Mountain Stage continues its production schedule this Sunday with episode #955 at the Culture Center Theater on the state capitol grounds in Charleston, W.Va. Tickets are still available online and at Taylor Books at 226 Capitol St. in downtown, Charleston.
Update: Friday 9/27, 2:00p.m. Amy Speace has asked to postpone her appearance on Mountain Stage, originally scheduled for Sunday, September 29, because of a family emergency. We will work with her to reschedule as soon as possible. Our entire team sends Amy our best.
Returning to Mountain Stage for the fourth time since 2011 is Virginia based, modern roots group The Steel Wheels. The band followed up two recent live EPs, Volume 1: Live at the Station Inn and Volume 2: Live at The Jefferson Theatre, with their latest studio record Over the Trees.
The album was recorded with producer Sam Kassirer, who worked with The Steel Wheels on 2017s’ Wild As We Came Here. The band has also expanded their core group to become a quintet, with the permanent addition of percussionist Kevin Garcia to the longtime lineup of Brian Dickel, Trent Wagler, Jay Lapp, and Eric Brubaker.
With Me And The Ghost Of Charlemagne, songwriter and vocalist Amy Speace returns with for her fifth appearance on the show since 2009. Me And The Ghost Of Charlemagne finds Speace focusing on the real side of pursuing a musical dream, filled with an ever-shifting balance of struggle and joy. Produced by longtime collaborator Neilson Hubbard and recorded during the final weeks of Speace’s pregnancy with her first son, Me And The Ghost Of Charlemagne captures Amy Speace at her most nakedly honest, with sparsely-decorated songs with her larger-than-life voice and detail-rich songwriting.
Me and the Ghost of Charlemagne- Amy Speace
Award winning songwriter Radney Foster, whose hits include “Nobody Wins” for himself and “Crazy Over You” with his duo Foster & Lloyd, has just released his first work of fiction and a companion album. “For You To See The Stars” is a project comprised of two parts – a book and a CD. The book is a collection of short stories published by Working Title Farm. Though the stories are fiction, they are informed by Foster’s upbringing on the Mexican border in Del Rio, TX. The beauty of this CD/book combo lives within Foster’s extensive imagery, which not only further expands the meaning behind his songs, but gives the reader a look at the thought process behind his songwriting.
Nashville’s Kieran Kane joined us on Mountain Stage for the first time in 1994 on a show that also featured The Band and Cowboy Junkies. He is known as a “godfather of Americana” thanks to his solo work, his tenure as a member of The O’Kanes, and the trio Kane Welch Kaplan, who appeared on Mountain Stage in 2008.
His musical partner Rayna Gellert has joined us as a member of the all-star string band Uncle Earl and alongside Virginia’s Scott Miller. Now, she and Kane will debut on the show together, with songs from When the Sun Goes Down, their follow-up to their debut, The Ledges. Recorded live at home, When the Sun Goes Down captures the duo’s grounded, restrained playing and singing with a shimmering intimacy.
Rounding out the line-up will be Boise-based blues/roots/soul/country purveyor Eilen Jewell and her band. Jewell’s new album Gypsy finds her picking up the electric guitar while putting a personal and politically spin into the lyrics. She first joined us in 2007 and will make her third appearance on Mountain Stage this Sunday. We’re loving the swampy feel to “Crawl.”
Show time is 7p.m. this Sunday, September 29 at the Culture Center Theater. Box Office opens in the great hall of the Culture Center at 5p.m. and the doors to the theater open at 6:30p.m. All seats are general admission and tickets can be found online and at Taylor Books. Advance tickets are $20 and $30 on the Day of Show.
Take a look at the entire schedule of live shows and make plans to be a part of our radio audience.
This show will be broadcast nationally in November via NPR Music.
