Mountain Stage takes over PAC

By CARRIE KIRSCHNER
The Independent

ASHLAND August 12, 2007 10:07 pm

— True to the prediction of one its featured acts, Mountain Stage was “full of prestige and magnificence” during Saturday’s show at the Paramount Arts Center.
In its first visit to the PAC, Mountain Stage fulfilled its reputation for high-energy performances and an eclectic mix of artists, including the Ritch Collins Three-O, a local act that performed its Mountain Stage debut. Also featured were country music star Kim Richey, Louisiana Blues and rock guitarist Tab Benoit, Swedish guitarist Anders Osborne and folk singer/songwriter Eilen Jewell.
The weekly live performance radio program, produced since 1983, is distributed internationally by West Virginia Public Broadcasting to more than 200 radio stations worldwide. Typically recorded in the Cultural Center Theater at the Capitol Complex in Charleston, W.Va., Mountain Stage is in the midst of a lengthy road tour and made a much anticipated stop in Ashland.
“Mountain Stage has such a reputation not just nationally but internationally it’s a cultural institution, so to be able to have them broadcasting live from the Paramount just brings so much energy here and of course puts the Paramount out across the country,” said PAC Marketing Director Tyson Compton.
The Paramount, he said, has been trying to book Mountain Stage for years and hopes to schedule a return visit soon.
What makes Mountain Stage so “full of prestige and magnificence,” explained Ritch Collins, is the program’s longevity and its dedication to “some really great music.”
Both qualities have made it a highly coveted accomplishment for many musicians including Collins, who in addition to being the lead singer and guitarist of the Ritch Collins Three-O is also the technical director at PAC and Mountain Stage’s monitor engineer.
“The exposure is huge,” he explained. “You could find your core audience if you don’t know where they are at.”
“The famous people that have been across this stage... It’s just kind of amazing to be here myself,” added Bob Shortridge, the Three-O’s upright bassist.
“So far it’s the culmination of my musical career. It’s the biggest most prestigious event I’ve been a part of,” he said.
For audiences, said Compton, Mountain Stage is a truly unique experience.
“Every performance is a high caliber performance and people that are Mountain Stage fans trust the music that is going to be performed. Even if its an artist they are not familiar with they know the music is going to be incredible,” he added.
“Every week is different and every week there are surprises even after this many years,” said Larry Groce, artistic director and host of Mountain Stage. “Things are much better than I even expect them to be. I’m always delightfully surprised.”
Each show mingles musicians whose music cannot be narrowly defined, often opens audiences’ ears to talents they would have otherwise missed, fans say.
In fact, all the musicians in Saturday’s show, Groce said, “are all people who if you ask musicians, they would know them right away and say they are great. But ask the public, and they might not.”
That is precisely what brought Spencer Cunningham and his wife Dru Cunningham, to the PAC from Bowling Green, Ohio.
Both said they had not previously heard the work of any of Saturday’s artists but are both long-running fans of Mountain Stage and were looking forward to the possibility of discovering a new musical love.
“There are such virtuosos in a performance like this,” Dru Cunningham said.
“For me the music is so rooted in something real. It doesn’t matter what it is,” added Spencer Cunningham.
Saturday’s recording of Mountain Stage will air in October.
CARRIE KIRSCHNER can be reached at ckirschner@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.

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