Huntington Story Archives - Page 25 of 42 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Bringin' Blues to the Jewel City with The Shadowshaker Band

In April 2015, they released their first full-length Snowflake Mandala. Less than a year later, they earned an entry into the 2016 International Blues Challenge with their second release U Can’t Bother Me. And now, Huntington rockers The Shadowshaker Band are back with a bigger band and a bluer sound.

We sat down with The Shadowshaker Band’s Eve Marcum-Atkinson and Michael Lyzenga in the #wvpublic studios to talk about the band’s new record Heart on the Line and their blues-y beginnings.

The Shadowshaker Band‘s newest release is Heart on the Line, available now online and at The Red Caboose in Huntington. Follow the band on social media. To hear more from The Shadowshaker Band, tune in to A Change of Tune, airing Saturdays at 10pm EST on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. And if you like what you hear, support our #WVmusic chats with a pledge of support.

Interview Highlights

The Shadowshaker Band regularly performs at Ritter Park in Huntington, West Virginia.

On playing blues music:

Michael: People say it’s so easy, it’s just three chords and some attitude, but it’s so much more than that. It comes from the heart. Country music does in a way, if you write the right music. But the blues…

Eve: …will rip out your heart and make you happy you did.

On Eve’s musical beginnings:

Eve: I was all rock. Although I really liked one of the albums U2 did when they went more blues, and I liked that style. It wasn’t until the ‘90s that I really started appreciating that style with Nina Simone and Billie Holiday and those chanteuse-style singers. I was hiding under a rock for a very long time, and I did not sing in front of people… at all.

Michael: She’s got it good both ways though. She can not only sing The Shadowshaker Band music (the folk and blues and rock and Americana), but she’s also in a band called Under Surveillance where she can flat out rock. So she has the best of both worlds: she can come to my studio and record a little love ballad and go to their studio…

Eve: …and scream it out.

The Shadowshaker Band’s Eve Marcum-Atkinson designed the band’s cover art.

On writing The Shadowshaker Band’s music:

Michael: You can ask me where the lyrics come from, but I have no idea. I could not tell you how I can wake up in the morning, pick up my guitar, strum a chord, and write and record the song by the end of the day. I don’t know how it works, and I don’t know where they come from.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

The Shadowshaker Band- “Heart on the Line”

The Shadowshaker Band- “Collide”

The Shadowshaker Band- “Shadows”

The Shadowshaker Band- “Mr. Weather Man” (Live in the #WVPublic Studios)

Fentanyl Blamed for Spate of Overdoses in Huntington

Authorities say the heroin that led 27 people to overdose in a five-hour span in a single West Virginia city had been mixed with the powerful painkiller fentanyl.

The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington reports that investigators for the first time detailed the potency of the concoction in a federal indictment Tuesday.

Twenty-two-year-old Bruce Lamar Griggs of Akron, Ohio, is charged with drug distribution in connection to the Aug. 15 spate of overdoses in Huntington. At least one man died.

Griggs was arrested by Tallmadge, Ohio, police officers late last month and is now in federal custody.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says fentanyl is an opioid that is about 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

The indictment does not mention whether Griggs has an attorney.

Bissett Leaves Ky. Coal Association for Huntington Chamber Job

The president of the Kentucky Coal Association is stepping down to lead a regional chamber of commerce in West Virginia.

Bill Bissett will resign at the end of October to become president and CEO of the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce. His first day on the job will be Nov. 1.

A West Virginia native, Bissett will replace Cathy Burns, who resigned to become Huntington’s city manager.

Huntington is Bissett’s hometown. He has two degrees from Marshall University, and was the school’s chief of staff and senior vice president for communications before taking the top job at the coal association 6 ½ years ago.

The coal association represents operators in eastern and western Kentucky and will launch a search for a new president.

Former Marshall Star QB Pennington Gets Street Name

Huntington’s City Council has approved a resolution to name a street after former Marshall University star quarterback Chad Pennington.

WSAZ-TV reports the council on Monday voted to rename 10th Street as Chad Pennington Way.

Pennington wore uniform No. 10 while starring for the Thundering Herd in the late 1990s.

City Councilman David Ball says Pennington has had a positive impact on the community. Money raised by Pennington’s nonprofit 1st and 10 Foundation is aimed at improving the quality of life in small communities in southern West Virginia and his native eastern Tennessee.

Pennington led Marshall to its first undefeated season in 1999 and a No. 10 final ranking. He played 11 years in the NFL with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins.

Bank of Huntington Robbed by James Gang: Sept. 6, 1875

On September 6, 1875, two men walked into the Bank of Huntington with their revolvers drawn. Two others kept guard outside. The four men left the bank with $20,000 and rode south out of town.

