For over 40 years, Mountain Stage has stood as one of the most beloved and enduring programs in public radio history, broadcasting thousands of raw, unforgettable performances by rising stars and veteran legends alike from the series’ humble home in Charleston, West Virginia.
“From the start, we wanted to make a show where the music could speak for itself,” says co-founder, artistic director, and longtime host Larry Groce. “We didn’t want to chase trends or build a cult of personality; we just wanted to showcase the kind of art that deserved to be heard.”
Launched in 1983 by Groce, executive producer Andy Ridenour, and chief engineer Francis Fisher, Mountain Stage began as a regional production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting before quickly gaining NPR distribution and expanding its reach to a national audience. Bookings on the two-hour, Sunday afternoon program were eclectic, to say the least, with each episode showcasing a handful of artists across a broad range of styles and genres, and audiences responded favorably to the unique mix of down home talent and household names. Though any number of early events could be credited with helping to fuel the show’s remarkable rise—some point to the breakout success of West Virginia natives like Tim O’Brien and Kathy Mattea, who began performing on the series well before fame came calling, while others recall the show’s star turn at the Public Radio Program Directors Conference in 1986, when they presented station reps with authentic West Virginia hors d’oeuvres (fresh ramps and hamburgers cut into quarters)—most agree that it was R.E.M.’s 1991 appearance that marked an indelible turning point in the Mountain Stage story.
“We got a call out of the blue asking if we’d like to have R.E.M. on the show,” says Groce, who’d hosted Peter Buck on the program the year before. “The band had just hit #1 with Out of Time, but they’d announced that they weren’t going to tour behind it, so the demand to see them was stupendous. I think they only did three shows in the US: SNL, MTV Unplugged, and Mountain Stage.”
While the performance undoubtedly raised Mountain Stage’s profile with artists and audiences around the world, the series remained true to its Appalachian roots, maintaining the same small, tight-knit staff and commitment to embodying the warmth, honesty, and openness of West Virginia and its people in everything they did. The decades to come would yield countless more iconic performances from an incredibly diverse array of guests—John Prine, Patti Smith, Allen Ginsberg, Dr. John, Mavis Staples, Townes Van Zandt, Hugh Masekela, Buddy Guy, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Wilco, Phish, and Angélique Kidjo, to name just a few—but each and every artist found themselves treated with the same respect and hospitality as the last, regardless of whether they were GRAMMY-winning superstars or fresh faced rookies making their radio debut.
“There’s something quintessentially West Virginia about Mountain Stage,” says Mattea, who took over hosting duties from Groce in 2021. “It’s a culture steeped in humility and generosity, which makes for a groundedness, for a sense of continuity and community that I think artists are really drawn to.”
These days, Mountain Stage can be heard on nearly 300 public radio stations nationwide (and globally via NPR Music), but its heart and soul remain firmly planted in Charleston, WV, where the series continues to present world-class performances with the same passion, dedication, and curiosity that’s guided it from the start.