the mountain set to music
"almost heaven, west virginia." remember that? john denver cemented those words in our mind with his 1971 tune that only touched on the variety of music that had been nurtured in these mountains and valleys. as the only state that lies entirely in appalachia, the fiddle and banjo moves their rhythms throughout the melodies that are built in the soul of these singers and musicians. "mountain soul" is home here and it continues to evolve with new masters of home grown music. they join the ranks of - billy cox (jimi hendrix's bass player), maceo pinkard, charlie mccoy, frank poncho sampedro, johnnie johnson, michael w. smith - in making west virginia a hotbed of musical rhythms. to hear more from these artists, scroll down and you'll find a sampling.
the wild rumpus
from fayetteville, west virginia, the wild rumpus is an original string band led by singer and songwriter (not to mention suit-wearing, bare-foot stomping) andrew adkins. forging a sound that has one foot stomping in the past and the other in the present, their debut album love, trains & home rolls together bluegrass, swing, country and rock and roll. performing at the charleston convention center. thewildrumpus.com
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blackberry jam
a unique bluegrass band that meshes the talents of boggie lowe (upright bass/lead and harmony vocals from stone, kentucky); jim harvey (fiddle/harmony vocals from chattaroy, west virginia); nikki gibson (mandolin/lead and harmony vocals from barboursville, west virginia); jason rayburn (guitar/lead and harmony vocals from chapmanville, west virginia); and corbet james jr. (banjo from forest hills, kentucky). with influences of the likes of earl scruggs, jd crowe and the lonesome river band, the musicans would have get-togethers on the weekends - "jam sessions" - in blackberry, kentucky. "it only made sense to name it 'blackberry jam'," says nikki gibson. you'll find them at hillbilly day in pikesville, kentucky, april 24-26. find their entire schedule on facebook. performing at chef logan state park, logan, west virginia.
kayla slone
her backstory is as impressive as her music. oddly enough, she started her singing career in walmart, deep in the foothills of west virginia. she enjoyed sharing tunes with her customers while they came through her check-out line. one thought her voice was good enough to share. he snapped a video of her singing to her customers, uploaded it to youtube and the rest is history. hundreds of thousands of views later, she propelled into the national spotlight, even sharing the grand ole opry stage with loretta lynn by week's end.
kayla with chase likens (seated) and her manager and guitarist, logan west virginia's code officer, ray perry.
performing at the coalfield jamboree and chef logan state park in logan, west virginia.
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siblings ernie shaw and melissa adams electrify the stage with their gospel sounds.
chase likens, a finalist on american idol, will join a collection of west virginians touring west virginia and kentucky.
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from elvis to kindergarten: chase's story
what is most surprising about where you are at this very moment?
the actual surprises come with the every-day work - i never thought that i’d ever have a song playing on the radio.
who told you first that you could sing and do it well? the first time i ever sang in front of other people was at my kindergarten talent show. i sang elvis presley’s hound dog. as long as they liked it, i wanted to keep going. i loved being on that stage, i wanted to keep singing and go back up there, but they only had enough time for me to do one song. it all went up from there.
how has your hometown of point pleasant contributed to your success? the people in my hometown have really taken a liking to no other girl (in the play list below), my single i recently released. maybe they're just trying to support me, but i probably get tens of hundreds of requests every month to play it. whether they really like it or not or they're just there to support me, it definitely means a lot. i'm definitely glad to have the people back at home who have my back.
your greatest inspiration? i’d say that would have to be elvis presley, just because of what he meant to pop culture. there’s just something about him, his skill for entertainment as a whole and not so much music. for me personally, i didn't even think of it as music until i got a little bit older. i just thought i was up there to entertain people, which is my job anyway, just a different perspective.
in my personal life, that would have to be my mother. she helped foster that desire that I had to do something artistically; at the time, we didn’t think that it was going to turn into what it did. i’m glad that she really pushed for me to be somebody when i was younger and that she believed in it and in me.
best advice? probably just to be yourself. it's tricky and it's almost like a riddle. you think, “well I am myself,” but when you’re placed in certain situations, you've gotta try and stay true to yourself and do what you would do as opposed to what would somebody else wants you to do.
the actual surprises come with the every-day work - i never thought that i’d ever have a song playing on the radio.
who told you first that you could sing and do it well? the first time i ever sang in front of other people was at my kindergarten talent show. i sang elvis presley’s hound dog. as long as they liked it, i wanted to keep going. i loved being on that stage, i wanted to keep singing and go back up there, but they only had enough time for me to do one song. it all went up from there.
how has your hometown of point pleasant contributed to your success? the people in my hometown have really taken a liking to no other girl (in the play list below), my single i recently released. maybe they're just trying to support me, but i probably get tens of hundreds of requests every month to play it. whether they really like it or not or they're just there to support me, it definitely means a lot. i'm definitely glad to have the people back at home who have my back.
your greatest inspiration? i’d say that would have to be elvis presley, just because of what he meant to pop culture. there’s just something about him, his skill for entertainment as a whole and not so much music. for me personally, i didn't even think of it as music until i got a little bit older. i just thought i was up there to entertain people, which is my job anyway, just a different perspective.
in my personal life, that would have to be my mother. she helped foster that desire that I had to do something artistically; at the time, we didn’t think that it was going to turn into what it did. i’m glad that she really pushed for me to be somebody when i was younger and that she believed in it and in me.
