''Mountain Stage'' is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

(NPR). Hosted by

Larry Groce Larry Groce (born April 22, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and radio host. From 1983 until 2021, Groce served as the host and artistic director of ''Mountain Stage'', a two-hour live music radio program produced by West Virginia Public ...

from the show's inception until 2021 and currently hosted by singer-songwriter and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

native Kathy Mattea, the program showcases diverse

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, from the traditional to modern. It is recorded before a live audience, usually at the Culture Center Theater in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 48,018 in 2021. The Charlesto ...

, but occasionally travels to other venues elsewhere in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Major private funding is provided by the West Virginia-based law firm of Bailey & Glasser LLP and the West Virginia Tourism Office.

History

Created by Andy Ridenour,

and Francis Fisher, Mountain Stage originally aired in 1983. All three founders continued in their original roles until 2011, when Executive Producer Ridenour retired after 28 years. Mountain Stage is now produced by Adam Harris, who began working for the show in 2005 as an unpaid intern. Each year between 24 and 26 two-hour episodes are produced. Most are recorded at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, West Virginia; however, the show has traveled to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

;

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all ...

; Ashland, Kentucky;

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the ...

; Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia; Winnipeg Folk Festival (Canada), Lexington, Kentucky; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;

Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The Kerrville Folk Festival was founded in 1972 by the husband-wife team of Rod Kennedy ...

(Texas); Harrisonburg, Virginia; and

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

. In 2003 a coffee-table style book, "20 Years of Mountain Stage", was published in honor of the radio show's 20th Anniversary. Between 2001-2003, Mountain Stage taped thirty-nine episodes of a nationally syndicated television series for public television. In 2007, an additional series of nine, one-hour specials, filmed in high-definition, were also recorded for public television. The TV series featured John Pizzarelli, John Mayall, Richard Thompson, Nanci Griffith, The Holmes Brothers, Odetta, Arlo Guthrie & the Guthrie Family Legacy,

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and rel ...

, Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys, Yonder Mountain String Band in 2014, John Hammond and Jorma Kaukonen. Mountain Stage began its 28th season in Glasgow, Scotland as part of the 2011 Celtic Connections Festival. Its 750th show was recorded in September, 2011, at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Episode 800 was recorded in 2013 with Dawes, Ani DiFranco, Dave Mason and Red Baraat. The show recorded episode 900 in July 2017 with Steve Earle & The Dukes, The Mastersons, The Sherman Holmes Project, Steelism and WV storyteller Bil Lepp. The 35th Anniversary of Mountain Stage was celebrated in December 2018 with the Amy Ray Band, Crash Test Dummies, Anais Mitchell, Parker Millsap and William Matheny. Mountain Stage has welcomed six Guest Hosts since 2014, beginning with Grammy-winning musician Tim O'Brien, former Assistant Producer Joni Deutsch, who guest-hosted twice, WV Singer-Songwriter Todd Burge, CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Conor Knighton, and Tony Award winner and WV native Michael Cerveris. Since March 2018, country music singer and West Virginia native Mattea has been a regular guest host. Mattea first appeared on Mountain Stage in November of 1985 and has appeared on the show more times than any other female artist, and she is second to Tim O'Brien for total number of appearances. On September 9, 2021, it was announced that Mattea will be the permanent host of Mountain Stage, succeeding Groce.

Format

The radio show begins with its theme, "Simple Song", written and performed by founding host

. Under the influence of Groce's tenure as artistic director, the program showcases diverse music, from the traditional to the brand new, including roots music to

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

. Usually, five musical guests will appear on any given show. Among the luminaries who appeared on Mountain Stage before they were famous or whose first national-exposure in the US on Mountain Stage are Sarah McLachlan, Norah Jones, Crash Test Dummies, Barenaked Ladies, Ben Harper, Paula Cole, Nickel Creek, Cassandra Wilson,

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...

, and Phish. In April 1991, R.E.M. appeared on the show, bringing national attention to the West Virginia-based program. Over the years, the show has featured such international luminaries as

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

, Phish, Barenaked Ladies, Toad the Wet Sprocket,

Cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate ...

, Galactic, Bruce Hornsby, the Derek Trucks Band, Chris Thile, Bell X-1,

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a dr ...

, Norah Jones, Hubert Sumlin & Pinetop Perkins, Charles Brown,

, Little Big Town, Amos Lee,

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

Jakob Dylan Jakob Luke Dylan (born December 9, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter. He rose to fame as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the rock band the Wallflowers. Born in New York City to musician Bob Dylan and model Sara Lownds, Dylan be ...

and

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...

, as well as Mattea, Tim O'Brien and over a hundred

artists.

Distribution

Mountain Stage is heard on over 270 NPR stations nationwide, as of February 2021. The full-length show is available on demand as a podcast. Select guest artist segments, including songs not heard on the radio, are posted at the NPR Music website. Video performances of select shows can be found on the West Virginia channel at LiveSessions.NPR.org. Twenty-seven albums compiling live performances from the Mountain Stage series have also been released on Blue Plate Records, a division of Oh Boy! Records, and are still available through Amazon.com. In 2008, NPR signed an exclusive on-line distribution deal with Mountain Stage.

References

External links

Official siteMountain Stage live at NPR MusicMountain Stage radio stationsMountain Stage on WVPublic.orgMountain Stage Channel at NPR Music Live Sessions
{{NPR American music radio programs Charleston, West Virginia Mass media in West Virginia 1983 radio programme debuts