On Saturday, February 22nd, 7:30pm, don’t miss some of the finest picking in the two Virginias with Opry Night at the Pocahontas County Opera House in Marlinton, WV. Opry Night at the Opera House has come to showcase some of the best musical talent from Pocahontas County and the surrounding region. For this performance, musicians from Pocahontas County and Southwestern Virginia share the Opry Night bill: The Elk River Ramblers and The Black Twig Pickers.
The Elk River Ramblers are the house band at the Elk River Inn at Slatyfork (Snowhoe Area), where they can be heard most Thursday nights. The group is comprised of Terry Richardson on guitar, Paul Marganian on fiddle, guitar, and vocals, and Galen Watts on bass and vocals. With a foundation in old-time and celtic music, this band also branches out into bluegrass, klezmer, and surprising renditions of contemporary pop music.
The Black Twig Pickers (pictured above) are defined by a forward-thinking approach to a musical tradition too often associated only with times gone by. Both scholars of the regional sounds around them and advocates of an ecstatic, highly personal performance style, Mike Gangloff, Sally Anne Morgan, Isak Howell and Nathan Bowles have established themselves as dedicated practitioners of old time music re-cast and shaped by their appreciation of modern improvisation, drone, and punk. Not at odds with the experimental scene that fostered them or the old time circles they travel in, The Black Twig Pickers thrive in the in-between-ness of those two worlds, proving that the exploration of the outmost bounds of sound and the exploration of decades-old tradition and community aren’t as different as one might think.
Show starts at 7:30pm and tickets are just $8. The Pocahontas County Opera House is located at 818 Third Avenue in downtown Marlinton. Performances at the Opera House are informal, family-friendly and open to all. Children 17 years and under are admitted free of charge. The entrance and main seating are accessible to persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities are encouraged to attend; special accommodations can be arranged upon request by calling 304-799-6645.
Get your calendar and mark these upcoming shows… On Saturday, March 1, Kayla Slone (coming direct from the Grand Ole Opry) and Chase Likens (from American Idol) will light up the stage at 7:30pm. Tickets are $15.
On Saturday, March 8th, National Finger-style Guitar Championship winner, Muriel Anderson is performing at 7:30pm. Tickets are $8.
On Sunday, March 16th, Nora Jane Struthers & The Party Line will present the traveling Carnival of Appalachian Roots-Rock at 7pm. Tickets are $10.
Tickets to all shows are available at pocahontasoperahouse.org or the 4th Avenue Gallery in Marlinton. This season, sit back and enjoy the music at the Pocahontas County Opera House. Tell ‘em LBSPY sent you!
HASHTAGWV ART & ENTERTAINMENT Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Christina Entenmann-Edwards has been a WV resident since September 2008. She was born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and is no stranger to hard work and the entrepreneurial spirit. In 2006, she graduated from Quinnipiac University (Hamden, Connecticut), Cum Laude, with a B.A. in History. In 2010, she graduated with an M.B.A. from Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia). In February 2012, Christina launched HashtagWV as the area’s first full-color, free arts and entertainment tabloid + online platform. Christina completed the Leadership West Virginia class of 2021, which is an innovative program that grows, engages, and mobilizes leaders to ignite a life passion to move West Virginia forward.