Tag: NPR Music

West Virginia Music, Mountain Stage Staff Featured on NPR Music's Best of 2015 List

Public radio hosts from across the country came together this past month to pick their favorite songs of 2015. The result? An NPR Music Best Songs of 2015 playlist, of course!  Here’s a recap of that list and the music you heard this past year on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Mountain Stage host and artistic director Larry Groce was one of the 50 public radio music hosts selected for NPR Music’s year-end list. His favorite song of 2015 came from Darlingside, an indie folk group who performed on Mountain Stage this past fall and appeared on our own Inside Appalachia podcast. This is what Larry had to say about their music:

Darlingside, "God Of Loss" The instrumentals are just as meticulous as the harmonies, the harmonies just as haunting as the lyrics, and the lyrics a testament to the Boston quartet's success to come.

Mountain Stage assistant producer and “A Change of Tune” host Joni Deutsch had this to say about the emerging electro-R&B act who left an impression on her:

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, "Can't Keep Checking My Phone" From its Tarantino spaghetti western start to its groovy "Purple Rain" end, this single by the Portland-by-way-of-New Zealand band is a cinematic treat for our ears.

The NPR Music list includes other familiar faces, like singer-songwriter Sam Gleaves, whose song about an openly gay, West Virginia coal miner led to an interview with Roxy Todd for Inside Appalachia and Us & Them, as well as a guest appearance on Mountain Stage.

Morgantown native Dave Bello also chatted with “A Change of Tune” about his band The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die and their 2015 single “1/10/2014” long before it became an NPR Music pick, as did Beach House drummer and West Virginia native Graham Hill, The Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rhiannon Giddens and Canadian crooner Andy Shauf.

And our locally-produced music programs Eclectopia, Lost Highways and Sidetracks spun more than a few NPR Music favorites from Jason Isbell, Courtney Barnett, Laura Marling, Hiatus Kaiyote, The McCrary Sisters, Turnpike Troubadours and more.

Listen to the complete list of NPR Music’s Best Songs of 2015 here and subscribe to West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s podcasts (including Mountain Stage, Inside Appalachia, Us & Them and more) here.

Want to keep emerging music and thoughtful stories alive on West Virginia airwaves? Make a contribution in any amount here.

John Mark Nelson Is Going Places

Heed Larry Groce’s words, folks: John Mark Nelson is going places.

I had a hunch when I picked up Nelson’s new full-length I’m Not Afraid, and I had stronger feelings when I realized I’d unconsciously mapped out dance chore to his single “Dream Last Night,” but I had final confirmation of his inevitable fame when I saw him bring a tent of people to their feet on the shores of Lake Superior.

So when the opportunity came to talk new music with NPR’s Heavy Rotation and Morning Edition, I knew exactly what to do.

Check out my recap of John Mark Nelson’s infectious “Dream Last Night” below, and make sure to tune in to West Virginia Public Broadcasting (this Saturday at 8pm EST and next Friday at 8pm EST) to hear the Minnesota singer-songwriter’s live performance on Mountain Stage, recorded this September at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota. 

When a bearded folk crooner kicks off a song with a riff that calls to mind both the bounciness of Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" and the seasoned Memphis licks of Steve Cropper, you know you're in for a treat. Such is the case with "Dream Last Night," a new song by Minneapolis singer-songwriter John Mark Nelson. After cranking out two down-to-earth folk records in his bedroom and taking to Kickstarter to fund a third (all before turning 21), Nelson booked five days of studio time and emerged with I'm Not Afraid, the mesmerizing flagship release for Trampled By Turtles frontman Dave Simonett's GNDWIRE Records. It's a testament to Nelson's craftsmanship as a songwriter and skills as a performer that "Dream Last Night" works so well live, too, with his able road band bringing the tune's ethereal guitar grooves and spooky harmony vocals into sharp focus.

West Virginia Indie Rockers Ona, 'A Change of Tune' Featured on NPR's Heavy Rotation

There’s no place like public radio when it comes to discovering new and emerging music. And there’s no better time than today to be a part of West Virginia’s budding music scene.

That’s why I was so excited to be a part of NPR’s Heavy Rotation to talk about my love for Ona, a Huntington band that has been on my radar for a while but will be on the world’s radar soon enough.

Check out my recap of the band’s first single, and make sure to keep up with my indie/alternative program “A Change of Tune” to hear more from Ona’s full-length debut:

While we were focusing on the biggest and brightest releases out of London, New York and Los Angeles, a little ol' band from little ol' Huntington, W.Va. has been able to craft a debut single that knocks all else out of the water. All Songs Considered fans recognized this, picking Ona's single "Ides of July" as one of their favorite musical discoveries of 2015 (so far) — and for good reason. It's an expansive piece from the five-piece band, an indie-rock/alt-folk symphony that seamlessly captures a sense of wanderlust. The band's self-proclaimed "What Would Neil Young Do?" work ethic certainly lays the foundation for the song's catchiness. So does brilliant production by American Minor guitarist turned West Virginia music magician Bud Carroll on this track from Ona's upcoming debut album, American Fiction. I have no doubt that the band will have even more brilliant rock orchestrations for our wanting ears.

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