Princeton

I haven't been back to Mercer County for a visit in years. Now, I've got one. You'll have to scroll down to June 7th to see.

Sure, it would be nice if Mountain Stage would bring somebody I liked to Charleston, but that's part of the philosophy of the show: to personally annoy Bill Lynch by only occasionally scheduling acts he wants to see in the town he resides. The rest of the time, they ship everybody off to the hinterlands of Morgantown or Beckley or worse, Philadelphia.

Bill did not love The Moving The Mountain Tour. He has always been plain about this.

I swear they sit around and plan this stuff over biscuits and gravy down at Tudor's.

Of course, I'm making that up. I know how it works. They get who they can get when they can get them. Mountain Stage has a certain amount of prestige to it. The radio show is a good medium to get word out for new albums, tours and etc., but I've never gotten the impression anybody gets rich playing it. Mountain Stage benefits as much or more from a higher profile act playing the show. Steve Earle is available June 7th. The show is in Mercer County on the 7th. So, he's going to play when he wants, but not where I want him to --say, like June 19 in Charleston, during FestivALL and the day after my birthday.

I figure they're planning something big for the 19th... possibly A-Ha will make their debut on The Mountain Stage. That'll show me.

It's sort of ridiculous and I know it. The music fan in me is livid. It's unfair. The music writer guy thinks it's great for them --which, they may or may not know. True story: I once went to a .38 special in the heart of redneck country (Brushfork Armory). The tickets were cheap. A lot of energy had gone into promotion. With the number of people who showed up, if I'd wanted to hop on stage and air guitar at any point during the performance, it wouldn't have presented a challenge.

And this was a mainstream act, not a kind of out there, grizzled troubadour with some very interesting political leanings and a history with drugs that sounds like something out of an Irvine Welsh novel. Randy Travis, Steve Earle ain't.

Anyway, Mercer County is getting a good Mountain Stage. If you have the means and want to, you should go. I'm certainly considering it. I'm not happy about it, but I'm thinking about it.