oasis

 

 

"A song makes you think. A song makes you feel. And if you're lucky, a song makes you move."

--- Peter Gabriel

Mountain Stage NewSong Show Aug. 28 in Shepherdstown, W.Va., Features Alison Brown Band with Joe Craven, Suzzy and Maggie Roche, Beth Nielsen Chapman, John Doyle, Fianna Fumana and one of NewSong Contest Winners to Close Out Five-Day National Festival

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1. Aug. 28 Mountain Stage NewSong Show Overview
2. To Purchase Tickets
3. Mountain Stage Show Biography
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The 2005 Mountain Stage NewSong Festival will finish in powerhouse style with a show Aug. 28 in Shepherdstown, W.Va., featuring the Alison Brown Band with Joe Craven (see photo), Suzzy and Maggie Roche, Beth Nielsen Chapman, John Doyle, Fiamma Fumana, and one of the 2005 winners of this year’s NewSong performing songwriter contest.

PLEASE NOTE: Because of illness, Rhonda Vincent and The Rage will not appear on the Aug. 28 Mountain Stage NewSong show, as previously announced.

Now in its fourth year, the Mountain Stage NewSong Festival is the ‘Sundance’ of performing songwriters, celebrating the crafting and live performance of original songs in all genres, from Americana, blues, folk and pop, to world music, jazz, country, hip-hop and beyond. The multifaceted event takes place Aug. 24 to 28, with concerts, showcases, contests, a songcamp and jamming in venues across hip and historic Shepherdstown, located just 90 minutes from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.

The festival concludes with a performance of Mountain Stage with Larry Groce, 6 to 8 p.m., Aug. 28, in the Frank Center on the Shepherd University campus. (PLEASE NOTE: there is limited seating at the Center and the show is expected to sell out, so early ticket purchases are advised. This is a separately ticketed concert, not included with a NewSong Festival Pass.) The show will be taped live for international broadcast on the more than 100 radio stations, along with XM Satellite Radio and Voice of America, that broadcast the acclaimed live performance music program, now in its 23rd year.

“ The Mountain Stage show lineup features acts who are prime examples of NewSong’s mission of focusing on great songwriting matched with great live performances,” said NewSong Producer and Co-Founder Gar Ragland.

Mountain Stage show tickets cost $22 advance, $25 at the door. For tickets to the show see www.newsongfestival.com/tickets or call 800-594-TIXX (8499). For media inquiries, including photos for stories and artist interviews, contact Mary Sue Twohy at Marysue@newsongfestival.com Or call (202) 483-1105.

MOUNTAIN STAGE NEWSONG SHOW LINEUP:

Alison Brown Band w/Joe Craven: Alison Brown first made her mark on the national scene when asked by Alison Krauss to join her band Union Station in 1989. As a headline performer in her own right, she as achieved an international reputation as a banjo player by pushing the instrument out of its familiar Appalachian settings into new musical territory. Through four albums on the renowned Vanguard label and one on her own Compass Records, she has composed and played her way into the affections of fans of jazz-hued acoustic music with her unique voice teamed with the five-string banjo.

Joe Craven has been described as “a madman with anything that has strings attached,” including hospital bed pans, gas cans, cookie tins, fiddles, mandolins, tenor guitars, saz, cuatro and a world of percussion instruments including animal bones, squeeze toys, cake pans, waste cans, umbrella stands, martini shakers and… himself. His stage setup more often resembles a yard sale
MORE:
www.alisonbrown.net
www.joecraven.com

John Doyle: Doyle, a founding and former member of the acclaimed American Celtic quintet Solas, has since struck off on a dynamic solo career. His July 2005 release “Wayward Son” (on Compass Records, founded by fellow Mountain Stage NewSong Show performer Alison Brown) showcases the syncopated guitar, stirring voice and eclectic musical choices of this star in the new traditionalist movement in Irish music.

His CD and stage shows reflect the caliber of players he attracts, including Brown, Tim O’Brien, former Solas lead singer Karan Casey, Eileen Ivers, and American Celtic fiddle great Liz Carroll, with whom he sometimes tours. Son of traditional Irish musician Sean Doyle (who plays on “Wayward Son”), John's music is rooted in rich Celtic tradition then pushes boundaries. His voice and guitar work capture the ear, as one reviewer noted, “whether you are a fan of the wide-ranging Celtic music for which Solas has been known, or whether you enjoy the English style folk of groups like the Pentangle, or are just a fan of subtle acoustic guitar work.”

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Suzzy and Maggie Roche: Suzzy and Maggie Roche came to acclaim as part of the sisterly trio The Roches, blending influences from church choir music, traditional Irish folk, contemporary folk, rock, country, and pop with their own innate musical sensibilities. Whether singing Handel a cappella or a song of their own creation, their incandescent voices and skill take songs to ethereal levels.

