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.
