On this week’s episode of Mountain Stage, acclaimed singer Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops performs her haunting original song “At the Purchaser’s Option,” which was inspired by a 19th-century advertisement she found for a 22-year-old female slave whose baby was also available for sale.
The broadcast also features performances by Dori Freeman, Flatt Lonesome, Blue Highway, and the Davis & Elkins Appalachian Ensemble.
Like what you hear? Download the entire show right now on the Mountain Stage podcast (just look for Ep. 876). While you’re at it, make sure to subscribe, leave us a rating/review and send us a tweet with your favorite song: we’re @mountainstage.
And across seven venues in four states, we recorded over 120 live sets that showcased the best and brightest musicians in the world today. Along the way, we video streamed eight of our shows through VuHaus and made some new #gotowv friends along the way (with posters and glass records in tow!). Of course, none of this would have happened without your support.
Before we embark on another musical year around the sun, Larry Groce and the Mountain Stage crew have picked out 33 performances that deserve another listen and another round of applause. From A to Z, these are our favorite Mountain Stage performances of 2016. (Hint: click the Episode # for their Mountain Stage podcast episode, where available.)
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Aoife O’Donovan – In the Magic Hour (Culture Center Theater in Charleston, WV on October 30, 2016 – Episode #883)
Credit Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage
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Aoife O’Donovan on Mountain Stage
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Billy Bragg & Joe Henry – Gentle On My Mind (Byham Theater in Pittsburgh, PA on September 25, 2016 with WYEP & Pittsburgh Cultural Trust – Episode #879)
Now in its 33rd season, Mountain Stage will bring its live performance radio program to Davis & Elkins College on Saturday, August 13 to celebrate the Augusta Heritage Festival for a show at the Harper-McNeeley Auditorium at the Myles Center for the Arts in Elkins, WV. Audiences will participate in a recording that will be heard on over 170 NPR stations around the nation and on the top-ranking Mountain Stage Podcast.
Tickets are available starting today and can be purchased online or by phone at 304.637.1255. Click here, and read on, for ticket prices and festival information.
This August 13 concert will mark the Mountain Stage debut of Dori Freeman, a twenty-four-year-old singer-songwriter whose timeless Appalachian music has caught the ears of NPR Music, No Depression and even The New York Times, who had this to say:
“The purity of Dori Freeman’s voice and the directness of her songwriting reflect not only her Appalachian hometown — Galax, Va. — but also a determined classicism, a rejection of the ways modern country punches itself up for radio and arenas.”
Sample some of Dori Freeman’s latest release on NPR Music & WXPN’s World Cafe:
Joining Dori at this August 13 show will be the Grammy-nominated bluegrass bandBlue Highway, emerging bluegrass group Flatt Lonesome, and the Davis & Elkins Appalachian Ensemble, who were recently featured on an episode of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Inside Appalachia as they traveled along the Mountain Music Trail.
Critically-acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and Carolina Chocolate Drops founder Rhiannon Giddens will also perform on this August 13 show. Listeners might remember her last set on Mountain Stage, which brought the entire theater to their feet (and for good reason).
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.
The 2016 Grammy Awards Nominations are in! We’re proud to see so many of Mountain Stage’s guests on the list. Click on the artist’s name to hear their recent performances on Mountain Stage.
Congratulations to the performers who performed this past year on the show, including Chris Stapleton (for Album of the Year, Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Song and Best Country Album), Lee Ann Womack (Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Song), The Fairfield Four (Best Roots Gospel Album), The Milk Carton Kids (Best American Roots Performance), The Mavericks (Best American Roots Song, Best Americana Album), The Steeldrivers (Best Bluegrass Album) and Rhiannon Giddens (Best Folk Album).
Missed hearing these talented folks on Mountain Stage? Make sure to subscribe (and rate/review) the Mountain Stage podcast on iTunes and sign-up for our email newsletter for future show announcements! You might just hear/see the next big artist before they start grabbin’ Grammys.
Good luck to all the nominees! And if you haven’t already, go out and see some live music wherever you are just as soon as you can.
This past winter has been a hectic one for Carolina Chocolate Drops frontwoman Rhiannon Giddens. Between recording Dylan covers with Marcus Mumford and Elvis Costello under the moniker The New Basement Tapes and dueting with Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam on NBC’s Parenthood series finale, she’s somehow found time to release her solo recording debut, Tomorrow is My Turn. If you’re a fan of spellbinding interpretations of Americana classics, this interview and music are recommended for you.
Rhiannon Giddens new record, Tomorrow is My Turn, comes out February 14. For more emerging artist news (and even some ticket giveaways), follow ‘A Change of Tune’ on Facebook, Twitter and Insta. Hear new music from Rhiannon Giddens on ‘A Change of Tune’ this Saturday at 10pm EST on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
