West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s ‘Mountain Stage with Larry Groce’ will kick off 36th season in Morgantown
When the opening bars of the
Mountain Stage theme song are heard at the WVU Creative Arts Center Jan. 20,
the famed radio show’s 36th season will be underway. Gregory Alan Isakov, Mandolin
Orange, Elysian Fields, The Brother Brothers and Hush Kids are scheduled to perform.
Tickets, starting at $27, are on sale now at the Mountainlair and CAC box offices,
online at Ticketmaster.com, and by phone at 304-293-SHOW (7469) and 800-745-3000.
Colorado-based indie-folk artist Gregory Alan Isakov is a full-time farmer who sells
vegetable seeds and grows various market crops on his three-acre farm, while also
tending to a thriving musical career. His latest album "Evening Machines' is lush,
rootsy folk that falls somewhere between My Morning Jacket and Hozier. Hushed acoustic
guitar and sparse piano combine for a moody foundation that’s amplified by distant
electric guitars, keyboards, pedal steel, saw, percussion, strings, banjo and some
electronic drums. Isakov tours regularly in the U.S. and Europe, performing alongside
acts such as Iron & Wine, Calexico, Ani DiFranco, Passenger, Josh Ritter, Brandi
Carlile and Nathaniel Rateliff.
Andrew Marlin, singer-songwriter and Emily Frantz, singer and multi-instrumentalist,
have played together as Mandolin Orange for almost a decade. Their bluegrass sound
is built around a solid foundation of two-part harmonies. Their music radiates
a mysterious warmth; their songs like whispered secrets, one hand cupped to your
ear. The North Carolina duo sold out every one of their headlining US performances
in 2018, and nearly repeated that accomplishment in Europe. “Tides of a Teardrop,”
Mandolin Orange’s latest album (due out Feb. 1) is, by all accounts, their fullest,
richest and most personal effort to date. The album delves into Marlin's grief
following the death of his mother, and the visual paints an intimate, resilient
portrait of a father and son coping with despair.
Jennifer Charles and Oren Bloedow are the writers who make up the critically-acclaimed
New York cult band Elysian Fields. The band’s sound has been described as noir
rock with Charles’ vocals bringing some comparison to Cowboy Junkies’ Margot Timmons
and Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval. Elysian Fields’ newest album, “Pink Air,” is a
post-apocalyptic rock & roll joyride. While it covers themes as far-reaching
as natural disasters and global warming ("Storm Cellar"), to white supremacy ("Knights
Of The White Carnation") and meditations on time, friendship, loss and mortality
("Time Capsule," "Star Sheen"), “Pink Air” never feels heavy handed. It lightens
the mood with infectious hooks and doses of humor and satire.
"The Brother Brothers is the closest thing you can find to Simon & Garfunkel
in this century, yet with a primitive country sound,” says
Saving Country Music. Identical twins David and Adam Moss carry the folk tradition
for a new generation. Their debut album “Some People I Know” honors contemporary
aches with the nostalgic tenderness of another time. Their stunning song craft
blends masterfully gentle guitar, cello and five-string fiddle with the sort of
two-part harmonies only brothers can carry. The Brother Brothers have recently
opened for Big Thief, Lake Street Dive, Shakey Graves and more.
Nashville artists Jill Andrews and Peter Groenwald enjoyed impressive solo careers
before forming Hush Kids. Andrews is a founding member of the alt-country favorite
The Everybodyfields and has performed alongside The Avett Brothers, Willie Nelson
and Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors. Groenwald, a gifted composer, producer and
musician, has toured extensively and shared the stage with The Civil Wars, Andrew
Belle and John Mayer. Together, they enjoy instinctive vocal symmetry and deliver
captivating melodies and intimate, intelligent lyrics.
Mountain Stage with Larry Groce is produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
The live radio show is taped for air on more than 200 National Public Radio stations
across America. WVU has been the show’s second home for the last decade.
Limited tickets, starting at $27, remain for the Jan. 20 show at the Creative Arts
Center. WVU Student tickets are $10 with valid WVU Student ID (limit one). The
show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at the Mountainlair and CAC box offices,
online at ticketmaster.com, and by phone at 304-293-SHOW (7469) and 800-745-3000.
The University Arts Series is produced by WVU Arts & Entertainment and presented
by University Toyota with support from the Holiday Inn – University Area. Stay
connected with the latest event updates through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
by following @wvuevents.
-WVU A&E-
ksg/01/07/19