Sizzling Summer Music Fests
Summer is upon us and thankfully we’re seeing a comeback of some great summer music fests across the region. Here’s a look at just a few of the many good music fests around our slice of Appalachia. The Mountain Grrl Experience Running from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, July 24 at the Appalachian Center […]
Spring Into Live Music!!!
With community immunity on the way by summer, festivals and larger musical gatherings are back on the calendars. Although a few early spring festivals, such as the Nelsonville Music Festival, have been postponed, other later spring and summer fests are planned with Covid restrictions in place. Here’s a look at a few of regional music […]
New Music – Tastes Like Local Honey, Lands Like Winter Robins, Sets Up Like A Space Camp
A pandemic rolled into the already cloistering time of winter has left us staring across the chasm of late winter staring into the early green of spring. But we are not alone. We carry on through these increasingly longer days with a recent rush of musical light from new creative releases. Here’s a look at […]
Daniel Johnston’s live album Chicago 2017 Streaming Now
The last album recorded by the late, great singer/songwriter Daniel Johnston was released Monday on streaming services. Johnston’s Chicago 2017 includes new arrangements of 14 Johnston originals and one Beatles cover. Nine tracks are performed live from Chicago’s Vic Theater backed by Tweedy (the band comprised of Jeff and Spencer Tweedy, James Elkington, Darin Gray […]
Viral Tunes
Songs of the Season: From “Stay Inside” and “Cheap Wine” – A Local Song for Every Viral Occasion In this fast moving Coronavirus, it is the sharing of songs that keeps our shred of sanity sewn together. With so many odd situations arising, we’ve put together a quick song list of the right local songs […]
Tyler Childers
One of the super powers of Mountain Stage founder and host Larry Groce is diving deep, early and often for audio pearls hidden in an ocean of sound. Artists he reeled onto Mountain Stage well before they become known include: Lyle Lovett, Chris Stapleton, Ben Harper, Sarah McLachlan, Norah Jones, Old Crow Medicine Show, Brandi […]
Couch Festival!
“Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival!” by Tim Newby The containment plan of social distancing for COVID-19 is taking aim and taking out a slew of scheduled concerts and spring festivals. The latest to fall – and probably largest roots music festival to be canceled – is the 33rd annual Merlefest that was set to […]
A Q&A With JamGrass Legend Larry Keel
The glorious return of summer festival season is fast approaching finding Larry and Jenny Keel and Jared Pool (The Larry Keel Experience) criss-crossing these United States from the WinterWonder Grass fest in Squaw Valley to The Caverns in Tennessee and from 4848 at Snowshoe to Northwest String Summit in Oregon bringing their mountain grown, road-tested […]
West Virginia Native Sierra Ferrell Making A Splash on the Americana Scene
Things are looking swimmingly for former Charleston girl, Sierra Ferrell signed in 2019 to Rounder Records. Ferrell, who once fronted festival favorite, Charleston band 600 Lbs of Sin, has been in recent years creating her own fresh parlor country cabaret sound like the musical lovechild of Loretta Lynn and Django Reinhardt. She toured in February […]
The Hardest Working Man in the Jazz Business – Bob Thompson
When Bob Thompson was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame back in 2015, his Mountain Stage colleague Larry Groce said Thompson had probably played more gigs in West Virginia than any other artist in its history. And indeed, Thompson, a New York City native who moved to the Mountain State in the […]