A posse chased the bandits into Kentucky. Eventually, one was captured in Tennessee with some of the stolen loot. He was convicted and sentenced to the West Virginia Penitentiary.

Another gang member was wounded in Kentucky and later died of his injuries. The two others escaped with most of the money.

The robbery spawned a host of legends. The most popular theory is that the two who escaped justice were the notorious outlaws Frank James and Cole Younger. Local folklore suggests that after the Huntington robbery, Frank James took up residence in Wayne County, around Cove Gap, near the Lincoln County line. Using the alias Frank Morris, James supposedly tended a farm and made well-crafted furniture, some of which has been handed down through generations of Wayne County families. This idea, though, has been challenged since Frank James participated in several high-profile robberies over the next year with his brother Jesse.

What Caused the Overdose Spike Monday in Huntington?

Twenty-six reported cases of overdose in Huntington raised eyebrows throughout the state and country Monday evening. All 26 reports came in over a 4-hour period, putting the city’s emergency responders on high alert. Now Huntington officials are trying to figure out what caused the spike.

Almost half of the 26 reported overdoses happened in an around one east Huntington neighborhood, near the Marcum Terrace housing projects. It was reported that heroin samples were being handed out near the location.

Twelve doses of naloxone were administered, but one person required as many as three of the doses. The drug reverses the effects of an overdose and when paired with medical treatment, can save a person’s life. The rest of the overdose patients were revived using an apparatus called a bag valve mask that helps pump air into the victim’s chest. Huntington Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli said officials aren’t sure what might be different about this batch, but it is different.

“We can speculate, but we don’t know for sure,” Ciccarelli said. “When such a batch of heroin comes into town, that’s exactly what someone who is addicted is looking for, they search that out, they want that drug and they want to push themselves right to the edge of overdose or death sadly.”

Jim Johnson, Director of Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy and Joe Ciccarelli, Huntington Police Chief speak at a press conference Tuesday after the surge of overdoses.

There have been reports throughout the region of heroin being mixed with fentanyl, a strong pain reliever, or carfentanil, a pain reliever meant for large animals. In one house near Marcum Terrace, there were 7 different people who had overdosed.

Jan Rader is a Deputy Fire Chief in Huntington and part of the Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy.

“We have overdoses every day, I’ve been on one in a 24-hour period and I’ve been on 10 in a 24-hour period,” Rader said. “Typically, when we have one overdose, we just don’t have one, we have multiple and they’re in the same area.”

Rader said it’s hard to tell what might have been in the batch of heroin that caused the surge in overdoses. She said local officials doubt it was the stronger Carfentanil because each of the 26 overdose victims was revived, which is uncommon when dealing with the strong drug.

Rader said because they were able to save each of the victims, they might never be sure what this specific batch of heroin was laced with. That’s because when they arrive on the scene, Rader said it’s rare for there to be any of the drug left to test.

“When we typically go on an overdose, the only product that is there is in a syringe, they typically only buy enough for that one hit or for personal use,” Rader said. “We don’t have a lot of product lying around when we go in on a drug overdose, what we typically have is drug paraphernalia and we have used syringes, that in itself is a danger to first responders.”

Jim Johnson is the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy. Johnson said whatever the main ingredient was or wasn’t doesn’t make much of a difference in the battle in Huntington.

“What difference does it make if it was pure heroin, or pure fentanyl, or heroin cut with fentanyl or fentanyl cut with heroin, it still gets back to it being an opiate and it’s addiction, we’ve got to trace it back,” Johnson said. “Those people that are addicted to the money, we have to get them in jail. The people that are addicted to the opiate we have to try to find a way to get them treatment and back to being a productive part of society.”

What difference does it make if it was pure heroin, or pure fentanyl, or heroin cut with fentanyl or fentanyl cut with heroin, it still gets back to it being an opiate and it's addiction. — Jim Johnson, Director of Mayor's Office Of Drug Control Policy

Johnson said just because everyone is once again paying attention to how Huntington handles the situation doesn’t mean they’re going to change anything. He said they’re always looking for new tools to fight the problem. In the past year, the city has started needle exchange programs, naloxone training for the public and now generally emphasizes harm reduction programs.

Johnson said those prevention methods are all they can do, because arresting more and more people isn’t the answer.

“People that say we haven’t been arresting and people aren’t going to jail, they’re not looking at the data,” Johnson said. “The data says that we’re arresting at a higher rate than any country in the world. Should there be people in jail, absolutely. But we’ve got to deal with the problem of addiction, to lessen that. If we don’t lessen that, if we don’t lessen the demand, we’re not going to be successful.”

Overdose numbers are up in Huntington this year despite all of the city’s efforts. Through June 16^th in Cabell County, there have been 440 overdoses compared to 413 in the same time period in 2015.