best advice? probably just to be yourself. it's tricky and it's almost like a riddle. you think, “well I am myself,” but when you’re placed in certain situations, you've gotta try and stay true to yourself and do what you would do as opposed to what would somebody else wants you to do.
the bob thompson unit
you can find the bob thompson unit at their home base, every tuesday night at the boulevard tavern in charleston, west virginia. playing primarily original compositions along with bob thompson are doug payne (saxophonist) ryan kennedy (guitarist) john inghram (bass) and tim courts (drums). the band's goal: "to play music that's funky, that swings, and pulls at your heartstrings." performing at the clay center, charleston. colortones.com
bob thompson
tim courts with the bob thompson unit
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shayla leftridge
shayla studied music as marshall university. she sang back-up for many successful musicians and toured the US involved in many recording projects. formerly the lead singer for sabta cruz, she recently recorded songs for the emmy award-winning composer joel goldsmith. performing at the clay center, charleston. hybridsoulproject.com
shayla leftridge
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johnny staats
johnny (center) caught the bluegrass bug early. he got his first mandolin at seven. he joined his mother on piano, father on guitar and sister on the banjo. today, his backup men are the delivery boys: dan vaughn, butch osborne, ray cossin and dave vaughn. performing from an unusual vantage point at the clay center, charleston. johnnystaats.com
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taylor made
siblings wendy williams, greg duckworth and brian duckworth hail from taylor county, west virginia. "our mom taught us to sing," says wendy. "we would all sing on the back porch and the neighbors would holler out songs they wanted us to sing." taylormadecountry.com
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landau eugene murphy jr.
a native of logan, west virginia, his voice is compared to the smooth sultry styling of legendary frank sinatra. working at a car wash, he passed his time singing. in november of 2010, he and his wife traveled to new york city and stood in line for over 12 hours for his audition for nbc's america's got talent. in september, 2011, his performance of my way won him the grand prize ($1 million) and he began headlining in las vegas. performing at the charleston convention center. landaumurphyjr.com
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landau's got talent
what is most surprising about where you are at this very moment?
what’s most surprising to me know is that I went through the entire america’s got talent process and i’m still grounded. a lot of people thought that i would lose my head, walk around with an entourage, that sort of thing… but right at this very moment, i’m standing at the local car wash just waiting for my car. i thank god that he’s let me stay this way. who told you first that you could sing and do it well? god was the first one to tell me that i could sing. most people made fun of me and laughed at me when i was younger, always telling me i couldn’t sing, and they all thought they could sing better… but god gave me a direction and had other plans. the actual person [who told me i could sing] in my life would be my sister, pamela jean. she’s supported me from the start and still tells me to just keep doing what I’m doing, and she always knew i had it in me. tell me about your discovery. i was at the end of my rope; i was basically homeless, living with my mother-in-law since my home had been robbed. they took all my clothes and everything. i felt like ihad nothing left. i never dreamed of going on any tv show like america’s got talent. |
at that point in my life, i had been doing a whole lot of charity shows for the less fortunate. i even had a band, and all of that fell apart. i had nothing left. at that moment in my life, god just spoke to me and told me that i needed a bigger stage. when i heard that at that moment, to my left the tv was on and howie mandel came on the screen. he was going through his whole thing, “do you have what it takes to be on agt?” and i was just saying to myself right there at that moment, “yes, i can do that. i’ve been doing it anyway, might as well. i don’t have anything, i’m 35 years old. and that was basically the fire that was lit up under me to go sign up. and i told myself that i wasn’t going to stop, i was just going to go for it even if i had to thumb all the way to new york for my audition. i was going to do it. i didn’t want to send a video in because I felt like my personality is more a part of me than what is in a video. it comes out in person. if my personality weren’t the way it is, no one would really like my singing. and it goes both ways: if my personality was great and my singing sucked, then it wouldn’t work.
how has your hometown of logan, west virginia, contributed to your success? it’s a small place and we have our problems and our ups and downs like any other small town… but we all pull together when we need to. that’s exactly what they did with me and my career. logan watched me blossom into the entertainer that i am. i’ve always done a lot of fundraising for the county, and we’ve raised a lot of money for kids in the area. they’ve showed me support all along. it’s been a growing process for myself, and the county did a whole lot for more and they continue to do that.
your greatest inspiration? stevie wonder. he's a man of many talents, and he doesn't even have sight. he's got insight that a lot of us don't have. he's a musical genius. i've loved everything he's done. in my personal life, i'd have to say jesus christ. when times were bad for him, he worked hard to make them better. i really wish i could be more christ-like everyday.
best advice you've ever been given? to be myself!
how has your hometown of logan, west virginia, contributed to your success? it’s a small place and we have our problems and our ups and downs like any other small town… but we all pull together when we need to. that’s exactly what they did with me and my career. logan watched me blossom into the entertainer that i am. i’ve always done a lot of fundraising for the county, and we’ve raised a lot of money for kids in the area. they’ve showed me support all along. it’s been a growing process for myself, and the county did a whole lot for more and they continue to do that.
your greatest inspiration? stevie wonder. he's a man of many talents, and he doesn't even have sight. he's got insight that a lot of us don't have. he's a musical genius. i've loved everything he's done. in my personal life, i'd have to say jesus christ. when times were bad for him, he worked hard to make them better. i really wish i could be more christ-like everyday.
best advice you've ever been given? to be myself!
horace mann middle school choir
directed by brian vannoy, the middle school choir reminded the travel south ambassadors of their very own wild and wonderful west virginia singing take me home, country road. performing at the charleston convention center.
the music of the mountains
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