan said, “I’d love to!” Turns out, he grew up playing in VFW’s in North Carolina and really enjoyed those gigs.

So, there I am, standing on stage with Alan O’Bryant, not quite believing it but getting through the set, and then the next song on the set list is “Those Memories Of You,” which he wrote, which I learned from the Trio album by Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt, which is one of my favorite songs in the world. I took a deep breath and sang it the best I could, which I guess was pretty good because Alan smiled real big, and we played together several more times over the following few years.

Do you have any advice for folks who want to start making music?

Only you can sound like you, so do that. Do you. That’s not to say that your musical influences won’t shine through here and there. Of course they will! But it’s important to keep focused on your own sound.

Also, always thank everyone! Everyone who asks you to play. Everyone who compliments you. Everyone who passes your name along to someone else. You don’t have to play every gig that someone asks you to play or work on every project that comes along, but always thank the person who offers you the opportunity.

Lastly, if you are a singer, especially a girl singer, learn to play an instrument well enough to accompany yourself on a few songs. It will make you a better, more confident singer and musician.

What projects/announcements are you currently working on?

A duet record with Fayetteville singer-songwriter Andrew Adkins!

What’s it like making music in West Virginia?

In Nashville, there were 20-30 music venues in a 3-mile radius of my front door. All of those venues had a primary emphasis on original music. Obviously, in West Virginia, there is considerably more driving involved to get to venues, especially if you’re less interested in playing bar gigs from 10pm-2:00am. Not to say that that isn’t fun every once in a while, but with a 6-year-old kiddo at home, it’s not really a lifestyle I can maintain anymore.

People do love music here, and there are good groups of people in Bridgeport and Clarksburg who are working hard to bring music events to the community at-large and in all different venues, and I am happy to be working with them.

Annie Neeley at a 2015 Songwriter Stage in Charleston.

Do you feel held back by being in West Virginia? Or does it feel like a musically-supportive place?

I count among my West Virginia friends some really first-rate musicians and human beings. Within weeks of returning here, I got an invitation from Roger Rabelais to play the “Songwriter Stage” series in Charleston with Andrew Adkins and Allan Dale Sizemore. That one magical evening allowed me to connect with these super West Virginia musicians and songwriters, and we continue to work and play together.

I have also reconnected with the guys I played with before I moved to Nashville, and all of them are just tremendous musicians who love to play. I look forward to continuing to grow musically with all of these people and meeting new musical friends along the way. I feel incredibly supported here by musicians and fans here.

What, in your opinion, needs to happen in the West Virginia music scene for it to move forward?

I really think that the more “alternative” venues that support live music there are, the better the scene is for everyone. Have live music in your restaurant, in your city park, at your school fair! There doesn’t have to be a big stage and a PA system necessarily; we just need a place where it’s cool to hang and play. Let kids listen, hear real instruments, and watch the musicians interact. It’s all good for the soul.

Also, Andrew Adkins and I have discussed this West Virginia sound that exists among the people making music here. I think there is a unique voice to be heard among all of us mountain folk! A music sampler of all of the bands and acts featured on this series would be an awesome thing.

The Annie Neeley Band’s latest release is Cold Heart Blues. Keep an eye on their social media for summer tour dates and a fall release for the Annie Neeley-Andrew Adkins duets album. To hear more #WVmusic, tune in to A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic.

'Onward' and Upward with Martinsburg's Christian Lopez

Since the show began almost two years ago, A Change of Tune has highlighted some of the best up-and-coming artists out of these West Virginia hills with podcast-y chats ranging from Bishops to The Sea The Sea, Rozwell Kid to New God and beyond.

And today, we are chatting with Martinsburg native Christian Lopez, frontman for the up-and-coming Americana outfit named the Christian Lopez Band. From playing bars in the Eastern Panhandle and appearing on American Idol to being recognized by Rolling Stone magazine and performing on NPR’s Mountain Stage with Larry Groce, this young West Virginian has accomplished quite a lot in 21 years. And those are just some of the topics we brought up in our Charleston studios during this #WVmusic chat.

Christian Lopez Band‘s newest release is Onward. The band recently contributed to Amazon’s Songs of Summer playlist with an exclusive cover of King Harvest’s “Dancing in the Moonlight.” Catch the band’s free show at Live on the Levee on June 17, or see them on tour later this summer.

Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds!

Interview Highlights

On getting started into music:

My mom was a music teacher. She taught show choir, choir, and piano. She studied opera, all that kind of stuff. She taught all of us kids piano starting at 5. From there, we all went our own direction. I started guitar at 9, and then tried to learn as many string instruments from there. My mom definitely came in and started me young, then my dad came in and guided me in the right direction with taste. He gave me his record collection. I think it was a good combo. I had two music-loving parents.

