Post-eclipse, thrilling with fellow humans at what we had just witnessed, it was a stark reminder of how few and precious are the sweet collective experiences we now share in an America riven by engineered dispute. And how utterly important it is to be reminded of the significance of shared wonder.
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5 QUESTIONS: Susan Werner on going long, Texas tuneage, and the art of the song
For folks who know the upper echelons of songwriting, 'No Depression' magazine once awarded Susan Werner some high praise indeed: “When it comes to crafting a song, Ms. Werner’s only peers are Jimmy Webb and Paul Simon.” Study up on her songcraft in our '5 Questions' with her in advance of an April 6, 2024 show in Charleston. W.Va.
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QUOTABLES: Luminous skies, mucky alleys & chiaroscuro evenings
Photographs from around the neighborhood, allied with some quotations worth quoting and notations that may or may not align, but it's all good.
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A RECORD RUN: After a legendary half-century, Budget Tapes & Records to close shop
Budget Tapes & Record will close Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Kanawha City, W.Va., after a half-century in operation. Here are two personal takes on the role this long-running establishment played in the life and times of West Virginia as an alternative, hippified haven for generations of folks.
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Saying Goodbye to Bill | In 3 Parts
Bill Hart, a dear traveling companion through this vale and holler of light and darkness, passed from this mysterious world on Friday evening, on Feb. 9, 2024. Here are some thoughts and images about a notable human being, artist, and world-class craftsman. And, to be sure, a genuinely offbeat, unconventional, and bohemian soul.
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One night, out strolling in the cool, high air of Appalachia
Take a break from worrying about the fate of the Republic, beyond the locked gates of a forested park where the pine trees offer fine company and conversation and the view from on high poses some good questions.
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Where Walden meets West Virginia
Recently inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, Barbara Nissman has a story to tell about how her globetrotting career as an acclaimed pianist landed her deep in the West Virginia hills, where she faced deep loss and artistic renewal.
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It’s a Black-and-White Thing
Here are some snapshots, hipshots and night shots, from wandering the highways, byways, and lifeways of the world through which my iPhone moves, in the small towns, small cities and hills of West Virginia.
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‘HOUSE IN THE CLOUDS’ launches with a pretty classy shindig
I date dating myself using the word ‘shindig.' Yet the Oxford English Dictionary defines the word as: ‘A large, lively party, especially one celebrating something.” That well describes the buzzy premiere of “HOUSE IN THE CLOUDS: The Artistic Life of Robert Singleton” on Sept. 17, 2023, in West Virginia’s capital city of Charleston, W.Va.
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A Report from the Crowdfunding Frontlines
Help support independent artistry, guerilla filmmaking, and soulful storytelling, as we wind down the crowdfunding campaign for "HOUSE IN THE CLOUDS: The Artistic Life of Robert Singleton"
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GUEST ESSAY: Sermonizing on what Joni Mitchell said
Spinning up a sermon from how Joni Mitchell's song “Passion Play (When All the Slaves are Free)" speaks to the mandate to reach out to those the powerful and mighty consign to huddling in the darkness—just as stories of the life of Jesus show him doing constantly.
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GUEST ESSAY: ‘Dad, Donald Trump and My Mountain Mama’
"As limited as his formal education was, dad was a smart and insightful person. I think he would have seen through Trump’s use and manipulation of a religious faith that was the sustaining factor in my dad’s life ..."
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INDEX: A Guide to Stories in the November 2022 issue of WestVirginiaVille
Here is a clickable guide to all the articles, profiles, Q-and-As, videos and whatnot in the November 2022 edition of WestVirginiaVille.com
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EDITOR/NOTES: Life After the MidTerms
This new November 2022 issue, I must say, is quite the thing with a whole bunch of cool features you're unlikely to see gathered together anywhere else. But first — be sure you go vote. Take someone with you ...
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THE INTERVIEW: Ann Magnuson on the art of “suRURALism” and coming to ground in West Virginia
You need several categories — performer, musician, actress, artist, etc. — to sum up the swath Ann Magnuson has cut through the cultural scene since leaving her hometown of Charleston WV. And there’s a reason she comes back so often.
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Q&A: How “The Coal Trap” led to West Virginia’s “lost decade” in clean energy
How West Virginia got stuck in "The Coal Trap" — and missed out for ten years on the clean energy revolution — is a story worth a book. How the state might get out of the trap” A Q-and-A with the author of that book.
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FIRST/PERSON: Finding Yo-Yo Ma playing cello in the West Virginia hills
Who was that man bowing a cello against a tree in the New River Gorge? Why, it's none other than one of the world's best known and loved instrumental maestros. And he has something to say as well as to play.
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BEST/SHOT: Lights, Losers, Lovers, Lillies & Leaves
A sampling of a 'Best/Shot,' photograph from the multiple spires of West Virginia's capital all seen at once, to Autumn leaves, lily pads, and some thoughtful graffiti.
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POETRY: “Fall” by Jodi Autumn
The trees in their fall-best, gaudy, in their most beautiful gowns of oranges, yellows, and reds, whispered secrets to me in / their slow, slow speech. / They told me that it’s okay that some of me is always dying. / They warned that we don’t know what is to come. / They said to prepare for the worst, / but to do it in style.
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READINGS: “THE OUTHOUSE: When you have to go, you have to go”
Over there sits a narrow, tiny, upright building of loosely-fitted, weathered boards painted Theravada Buddhist orange. It has a peaked roof covered with black shingles. It is a monk’s outhouse in the Appalachian hills. I know who built it. He’s a friend of mine.
