One of the television attractions for April is the PBS documentary series Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People. The four-part series begins on April 9 and continues on each subsequent Thursday until the end of the month.

Already released (on April 1) is the companion soundtrack CD entitled Appalachia: Music From Home (on Lonesome Records).

The CD features such artists Ralph and Nathan Stanley, Art Stamper, James Allen Shelton, Jean Ritchie, Dock Boggs, Carl Martin, and contemporary songwriters Darrell Scott, Robin and Linda Williams; and Blue Highway; and youthful artistes such as The Midnight Ramblers, Molly Slemp, Clack Mountain String Band, Evan Carawan and Mitch Barratt.

Some of the tracks – Pretty Saro (Jean Ritchie), Midnight on the Water (Art Stamper), Soldiers Joy (James Allen Shelton), Union Man (Blue Highway), Gloryland (the Stanleys) and Don’t Let Me Come Home A Stranger (Robin and Linda Williams) – included have been taken from earlier projects. Others – such as The Blackest Crow (Molly Slemp), Shady Grove (Mitch Barrett) and Banjo Clark (Darrell Scott) – are recent recordings apparently done for the film.

Appalachia: Music From Home is funded in part by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, The Appalachia Regional Commission, The C Bascam Slemp Foundation and the Wise County, Virginia Board of Supervisors.

Check your local stations for more details regarding broadcasting times for Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People.

We posted earlier this year that Blue Highway was celebrating 2009 as their 15th anniversary as a band. They played their very first show on December 31, 1994, and are asking fans and friends to help them collect an anniversary album by sending along their photos of Blue Highway over the years.

Prizes are being offered for the best photo submitted each month, and some real doozies are already posted on the Blue Highway 15th Anniversary photo page. Here are a few samples…

              

The band is in the studio of late, finishing up some new tracks which will be included on a Rounder compilation CD, due for a release this fall. We’ll have more details about that project soon, plus news about some other exciting Blue Highway plans for 2010.

Audio from Blue Highway’s recent radio performance on Mountain Stage can now be accessed at NPR.com.

They included selections from several of their critically-acclaimed recordings, offering a fine taste of their live show for the Mountain Stage audience.

• Through the Window of a Train
• Wondrous Love
• Sycamore Hollow
• Last Hand Loader
• Nothing But A Whippoorwill
  

You can hear the entire 26 minute segment at NPR.com.

Blue Highway is marking 2009 as their 15th performing together as a band, and asking their fans and friends to join in the celebration.

They played their first show as a band on December 31, 1994 and, amazingly enough, are still working with the same five musicians who launched the band in ‘94. Banjo man Jason Burleson left the band briefly in 1999 (replaced by Tom Adams), but returned shortly thereafter.

The full lineup includes Tim Stafford on guitar, Rob Ickes on resonator guitar, Shawn lane on mandolin, Wayne Taylor on bass, with Burleson on banjo.

The official Blue Highway web site has a special 15th Anniversary page where fans are invited to submit any Blue Highway photos they may have taken for a monthly photo contest. That will begin on February 1, and more details about prizes and rules will be posted there soon.

They have also enabled a fan comment system where you can leave best wishes on teh anniversary – and hopes for 15 more!