My brother and I actually had a classic rock cover band until I was like 14. It was called The Lix. I swear. We did that for years. We did the local talent show, played a lot of garages, had the cops called on us a few times. We played Foreigner, Ozzy, AC/DC. We played so much AC/DC, it was ridiculous. I still find so many people tagging me in photos of me making ridiculous faces on-stage, and it’s because of my AC/DC upbringing. Angus Young was a huge face-making inspiration to me, and I don’t think I’ll be able to shake it.

Christian Lopez was born and raised in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

On transitioning from classic rock to Americana:

I became a fan of The Band when I was around 15- or 16-years-old. That was kind of the first introduction to me of that world. It was when I went to my uncle’s house one day to help him move some stuff. He had The Avett Brothers playing on his TV, and they were playing “Talk on Indolence.” And they were just rocking so hard, harder than I think I ever rocked, with just a banjo, acoustic guitar, and stand up bass. It was an eye opener, something I’d never seen. I didn’t even own an acoustic guitar, I only had an electric guitar. I had a B.C. Rich Warlock, which is like a Viking-looking axe of a guitar.

That was the day I was like, “Wow, you can make as much energy as I’m making over here, but with this acoustic setup. And you can make it even more crazy and energetic.” I just thought I’d give it a shot, and I loved it and stuck with it. I bought an acoustic guitar and just kept playing, kept listening. I eventually discovered the classic country I love today.

On his first live performances:

I started doing open mics when I was like 16 or 17 in the Martinsburg area and Shepherdstown. That was kind of the birthplace, Shepherdstown. There’s a little place there called the Blue Moon Café, and they had an open mic every Wednesday. There wouldn’t be many people, and I would go every week. I started going by myself, playing my favorite songs on acoustic, play my 3 and watch everyone else. I eventually started bringing percussionists with me, met other musicians, brought them with me, and I slowly started to introduce my own songs. Every now and then, I’ll still stop by the Blue Moon.

On venues in and around West Virginia:

There’s not too many venues in our neck of the Eastern Panhandle worlds. We probably did the most gigs in northern Virginia. We played a lot in Winchester, Virginia. We had a monthly gig at a place called Piccadilly’s, which was a big kind of frat bar with guys in their Oakley’s and khaki shirts. It’s not me, but they had this big boat stage. We would play four hours every time we were there. We loved it because we’d get to play, and it was awesome, and people would get drunk and dance all night long. But we could also stuff our face with brew pub food. We played a ton of the bars. We did our due.

It wasn’t until later that we’d play the Shepherdstown Opera House. Actually last year, when we did our release show, we just took an old building in downtown Shepherdstown that was a real estate office. We cleared it out and put the show in there.

On playing in Charleston:

Playing in Charleston was new for me. The Eastern Panhandle is such a region of its own. Some of my family lives down here in Charleston, so we come down to Charleston as much as we can. It wasn’t until later that we really started to play in Charleston. I think the first place we played down here was Sam’s Uptown Café. We did The Blue Parrot. We did The Boulevard Tavern and The Empty Glass multiple times. We did all the Charleston bars. I think June 17’s Live on the Levee is going to be a new “check” on that list for us as well.

On his first full-length record Onward:

Christian Lopez Band’s debut album is Onward, out now on Blaster Records.

I had signed with a label in Nashville called Blaster Records, which was an independent label, but kind of a mainstream country label. We made an EP, and the producer we were using was Dave Cobb. We sat down with Dave about making this EP, just to kind of give it a test run with the producer and the label. As soon as that was released, they decided we should just jump in and make the full record. It was soon. And the next month, we were in there recording. It was 2014.

Ten days in the studio, Dave brought in his preferred rhythm section, and they really put some great stuff all over these tracks. Dave’s really hands on and together, we’d tear these songs apart and put them back together and play it all live. That’s where the magic happens: just doing something like that. We made it happen.

On being named Rolling Stone’s Best Newcomer of Americana Fest 2015:

I was over the moon. I remember the morning I had that link sent to me by my manager. I was sitting on the couch, watching TV. I had always dreamed of seeing something like that under the Rolling Stone headline. So as fast as I could, I shared it with everybody.

I remember it was a crazy show at that Americana Fest. We only got five songs. It was at the High Watt. It was specifically a showcase for the agency that was booking us, so they had a bunch of great acts. A band called Great Peacock, Corb Lund, and a couple others. It was a great line-up. And we got five songs, but three songs in, I’ve already broken all of my guitars, all the strings have popped. That usually happens, but usually that fast. And it was the last two songs, and I’m yelling into the crowd that I need a guitar. So the guitarist from Great Peacock gave me his late ‘60s D-28, tuned down a whole step, so I had to put a capo on it just to play in standard tuning. So we rocked out the last two songs as hard as we could. We winged it, but it was so much fun.

On his NPR Mountain Stage with Larry Groce debut:

Christian Lopez Band made its Mountain Stage debut during this fall 2015 show.

