Folk singer Tom Rush has made a name for himself interpreting songs in his own style. Here he performs his take on the Dobie Gray hit "Drift Away," giving the lyrics added depth.

An appropriate song for this time of year, Fountains of Wayne perform "Valley Winter Song" from this weekend's Mountain Stage.

The trio of females in Sometymes Why are each members of established roots groups who pooled their individual talents. Featuring members of The Mammals, Crooked Still and Uncle Earl, Sometymes Why perform the title track to their full-length debut CD, "Your Heart Is a Glorious Machine," for our Song of the Week.

The Derek Trucks Band's latest CD "Already Free" picked up the 2010 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Here they are in live performance from this week's episode of Mountain Stage, performing "Get What You Deserve."

Legendary Louisiana bandleader Stanley Dural, a.k.a Buckwheat Zydeco, just won a Grammy for Best Cajun and Zydeco Album this month. In our Song of the Week, he sings a funk-infused ode to peace, love and happiness, "Why Can't We Live Together," with help from the Mountain Stage audience.

Country star Dierks Bentley received a Grammy nomination recently for his collaboration with folk singer Patty Griffin on "Beautiful World." Bentley performs the original song, and others from his latest CD "Feel That Fire," this weekend on Mountain Stage.

"Wasn't That A Mighty Storm," sung here by Ontario-based roots-group The Duhks, is an American Folk song based on the devastating hurricane that tore through Galveston, TX in the year 1900. The song has been recorded by Nanci Griffith, Tom Rush and James Taylor, with the latest version appearing on The Duhks' release Fast Paced World.

New York based singer Joan Osborne, originally from Kentucky, is comfortable singing in just about any style. Here she brings out a slow, soul groove for "To the One I Love," from Mountain Stage's 25th Anniversary Show.

With her album "Just a Little Lovin'," versatile singer Shelby Lynne paid tribute to one of her favorite influences, the late, great pop-soul singer Dusty Springfield. Here is Lynne performing the Springfield classic, "I Only Want to Be With You," in her own signature way.

California roots-rockers Dawes come from the same region that spawned acts like Buffalo Springfield and Gram Parsons. They've just debuted their first CD, North Hills, filled with hooks and harmony, just like the anthematic chorus of "When My Time Comes."

Athens, GA singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt appeared on Mountain Stage eight times since 1990. REM's Michael Stipe sent Chesnutt's music to Larry Groce and he was a favorite of the show from then on. This recording was made when Mountain Stage visited Athens in 2006. Chesnutt passed away on Christmas Day, 2009. We were unable to include Chesnutt in this weekend's Special Mountain Stage Tribute so we are honoring him here with our Song of the Week.

British singer songwriter Thea Gilmore can express deep sentiments with her powerful voice and thoughtful songwriting. Our song of the week is an example of just that. "Old Soul" was the first single from Gilmore's 2008 album Liejacker. She performs it here with her husband Nigel Stonier.

Canadian singer Holly Cole gives a swinging answer to the the question, "What Is Christmas?" in our Mountain Stage Song of the Week. We feature Cole and many more on this weekend's special Holiday edition of Mountain Stage.

Blues singer Eric Bibb says that in the music business, you either borrow or outright steal. In this case, he admits to thieving this arrangement of "Come Back Baby" from one of his musical heros, the late New York folk musician Dave Van Ronk (1936-2002).

The group WPA- Works Progress Administration- is a bit of a folk music super group. Featuring vocalist Glen Philips of Toad the Wet Sprocket, guitarist Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek and Luke Bulla of the Jerry Douglass Band and Lyle Lovett. Here they perform "Always Have My Love" from their self-titled debut CD.

For her latest CD, "Normal As Blueberry Pie," singer Nellie McKay recorded a collection of songs made famous by pop singer Doris Day. Joined by the Mountain Stage Band, here's Nellie's take 1945 #1 song, "Sentimental Journey."

Country singer and WV native Kathy Mattea had learned this spiritual song, "Cool of the Day," from a different source when she met its writer, folk-singer and activist Jean Ritchie. Ritchie taught the authentic version to Mattea, which she performs here a cappella.

After taking a hiatus for most of this decade, popular swing revivalists The Squirrel Nut Zippers are back on tour with a new live CD. They performed some crowd favorites on Mountain Stage, including this week's Song of the Week, "Put A Lid On It."

This week we feature "Laughing With," a thought-provoking, observational song about human nature written and performed by pianist/songwriter Regina Spektor. It appears on her latest CD "Far."

In their sixth appearance on Mountain Stage since 1991, popular independent duo the Indigo Girls performed some crowd favorites as well as new songs from their latest CD Poseidon and the Bitter Bug. Our song of the week is a new song, "Sugar Tongue."

