Tag: Arts & Culture

These Two Mountain Stage Performances Encapsulate Nelson Mandela's Rise to Prominence

With the passing of the anti-Aparthied revolutionary and former South African President Nelson Mandela, we wanted to connect you to how West Virginia played a small part in another famous South African’s fight for Mandela’s rise to international prominence.  

Legendary South African musician Hugh Masekela  performed for the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta crowd gathered for Mountain Stage on September 3, 1989. Masekela performed his song “Bring Him Back Home,” an anthem of the movement to free Mandela from prison.

When Masekela returned to play Mountain Stage on May 8, 1994, the battle cry had turned into a celebratory hymn. Two days after that appearance, Masekela performed the song at Mandela’s inauguration as the President of South Africa.
 

Mandela.mp3
Masekela performs the same song on May 8, 1994 on Mountain Stage.

Wayne Makes Return Trip to Wheeling, While Huntington Makes First

For the second straight year two Huntington area teams are headed to Wheeling this weekend to battle for football State Championships in this year’s Super Six. Both Huntington High and Wayne High have taken different routes. 

For Huntington High the game marks the first trip to the state title game since 1966, and a possible first state championship in football. For Wayne High, it’s the third straight appearance and a chance at three straight titles in Class AA and a state record 37 wins in a row.

Wayne’s game will kick-off Friday evening at 7:30 at Wheeling Island Stadium against Bridgeport. It’s a battle of the top seed Wayne against the second seed Bridgeport and it isn’t the first time the two schools have met for a state title. In 2000 Bridgeport was victorious. That game marked the first of 5 trips since the year 2000 for Wayne. Wayne Head Coach Tom Harmon said they deal with the target on their back by working hard.

“Well you try not to deal with it on game night, if you’re waiting till game night to play your best game, which can be a problem, you need to take care of those issues in preparation,” Harmon said.

Wayne’s opponent the Bridgeport Indians have 22 consecutive playoff appearances and trips to the semifinals in four of the last five years, with two of those years as a Class AAA team. Their game plan isn’t much different from what Wayne does. Wayne features a wing-T offense they call the Wayne-T, while Bridgeport runs the ball out of a stick-I. Harmon said Bridgeport is unique compared to many teams around the state, they block with the best of them.

Wayne enters the contest at 13-0 and Bridgeport sits at 12-1. Wayne’s hope is that a solid running game mixed with good defense will mean a third straight championship win.

In just his fifth season Billy Seals has taken a program from 0-10 his first season at Huntington to 13-0 and a number one ranking heading to Wheeling for a noon kick-off Saturday against Martinsburg.

Seals said Saturdays challenge is the biggest they’ve faced yet. Martinsburg is the winner of the last three state championships at the AAA level in the state. Led by talented quarterback Malique Watkins the second ranked Bulldogs only loss this season was by a score of 35-34 to Tuscarora from Virginia. Seals said the biggest key for them against Martinsburg is to not get overwhelmed by the scene and the Bulldogs.

"First thing we have to weather the storm early, hopefully the stage does not get us big-eyed," Seals said.

“First thing we have to weather the storm early, hopefully the stage does not get us big-eyed to where we don’t handle it well early in the game. And if you look at last week in the Martinsburg game, they jump up 14-0 with 9 minutes and 30 seconds to go in the first quarter on Capital and then you’re kind of playing catchup the rest of the night and you just can’t do that against a great team like Martinsburg,” Seals said.

The Single A game at the Super Six takes place Saturday night at 7 between Greenbrier West and Madonna. 

Interview Highlights with West Virginia Music Hall of Famer Melvin Goins

The 2013 West Virginia Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place November 16 at Charleston’s Culture Center Theater. This 5th class of inductees included The Goins Brothers, Melvin and his late brother Ray. Melvin Goins sat down at the recent Hall of Fame induction ceremony and shared some thoughts…

Melvin Goins has been involved in the music since the mid-1950s when he joined the legendary Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, an outfit that helped launch the careers of other bluegrass notables like Paul Williams, Bobby Osborne, Charlie Cline and Curly Ray Cline. He worked for a time afterwards with The Stanley Brothers, but made his largest mark with his younger brother Ray as The Goins Brothers over 35 years. When a heart attack took Ray off the road in ’94, Melvin continued on as Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain, a show he fronts to this day.