It has obviously had a strong impact on the music scene in West Virginia. It’s a checkpoint for artists. I guess I realized it one day when we pulled up a list of artists I was getting into at the time, and they had all said Mountain Stage for things they had done. So I said, “How did they do that? And how can they do that?” So it was amazing news when I heard we were going to play Mountain Stage.

On the key to touring successfully:

I think the key to touring successfully is a good touring band. A band you get along with guys that you don’t mind being on the road with for months at a time. Actually, most of the time, it’s been the stinky musicians who have been the best on the road [laughing]. But you set up. You play. You rock out as hard as you can. And then you get back in the car to go to the next one. They’re your buddies, your friends. And you’re having a great time. That’s definitely the key.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

Christian Lopez- “This Romance”

Christian Lopez Band- “Amiss”

Christian Lopez Band- “Will I See You Again”

Christian Lopez Band- “Dancing in the Moonlight” (Amazon exclusive)

Trading Good Times and Great Tunes with Huntington's The Horse Traders

Since the show began almost two years ago, A Change of Tune has highlighted some of the best up-and-coming artists out of these West Virginia hills with podcast-y chats ranging from Tyler Childers to Ona, Bud Carroll to Coyotes in Boxes and beyond.

And today, we are chatting with The Horse Traders, a four-piece Americana alt-rock band out of Huntington, West Virginia. While they may not be trading horses, the band is known for trading good times and great tunes, especially with their new four-song EP I Don’t Mind. We sat down with The Horse Traders in our Charleston studios to talk about their musical journey, their love of #WVmusic and, of course, ’90s Britpop.

Warning: This podcast-y chat does contain a few expletives. Listener discretion is advised.

The Horse Traders’ newest release is I Don’t Mind. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds!

Interview Highlights:

On The Horse Traders’ musical origins:

Patrick Stanley (guitar, vocals): I decided I wanted to be in Oasis when I was 12 or 13, so I learned four chords on a guitar I found in the basement of our house. Two or three chords’ worth of improvement, here I am in The Horse Traders.

Travis Egnor (guitar, steel guitar): I got my first guitar when I was 5. No one really understood why. We didn’t have any music in our family, other than we had a big console record player filled with records and 8-tracks. It was a little bit of everything. One of my favorite songs was called “Cherry Baby,” some disco song, but I liked it just because it was on orange vinyl. There was some cool stuff in there, like some Stevie Wonder, Hank Jr. and Alice Cooper. It was a mix of two uncles, my dad and my mom’s music. I ended up listening to a little bit of everything.

Jeremy “Wood” Roberts (drums): I grew up in a super Christian household with not a lot of cool music in it. But “Hee Haw,” “Austin City Limits” and, believe it or not, “The Lawrence Welk Show” was some of the first stuff I got into. The “Grand Ole Opry” too.

I started playing drums in school, but I thought it was kind of lame, so I played guitar. I found rock n’ roll and MTV, and it got a lot more fun.

Credit Anthony Michael Davis

The Horse Traders’ name comes former member Frank Miller and refers to Travis Egnor & Jeremy “Wood” Roberts’ constant buying, selling, and trading of items.

Brandon Mooney (bass): My parents had really good tastes. My dad was really into Creedence Clearwater Revival, which oddly enough he played bass when he was younger. He played in a Jimi Hendrix cover band when he was in high school. My mom was real into Michael Jackson, Beach Boys, Prince, stuff like that.

When I was a little kid I use to do concerts for my mom and sister in our living room with a hair brush, white glove and a little leather jacket. I did Michael Jackson concerts; it was pretty weird. I was a weird kid. Weird adult, even weirder kid.

Going into high school, a buddy offered to sell me an acoustic guitar for $40, and I thought it’d help me get girls, and I was really into Dave Matthews. What I found out was you could play all the Dave Matthew you want in high school, but that doesn’t make you know how to speak to people without that guitar in your hands. I learned how to be a huge Dave Matthews fan and to play music that actually meant something for a change, like The Horse Traders’ stuff currently.

On the formation of The Horse Traders:

Travis: I always say it’s a continuation of another band that Wood and I were in, but it’s so completely different now that it’s even hard to say that. Wood and I were in another band called Dead Leaves with a couple of guys that lived in Nebraska, and that was really difficult to keep going. So when we decided that just wasn’t going to work out, we decided to start another band and got together with our good friend Frank Miller and started The Horse Traders. There’s a few of those songs that we touch on every now and then, but it’s mostly different now.

As The Horse Traders, we had decided that we wanted to back up some other songwriters, so that’s how we got to playing with Patrick. Frank had some health issues and wasn’t able to continue touring and playing on the regular, so we decided to get ahold of Patrick and see if he wanted to be a Horse Trader.