Suzzy and Maggie have a recent CD out on Red House Records, “Why the Long Face,” which a Washington Times reviewer says “demands attentive listening” with its mix of original tunes and songs built on other sources such as poems and prayers.. “[They] combine their unearthly voices into compelling arrangements.”
MORE: www.roches.com/suzzy/index.html/

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Beth Nielsen Chapman: She is one of the most successful performing songwriters on the scene today. Such stars as Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler, Keb Mo and Roberta Flack have all recorded her songs. Her co-written song “This Kiss,” as recorded by Faith Hill, won ASCAP’s 1999 Song of the Year, earning a Grammy nomination. Her 2004 single “Free” went No. 1 on the BBC-Radio 2 chart. Stars can’t keep away from her tunes: “Happy Girl” (Martina McBride), “Nothing I Can Do About it Now” (Willie Nelson), “Here We Are” (Alabama), and “Sand and Water” (Elton John).

A powerful live and recorded performer, it’s likely you’ve heard her songs on TV and film, including “The Rookie,” “Calendar Girls,” and “We Were Soldiers” and TV shows “Dawson’s Creek,” “ER,” “Providence” and “Felicity.” “My success as a songwriter has provided me the opportunity have a lot of freedom as an artist,” she says. “I haven’t had the pressure of having to ‘make it’ on the charts. I’ve always been really grateful that I can make whatever kind of record I want.” NOTE: Beth is also an instructor at the 2005 NewSong Academy songcraft and performance school.
MORE: www.bethnielsenchapman.com

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Fiamma Fumana: This band was formed in 1999 with the aim of merging old Italian dance tunes and new ballads played to new Italian dance grooves and state-of-the art electronica. The world has since found them out. They’ve become a globe-trotting act whose sound a Rootsworld reviewer summed up as “a global village rave.”

The group’s original members include an accordionist/guitarist/pianist active in Italy’s folk-rock scene; an electronic musician and record producer; and a 22-year-old female singer from the Italian countryside. A couple of other young. progressive female singers, instruments and sounds have since been added, including Emilian bagpipes, flutes, electric bass, loops and samples, for an exhilarating sound one reviewer described as “credible in both dance clubs and coffeehouses.”
MORE: www.fiamma.org/fiammafumana
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A NewSong Contest Winner: The 2005 NewSong Contest, presented by Performing Songwriter Magazine, received entries from around the world. The finals of the contest take place Saturday, Aug. 27, during the Mountain Stage NewSong Festival and five winners will be chosen by a panel of celebrated performing songwriters and music industry judges. Mountain Stage host Larry Groce wil then choose one of them to perform one of their winning songs on the festival-closing Mountain Stage show.
MORE: For more on the NewSong Contest see
www.newsongfestival.com/contest/
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FOR MORE ON MOUNTAIN STAGE, see:
www.mountainstage.org

MOUNTAIN STAGE BACKGROUND:

MOUNTAIN STAGE is a much esteemed and beloved live performance music program heard worldwide on more than 100 radio stations, XM Satellite Radio and “the Voice of America.” Now in its 23rd year, the show has a long and storied tradition of featuring national and international acts in all styles of music and of launching new acts to stardom.

Michael Doucet of
Beausoleil

 

Elvis Costello

Mountain Stage presents acts ranging from traditional roots, blues and country, to avant-garde rock, world beat, country, jazz and more. The show's guest list is the most stylistically varied of any national radio or television performance program.

Over the years, guests have included Los Lobos, Alison Krauss, Phish, Muzikas (Hungary), Buddy Guy, Ali Farke Toure (Mali), R.E.M., John Trudell, Dr. John, The Del McCoury Band, Joan Baez, Barenaked Ladies, Randy Newman, Chucho Valdes (Cuba), Ralph Stanley, John Cale, Wilco, Bobby Blue Bland, The Indigo Girls, Altan (Ireland), Lucinda Williams, Joshua Redman, Loudon Wainwright III, Richard Thompson and Norah Jones.

It would take a full page to list the nationally prominent performers who received their first national radio performance on Mountain Stage. Among them:

Kathy Mattea, Lyle Lovett, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams, David Ball. Alison Krauss, Southern Culture on the Skids, Crash Test Dummies, Widespread Panic, Sarah McLachlan, Phish, Iris Dement, Holly Cole, Tori Amos, Barenaked Ladies, Ani DiFranco, Loreena McKinnet, Shawn Mullins, Sheryl Crow, Counting Crows, Ben Harper, Keb Mo and many more.

In other words, the show can call ‘'em. Co-producer, artistic director and host Larry Groce is joined on stage by the Mountain Stage Band, vocalist Julie Adams, pianist Bob Thompson, the "Mountain Stage" house band leader (and co-NewSong founder) Ron Sowell and the rest of the "Mountain Stage" band including Michael Lipton, Ammad Solomon and Steve Hill. The show's executive producer is Andy Ridenour. Mountain Stage, a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting , produces an average of 26 new shows a year. The program is recorded in concert at the Cultural Center Theater in the state Capitol Complex in Charleston, W.Va., and at venues and festivals around the country and in Canada.

Click here to visit the Mountain Stage website.

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