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Mountain Stage returned to West Virginia University’s Creative Arts Center Sunday night, featuring a predominantly country lineup.
For anyone who doesn’t know what Mountain Stage is, it’s a radio show recorded in front of a live audience, and it usually features four or five acts.
The latest show opened with Leslie Stevens, who had a sound described as California country by the show’s host, Larry Groce.
This was Stevens’ first time at Mountain Stage, and she showed off a great, country voice with a hint of twang. Stevens gave the audience an intimate performance and her songs highlighted her strong lyrical storytelling.
Stevens was backed by the Mountain Stage Band instead of her normal group, The Badgers. After her performance, Groce told a good joke, saying she was Leslie Stevens and The Codgers, instead of The Badgers.
Loudon Wainwright III followed, and he sounds just as fresh now as when he rose to prominence in the ’70s.
He played songs from his upcoming CD "10 Songs for the New Depression," and the elder statesman of folk rock showed he hasn’t lost his touch by offering up biting, topical lyrics laced with cynical humor.
Age hasn’t slowed Wainwright down, and his voice has held up well, much better than another folk legend, Bob Dylan.
Pieta Brown had the unenviable task of following Wainwright, and even though her first song was akin to musical anesthesia, she showed good guitar and vocal chops.
Brown showed a thick, sultry voice, and she was joined on-stage by longtime guitarist and friend, Bo Ramsey, who offered some nice electric guitar riffs to counter Brown’s acoustic chords.
The Grascals were the most entertaining group of the night and gave the audience an up-tempo, old-timey bluegrass sound.
The group performed several original songs and some covers, one of the more interesting cover songs being "Last Train to Clarksville," originally by The Monkees.
Some other songs covered included tunes by Hank Williams Jr., whom The Grascals are touring with.
It was the group’s first time at Mountain Stage, and the audience reacted favorably to its skill.
The biggest reaction The Grascals received was when the band’s fiddle player, a West Virginia native, had a song to himself and went to town on his solo. The group also had a good rapport with the crowd, telling jokes between songs.
Closing out the evening was country singer Patty Loveless. She showed off her enormous, country diva voice.
Audience members unfamiliar with her work probably didn’t take much from Loveless’ performance, but her fans seemed to enjoy the songs she sang.
Sunday’s Mountain Stage was more country-oriented than past shows, and there were parts reminiscent of the film "A Mighty Wind," but it was still a well done show that offered a chance to hear a diverse lineup of legendary performers and the next generation of musicians.
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