Patrick: I owned a very small amount of instruments and musical equipment before I met Travis and Wood, but to be a Horse Trader means that nothing that you own is as valuable as the thing you’re about to own, and you should trade things, even if you love them more than you’ll love anything else.

&amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://thehorsetraders.bandcamp.com/album/take-it”&amp;amp;gt;Take It by The Horse Traders&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

On the differences between Huntington and Charleston’s music scenes:

Wood: I started playing in Huntington when I was 16 or 17, and we had played Charleston a bunch because it was closer. It was always a treat to come to Huntington because the venues were always nicer, the crowds were always better and there was better food to eat. There’s a larger concentration of artistic people in Huntington then there seems to be anywhere else in the state that’s close to our age range.

Travis: He’s right. It’s amazing how different Huntington and Charleston, being as close together as they are. But the two are not similar; they’re very different. I feel a lot more comradery and support in Huntington, even though I know several bands from Charleston that I like a lot and are friends with. It seems like there’s a certain line that doesn’t get crossed in Charleston versus Huntington. The other bands we play with in Huntington are literally some of our best friends.

Brandon: I agree. Charleston seems more detached in that sense. For the most part, they’re all just bands that know each other, not bands that hang out with each other.

Patrick: It’s less stratified in Huntington. Mountain Stage and a bunch of other awesome musical things in Charleston are more established, but Huntington’s still trying to shake around to find out what the scene’s going to look like, which makes everybody a player.

On the future of #WVmusic:

Travis: It’s going so well. Now if we’re talking about Huntington, I’d suggest more of the same. It’d probably help to bring in some bigger, similar artists. I thought it was great when Jason Isbell came last year and played the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, but there wasn’t a local opener for it. That’s really important because when you put a local opener on a show like that, not only is that local opener going to get their music to a larger audience, but it’ll get to the bigger artist they’re opening for. Eventually people are going to say, “Holy crap, there’s some serious stuff going on in West Virginia.”

Credit Anthony Michael Davis

The Horse Traders celebrated their first anniversary as a new line-up in the spring of 2016.

Patrick: A perfect example is Lucero and Tyler Childers. Ben Nichols has played with him multiple times. Last time at the V Club he said, “I hate having to come up here after Tyler Childers,” which is crazy for him to say. That’s great. That’s an unreal thing for us to have in this tiny little place, where someone one who means a lot to a lot of people comes in and says, “This local boy, it’s really hard to come in and play after this guy.”

Travis: When you’ve got bands like Ona and Tyler Childers and Tim Lancaster and just some really amazing artists, eventually if you put them in front of the right people, they’re going to take notice.

Patrick: That’s the thing with the musical secret of any place in the history of recorded music: it’s this amazing secret, then it gets exposed, it’s still cool for fifteen minutes and then it’s over. We’re lucky enough to be a part of the time when it’s getting cool, and hopefully we’re going to be around when it’s the really cool thing to be a part of and see some of the aftermath of that. A scene is great until it’s discovered, and then it exists in this moment. Then once everyone knows about it, it’s over. I guess we’re lucky to be around in a time when we’re struggling to make it known.

https://vimeo.com/166906518″>The Horse Traders – I Don’t Mind from https://vimeo.com/brainwrap”>brainwrap on Vimeo.

On #WVmusic recommendations:

Travis: Most of the stuff I listen to anymore is the people that we know.

Patrick: On a daily basis, I still listen to one Tyler Childers song.

Brandon: Go listen to anything that John R. Miller touches. And Tim Lancaster is great. And I’m super excited for the new record from Brandon Mitchell and his group The Disappearing Man. We didn’t talk about how important Nathan Thomas is to all things Huntington music.

Patrick: Yeah, let’s talk about that. One of the best things about the Huntington scene is we have local radio enforcement to back it up. That’s easy to overlook sometimes, and it’s easy to be like, “I forgot to listen to WMUL today,” but the fact that we have somebody who is so passionate about bringing local music to college ears, and Huntington ears is unbelievably refreshing. It’s great to have that shoulder to lean on and that person and influence.

On advice to anyone wanting to get into music:

Wood: Go to college.

Credit Courtesy of The Horse Traders

The Horse Traders latest release is a four-song EP titled I Don’t Mind.

Travis: Don’t have crazy, lofty expectations. Go into it with your whole head and your whole heart. Do it as good as you can, as often as you can. Play with everybody. Don’t just decide that you’re a punk musician and just do punk. Don’t just decide that you’re a country musician and just play country. Play everything with everybody. It will make you such a more well-rounded musician, and you’ll meet tons of people and have much more fun.

Patrick: Finish writing your songs even if they’re bad, because they’ll eventually be good.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

The Horse Traders- “Hey Carolina”

The Horse Traders- “I Don’t Mind”

The Horse Traders- “Mark Twain”

The Horse Traders- “Even Mountains Can Fall”