Mountain Stage Song of the Week

On this West Virginia Morning, we speak with a police officer turned sociologist. He offers a researcher’s perspective on gun violence. We also hear a report from The Allegheny Front on fracking concerns in Ohio, and we hear this week’s Mountain Stage Song of the Week.

Michael and Tanya Trotter are the driving voices behind The War And Treaty. With an energetic sound that blends classic roots, gospel and R&B with country and soul, The War And Treaty are a treat to experience live.

Renowned acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke has a career that spans five decades, dating back to his 1969 debut album 6 & 12 String Guitar. This week we're revisiting his 10th appearance on Mountain Stage since 1990, including our pick for Song of the Week.

Recorded at the Peoples Bank Theatre in Marietta, OH,  in 2018, this week's episode of Mountain Stage with Larry Groce features a broad array of musical styles, drawing from pop, rock, soul and folk.

On this West Virginia Morning, we take a look at what Inside Appalachia has in store for us this weekend. The show explores explore some of the region’s unique aquatic destinations -- on the water, and beneath it.

About 150,000 people commercially raft a West Virginia river each year -- most on the New and Gauley rivers, which go through Fayetteville. Raft guides take most of those people down the river – professionals who are trained to know water, but also to know people.

Hear one of music's most distinct vocalists perform songs from her new album in this week's encore episode of Mountain Stage, recorded at the Augusta Heritage Festival in Elkins, W.Va. in 2018.

On this West Virginia Morning, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday, July 18, to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour by 2025, the first wage increase in a decade. One report predicts that in large portions of eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and southeast Ohio, roughly 40 percent of workers would see some increase in wages. Becca Schimmel explains.

Emmy-winning actor Jeff Daniels is also an accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist, who recently appeared on Mountain Stage along with the Ben Daniels Band, led by his son Ben, which also includes Jeff's  daughter Amanda.

Hiss Golden Messenger appears on this week's encore episode of Mountain Stage, with songs from their album "Hallelujah Anyhow," as well as this tune from their 2013 release "Haw."

Country music star Lee Ann Womack released her album "The Lonely, The Lonesome, & The Gone"  last year to critical acclaim. Our Song of the Week is her performance of "All The Trouble,"

Our Mountain Stage Song of the Week comes from enchanting jazz and pop vocalist Kat Edmonson, who makes her third appearance on the show with songs from her album called "Old Fashioned Gal."

On this West Virginia Morning, we explore how some transgender families celebrate Father’s Day, we hear a story from this week’s Inside Appalachia podcast featuring craft breweries, and we listen to this week’s Mountain Stage Song of the Week.

Our Song of the Week comes from acclaimed Nashville singer and songwriter Kim Richey, along with her band and San Francisco's Chuck Prophet, who was a guest on this episode and also appears on Richey's new album "Edgeland."

On this West Virginia Morning, we explore breastfeeding, we hear the latest from the statehouse, and we bring you this week’s Mountain Stage “Song of the Week.”

The seeds of our Song of the Week were sown from a tune that Los Angeles area musician Joachim Cooder would sing to his houseplant, called a Fuchsia Machu Picchu.

On this West Virginia Morning, Jeremy Farley is a self-taught expert on Appalachian storytelling.  He grew up in Wythe County, Virginia, and is the founder of Appalachian Magazine. Jeremy is also one of 10 new reporters with the Folkways Reporting Corps. Inside Appalachia host, Jessica Lilly, recently sat down with Jeremy to talk about Appalachian Magazine, and his new position on the team. We hear part of that conversation.

Our Song of the Week is a modern-day blues original by the incomparable Adia Victoria.

On this West Virginia Morning, Greensboro is a small town in southern Pennsylvania, just across the West Virginia border. It sits on the banks of the Monongahela river, surrounded by small hills and patches of trees.

Over the years the town has weathered boom and busts of a pottery industry, river trade, and coal.  Lately, it’s been more bust than boom.

But now, some artists are trying to stimulate the local economy using what they know best: creativity. Our folklife reporter Caitlin Tan visited the Greensboro Art Cooperative to find out more.

Our Song of the Week is a fan-favorite from Colorado's The Devil Makes Three.

This week's broadcast of "Mountain Stage" once again welcomes special guest-host Kathy Mattea, and includes an awe-inspiring set from New England quartet Darlingside.

On this West Virginia Morning, there’s only one high school in Preston County. But there used to be many, and the sports rivalry and team spirit at each school were strong.

Former students from the original schools banded together to create the Preston County Sports Museum, to help memorialize the sports league of years past. It’s the only one of its kind in the state.

Inside Appalachia folklife reporter Caitlin Tan visited the museum and spoke with a brother and sister who graduated from one of the schools in the 1950s.

Morgantown, West Virginia native Charles Wesley Godwin's  song "Coal Country" reminds us that the commodity's impact reaches far beyond Appalachia, broadening the definition of what many think of as "Coal Country."

On this West Virginia Morning, science can be a hard subject to understand, especially upper-level higher-ed science courses. A professor in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle is creatively cracking the code to help his students understand tricky topics. Corey Knollinger has more.

Our Song of the Week is from pop-songsmith Matt Nathanson, who expertly combines the heartfelt and the humorous, in his song "Bill Murray."

On this West Virginia Morning, reporters with Marketplace spent more than a year in central Appalachia. They were investigating how the opioid epidemic has changed as law enforcement began cracking down on prescription drugs. The series is part of a podcast called “The Uncertain Hour”. West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Trey Kay, host of Us and Them, recently spoke with producer Caitlin Esch. They talked about how it’s difficult to fight a drug epidemic through law enforcement alone.

This week's Song of the Week is by Americana trio The Lone Bellow.

This performance by jazz and blues vocalist Catherine Russell comes from a 2006 Mountain Stage show where she put her special touch on "New Speedway Boogie," a song written by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia, first popularized by The Grateful Dead.

Award-winning bluegrass group Balsam Range made their first appearance on Mountain Stage earlier this year with songs from their newly released album "Aeonic".

John Gorka has been a regular guest on Mountain Stage since his first visit in 1989. He has our Song of the Week with "Tattooed," from his latest album "True In Time," accompanied by the Mountain Stage Band.

Songwriter James McMurtry is highly admired by listeners and peers alike for his astute observations and ability to develop characters while painting scenery with just a few, well-chosen words. This week's Song of the Week is McMurtry's "State of the Union," which depicts a family's inner-conflicts, long-standing grudges and stubborn optimism. 

"We're all in the family/The Cursed and the Blessed/It's the State of the Union I guess."