Goins was born in 1933 on Sinai Mountain, close to the coal mining town of Goodwill in Mercer County. The WV Music Hall of Fame makes the third he’s been inducted into. He was recognized by the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2011 for his contributions as a resident of the Commonwealth, and the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2000.

Herd Ready to Play for First C-USA Title

For the first time since joining Conference USA in 2005 Marshall Football will compete for a conference championship.The Thundering Herd will take on the…

For the first time since joining Conference USA in 2005 Marshall Football will compete for a conference championship.

The Thundering Herd will take on the Rice Owls on their home field in Houston Saturday at noon. After a big win by the Herd over East Carolina on Friday, 59-28, the chances of Marshall hosting the conference championship game seemed more likely than ever. But the computer polls used in the Bowl Championship Series rankings had Rice ranked higher. Because both teams finished conference play 7-1, the rankings were used to break the tie and determine the host of Saturday’s game.

Marshall Head Coach Doc Holliday said the team has put the fact that they didn’t get to host behind them and is preparing for a good Rice team.

“They’ve won 15 of their last 18 games, they haven’t lost a home game since we beat them there a year ago and if you look at them offensively their leading our league in rushing and their third in total offense and their quarterback McHargue is a tremendous player that can beat you with his feet as well as throw it and they have a great tailback that has over 1,000 yards,” Holliday said.

Rice capped their regular season with a 17-13 home victory over Tulane University. The win improved their conference record to the aforementioned 7-1 and to an overall record of 9-3 just like the Thundering Herd. Holliday said his Herd have to be ready for a team that will come right at them with a physical running game.

The game will mark the fifth meeting between the two programs, all coming since Marshall joined Conference USA in 2005. Marshall holds a 3-1 series edge and has won the last two meetings including a 54-51 victory in overtime in Houston in the 2012 season. Holliday said this year’s team is better than that 2012 version because of a balanced offense that includes 2012 league MVP Rakeem Cato at quarterback throwing to 1,000 yard receiver Tommy Shuler and handing the ball off to 1,000 yard running back EssrayTaliaferro.

The game marks the first time the Thundering Herd has played for a conference championship since hosting and winning the 2002 Mid-American Conference Championship game at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington. A win by the Rice Owls would be the first time since 1957 that they have won a conference title.

Senior Tight-End Gator Hoskins said to win the war you have to win your individual battles.

“That team isn’t just going to lay down and let us come in there and win, they’re a great defense and it’s just going to be a war,” Hoskins said.

Holliday said the difference in this year’s 9-3 team that’s playing for a conference championship and last year’s 5-7 team is this year’s team handles adversity.

"Whether it's in a game or regardless of the adversity these kids face, instead of running and hiding from it they look it right in the eye and go attack it," Holliday said.

“I think in years past any adversity that hit them it would affect them in a different way, whereas right now adversity doesn’t affect them a whole heck of a lot, they’re use to adversity and they can handle it, whatever it is, whether it’s in a game or regardless of the adversity these kids face, instead of running and hiding from it they look it right in the eye and go attack it,” Holliday said.

Saturday’s noon kickoff between the Herd and Owls can be seen on ESPN2.

Governor Celebrates a 'Joyful Night'

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and First Lady Joanne Jaeger Tomblin were joined by hundreds of West Virginians at the Capitol complex to celebrate their annual holiday gathering, ‘Joyful Night.’

The evening was full of musical performances, a reading of “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” and the lightning of not one, but two Christmas trees.

Performances included:

  • Governor’s School for the Arts students Raven McCormick (piano), Molly Blackwood (cello) and Olivia Boughton (viola)
  • The Appalachian Children’s Chorus
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus
  • Cabell Midland High School Marching Band
  • Capitol High School Marching Band

Mountain Stage at 30: A Radio Retrospective

For 30 years and with over 800 episodes, Mountain Stage has been a mainstay in public radio and American music.

Like anything that evolves into a lasting endeavor, Mountain Stage’s success is part happenstance mixed with years of dedication and hard work. Truly, though, it all comes down to the people who made the show possible coming together with a shared vision.

In this hour-long radio special, you’ll hear how the show came to be, its rise to a national program, and examine what it is that makes Mountain Stage mean so much to the artists who have performed on the show and the audience it reaches.

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