Julian Hintz of Electric Junkyard Gamelan mans the “clayrimba” at Culturefest 2008 at the Appalachian Folk Life Center. Photos by Douglas Imbrogno.

SHOWDATE:  Electric Junkyard Gamelan performs 8 p.m., Friday. Dec. 5 at The Room Upstairs, 869 Mercer St., Princeton, W.Va. For directions, click here.

I saw Electric Junkyard Gamelan perform at Culturefest 2008 in September and highly recommend them, not only because they rock but because they feature some of the most unusual instrumentation of any band you’re likely to see. I included shots of them in my Culturefest slideshow (described in the post below), but have pulled some photos out for further study. The show will be a double treat as it takes place in one of West Virginia’s sweetest listening rooms, The Room Upstairs, in downtown Princeton. Some musical compatriots run the joint, Lori McKinney and Robert Blankenship, and the big, cozy room features overstuffed sofas, chairs and futons, a hip, well-stocked stage and a relaxed vibe. And free raisins. Now, if only we could get the tolls taken off Interstate 79, so you didn’t have to run a gauntlet to get there from C-town. But this will still be a worthy musical roadtrip (and you can hit the Starbucks near Tamarack for a fuel injection).

Here is more on EJG from their press materials, described by Global Rhythms Magazine as a group that “makes music so original they had to create their own instruments to play it.” Click the photo at right to see a utensil most people use for making cornbread turned into a kick drum. (more…)

The three-day, 26-band Culturefest took place in mid-September 2008 on one of the coolest outdoor stages in West Virginia. This audio slideshow, set to the music of one of the bands, Option 22, will give a feel for the multifaceted, multi-genre happening. The stage sits perched on the lip of a ridge at the Appalachian South Folklife Center, a few minutes down the road from Pipestem Resort.  Among the Folklife Center’s other claims to fame is that for years it was home to Appalachian poet, coal mine labor activist and political radical Don West, who established the Folklife Center. His daughter, Heddy West, wrote the song “500 Miles” there.

The floor is now open for other nominations for other excellent outdoor stages in the great open-air state of West Virginia.

John Nelson pauses (not for long, though) in the midst of tending to the many needs of customers at Budget Tapes and Records. Photo by Douglas Imbrogno

Here is a shot from a forthcoming “My West Virginia” audio slideshow profile of John Nelson, of Budget Tapes and Records in Kanawha City. He recounts his personal history of attending some of the finest rock concerts ever held in Charleston.