LISTEN:
“March of the Magi,” traditional French melody. Recorded Dec. 14, 2006

IF YOU GO: This year’s “Joy to the World” is 8 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Cultural Center in the state state Capitol Complex. Tickets $20.50 plus service charge by calling (800) 594-TIXX or visit wvpubcast.tv/joy.html. They can also be purchased at Taylor Books. Tickets $25 at the door, although the show usually sells out in advance.

Fans of Bob Thompson’s annual “Joy to the World” music celebration can now get a CD compilation of past highlights from the holiday show. Bob Thompson Productions just released “More Joy to the World” on the Colortones.com label. A compilation of performances from past editions of the annual holiday show, the disc was released to coincide with this year’s event, which takes place 8 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Cultural Center Theater.

The recording features jazzy renditions of holiday songs by the Bob Thompson Unit from the years 2000 to 2006. It also features a performance by the Appalachian Children’s Chorus with guest vocalist Toni Lynn Washington. (more…)

LISTEN:
“Run Rudy Run by Kodac Harrison (4:34 min.)

Kodac Harrison is an Atlanta-based singer/songwriter and spoken-word artist with some prior roots in West Virginia. At one time, he lived here in a community with “Mountain Stage” Band members Ammed Solomon, Steve Hill and others and has recorded with them, Julie Adams, Steve Payne and other area performers. He has a new CD out, “Dreams and Nightmares,” from which we sample a song. In a piece titled “Poets, Writers and Madmen,” an Atlanta writer describes Harrison this way: “Local beatnik bluesman Kodac Harrison sure is a Renaissance kinda guy. Whether he’s performing spoken-word poetry, grooving with his band, or doing the singer-songwriter thing, he has a totally compelling style. Harrison is one of Atlanta’s most creative and inspiring musicians.”

For more on Harrison:
A) his website; B) his Myspace site

Blind Alfred Reed is at center in the photo

Click to hear Kathy Mattea sing “We’ve Got to Have ‘Em, That’s All”

The W.Va. Music Hall of Fame had its debut induction ceremony Nov. 17 at the Cultural Center in the state Capitol Complex. It was an impressive event (watch for an upcoming gazz slideshow) honoring a powerful roster of performers: Billy Edd Wheeler, Hazel Dickens, Little Jimmy Dickens, Bill Withers, Molly O’Day, Leon “Chu” Berry, George Crumb, Johnny Johnson, Clark Kessinger and Blind Alfred Reed. To mark the occasion, the Hall of Fame also released a tribute CD of Blind Alfred Reed songs, sung by a notable list of performers, including Grammy-winning West Virginia native Kathy Mattea. Mattea sings the Alfred Reed song “We’ve Got to Have ‘Em, That’s All” — and you can hear it right here.

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Listen to ‘Sweetheart’ by Sarah White

Virginia singer-songwriter Sarah White hails from Charlottesville, Va., but spent her formative years in Monroe County, W.Va. With influences ranging from traditional bluegrass to new wave, she’ll sing a Carter Family gospel song as easily as a Blondie cover. After releasing two solo records, Sarah put out her first record with her rock band The Pearls last year. The record, entitled “White Light,” has earned her compliments from no less than Dave Matthews: “Sarah’s music kills me,” he says, “beautifully from the ground up, no plastic. I got stuck behind a logging truck today. I was listening to Sarah. It was great.”

In September, she won ‘Best Song‘ at the 2007 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest international finals in New York City for her song “Sweetheart,” which you can listen to right here. In December, she’ll bring her Fourth Annual Country Christmas show to the Purple Fiddle in Thomas, W.Va., with a troupe of her favorite Charlottesville musicians. For this show, you can expect traditional songs of home, hearth and warm fires, all done in the old country way.

For more on Sarah White, click here to visit her Myspace page and here for her website.