Author and former speechwriter for West Virginia’s late U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd plans to discuss the myths and reality of the influential Senate leader next Thursday in Charleston.
David Corbin, who worked for Byrd for 16 years and another decade for other Senate leaders, wrote “The Last Great Senator: Robert C. Byrd’s Encounters with Eleven U.S. Presidents”.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History says he will appear in the Culture Center at the Capitol complex in a free evening program open to the public.
He holds a Ph.D. in labor history, and has taught for the University of Maryland.
He also authored books about the West Virginia’s southern coal fields from 1880 to 1922 and a history of the battles between unionists and coal companies.
Uniforms, artillery and weapons from World War I are included in a new exhibit at the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s Culture Center in Charleston.
The exhibit is being unveiled Saturday at the State Capitol Complex. The event runs from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and is open to the public.
The exhibit is titled “World War I: West Virginia in the War to End All Wars.” Items included are from battles on the Eastern and Western Fronts. Some have been donated from West Virginians and their families.
The event is being held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I.
Mountain Stage with Larry Groce is proud to announce nine (that’s right, nine) live shows scheduled for the first few months of 2017.
Tickets to all the events will be available on Monday, November 21 at 10a.m. Guest artists scheduled to appear include Colin Hay, Andrew Bird, Pokey LaFarge, Solas, and Pink Martini, among others. Venues, locations, and ticket info follows.
“We are over the top about what we have lined up for Mountain Stage in winter and spring of 2017,” says Mountain Stage’s long-standing host and artistic director Larry Groce. “If you’ve never been in our audience before, pack your bag and hit the road! We promise you a party, before, during, and after the shows.”
Mountain Stage will record episode #886 on Sunday, January 15, at the WVU Creative Arts Center in Morgantown, West Virginia. The show will include former Men at Work frontman Colin Hay, French-English folk troubadour Piers Faccini, and more. The two-plus hour show will be recorded for distribution to 180 NPR Stations nationwide in early 2017. Tickets cost $26-38 in advance (or $10 for WVU students) and are available online, by phone (304-293-7469) and at the Create Arts Center’s Box Offices (10am-5pm).
Don’t worry Charleston, WV fans! Mountain Stage will return to its home at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston for a string of shows shortly after that. Be a part of episode #888 on Sunday, January 29, with eclectic multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird, indie rockers Blind Pilot, Chicago guitar wunderkind Ryley Walker, pop vocal supergroup The Flat Five, and more. Tickets for this show are $30 in advance ($35 day of show) and are available online, by phone (877-987-6487), and locally at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.
On Sunday, February 12, Mountain Stage will record episode #889 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston with retro-roots crooner Pokey LaFarge, Canadian alt-country songwriter Fred Eaglesmith, award-winning blues singer Ruthie Foster, Scottish folk musician Rachel Sermanni, and more. Tickets for this show are $20 in advance ($25 day of show) and are available online, by phone (877-987-6487), and locally at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.
Mountain Stage then heads to the Charleston Civic Center Little Theater for episode #890 on Sunday, February 26, with traditional Celtic band Solas, Trampled By Turtles alt-country side-project Dead Man Winter, and more. Tickets are $20 in advance ($25 day of show) and are available online and by phone (1-800-745-3000).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P83Vrq1SQYY
You can also catch Mountain Stage in Charleston, West Virginia, at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences on Sunday, March 5. This show will include a special one-hour set from Pink Martini, as well as performances from Beth Hart and more. Tickets are $30-40 in advance ($35-45 day of show) and are available online and by phone (304-561-3570).
As for April, make sure to catch Mountain Stage on the road on Sunday, April 2, at East Tennessee State University’s D.P. Culp University Center in Johnson City, Tennessee. The show includes performances from award-winning bluegrass-ers Claire Lynch Band and more. Tickets cost $10 for students (with ID), $20 for seniors, and $25 for the rest, available online.
The week following (Sunday, April 9), Mountain Stage heads to Marietta, Ohio, to record its first show at the Peoples Bank Theatre. Acts will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets cost $20-32 in advance and are available online.
And on Sunday, April 30, Mountain Stage will return to the WVU Creative Arts Center in Morgantown, West Virginia. The show ‘s line-up will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets cost $26-35 in advance (or $10 for WVU students) and are available online, by phone (304-293-7469) and at the Create Arts Center’s Box Offices (10am-5pm).
People interested in recording oral histories can learn more at a program this week in Charleston.
Author, journalist and documentarian Eric Douglas will present a program on the topic in the Archives and History Library at the Culture Center in the State Capitol Complex at 6 p.m. Thursday. The program is free and open to the public.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History says oral histories are important in documenting the past, capturing everyday life and memories to enable better understanding of historic events.
Douglas recorded oral histories in the Archives and History Library for FestivALL 2015 and 2016 and will be recording more in the library on Thursday and Saturday.
For more information, call the library at (304) 558-0230.
Mountain Stage with Larry Groce has announced three live shows for October in Charleston, including two at the Culture Center Theater on the State Capitol Grounds, and one at The Clay Center with an on-stage intimate experience.
On Sunday, October 16, Mountain Stage will record episode #880 at The Clay Center with an on-stage limited seating event. The show (which will later be heard on over 170 NPR Stations nationwide) will include Irish singer-songwriter Foy Vance, who is signed to Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records, and Australian folk-pop duo Oh Pep!. It will also feature the return of Amanda Shires, who has appeared twice as a solo performer and once with husband Jason Isbell. Philadelphia-based pop-folk songwriter Carsie Blanton and folk blues rocker Chris Kasper will also perform on this October 16 show.
Tickets are already available for Clay Center subscribers. Single tickets go on sale for the general public on August 8 and are $35 in advance and $40 day of show.
On Sunday, October 23, Mountain Stage returns to the Culture Center Theater for a show presented by FestivALL Fall, which will feature the third appearance of husband and wife garage-folk duo Shovels & Rope, folk troubadour Joe Purdy, Asheville folk-poppers River Whyless, and Rhett Miller of Old 97’s returning for his second solo appearance on the show.
Tickets for this October 23 show are $20 in advance and $25 day of show, available online, by phone (877-987-6487), and locally at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.
On Sunday, October 30, Mountain Stage records episode #883 at the Culture Center Theater. Aoife O’Donovan, of groundbreaking string band Crooked Still and the folk-noir trio Sometymes Why, returns for her seventh total appearance, second as a solo performer. Folk singer Willie Watson will also return to the Mountain Stage for this October 30 show, along with country songwriter Brandy Clark, Grammy-nominated Irish multi-instrumentalist John Doyle, and indie folk duo Frances Luke Accord.
Tickets for this October 30 show are $20 in advance and $25 day of show, available online, by phone (877-987-6487), and locally at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.
A new first lady doll is being added to a collection at the Culture Center in Charleston.
The doll represents Dee Caperton. It is the newest in a collection and was hand-sculpted by Washington, D.C.-based artist Ping Lau. It features Caperton in her Inaugural Ball gown.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History said in a news release that Lau also designed the doll of first lady Joanne Jaeger Tomblin.
The doll will be unveiled at 10 a.m. Friday by Gat Caperton, son of Dee Caperton and former Gov. Gaston Caperton. The ceremony is at the Culture Center in the State Capitol Complex.
After the ceremony, the doll will be added to the permanent exhibit on the south side of the balcony gallery on the second floor of the Culture Center.
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