Scotland-born California-based songwriter Colin Hay, formerly of the popular group Men At Work, performs solo on this weekend's Mountain Stage. Our Song of the Week is a perfect example of Hay's ability to capture everday life in simple terms, delivered in his distinct, heartbroken tone.

Songwriter Jill Sobule, who garnered financial support for her latest CD "California Years" from fans via the web, sings what she refers to as her "Love Song to the End of the World," called "A Good Life."

The Flatlanders is a group comprised of three Texas songwriting legends, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gillmore and Butch Hancock. "Homeland Refugee," written and sung by Joe Ely, highlights the similarities among modern day refugees of all sorts.

Maia Sharp has had songs recorded by the Dixie Chicks, keb' mo', Trisha Yearwood and, most notably, Bonnie Raitt, who included three Sharp songs on her Souls Alive record. Here is Sharp doing "Death By Perfection" from her latest solo CD Echo.

Nashville-based trio The Greencards, joined here by guitarist Jake Stargel, is made up of two Australia natives and one Brit. They came to be known as The Greencards for their adept interpretations of American roots music. Their balance of outstanding musicianship and tuneful songcraft is evident in this live recording of "Outskirts of Blue," a song from their latest CD, "Fascination."

The song "Que Sera Sera" was originally composed for the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Man Who Knew Too Much" in 1956. It was a hit for the movie's star, Doris Day, that same year. In our song of the week California music luminary Dave Alvin and his band The Guilty Women perform a Cajun style version of what Alvin calls, "The meaning of life."

This week Rosanne Cash performs a song from her 12th studio album, "The List," due out on October 9. The album consists of modern interpretations of country classics culled from a list of essential country songs given to Rosanne by her father, Johnny Cash. "Sea of Heatbreak," written by Hal David and Paul Hampton, was a hit for Don Gibson in 1961. This performance was recorded at New York's legendary Town Hall, in October 2008.  

In 2007 gospel singer Marie Knight released her first full length CD in 20 years, "Let Us Get Together: A Tribute to Rev. Gary Davis." From October, 2007, here she is with guitarist Ernie Hawkins singing the Davis tune "I Belong to the Band." Knight, born 1925, went to be with the band on August 30, 2009.

Singer-songwriter Judith Owen, originally from Southern Wales, performs a heartbreaking song about yearning for a lost loved one.

World-renowned dobro player Jerry Douglas is known for melding bluegrass instruments into jazz styles. Here he performs "Who's Your Uncle," an instrumental he wrote as a tribute to legendary dobro player "Uncle" Josh Graves (1927-2006), who was an early inspiration for Douglas growing up in Ohio.

Folk singer Janis Ian had her first hit, the controversial "Society's Child," at the age of 14. Her second hit, "At Seventeen," is heard here live, almost 35 years after its release, from this weekend's episode of Mountain Stage.

Mavis Staples grew up singing with her father "Pops" in the legendary Staples Singers. Here she interprets the gospel standard "Eyes on the Prize" live in this recording from a Mountain Stage road show in Boston, MA in May 2007.

This week's Song of the Week comes from an encore episode recorded in May 2007. Mountain Stage traveled to the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA and welcomed critically acclaimed songwriter Ryan Adams and his band the Cardinals. "Two" appears on Adam's 2008 release Easy Tiger.

Grammy Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Buddy Guy performs the title track from his last CD, "Skin Deep."

Adopting the style of legendary musician and folklorist John Hartford, former Nickel Creek singer and fiddler Sara Watkins does her take on Hartford's classic tune, "Long Hot Summer Days," including a Hartford-style stomp-board.

Newcomer Meaghan Smith, an animation artist from Ontario, Canada, performs "If You Asked Me," an uptempo swing number dedicated to a gentleman with all the right moves from her debut CD The Cricket's Orchestra.

For our Song of the Week on this 4th of July weekend we've chosen a great American love song by a great American songwriter performed by one of Bluegrass music's best voices. "Me and Bobby McGee," written by Kris Kristofferson and made popular by Janis Joplin gets re-imagined here by reigning IBMA Female Bluegrass Vocalist of the Year, Dale Ann Bradley.

Sonos is a sextet of vocalists from Los Angeles, CA that specializes in arranging modern pop songs into a capella settings. This song was originally recorded by indie-pop band Fleet Foxes. Their Mountain Stage set includes tracks made famous by Radiohead, Rufus Wainwright and The Jackson 5.

Songwriter Susan Werner takes a classical approach to 70s era pop-tunes, like this melding of JS Bach and Cat Stevens' "The Wind" from her latest CD, Classics. Werner is accompanied by cellist Julia Birber.

On Wednesday, June 3 the Blues lost its undisputed Queen, Koko Taylor, to complications from surgery. She was 80. Born Cora Walton outside Memphis, TN in 1928, Taylor moved to Chicago at 18 and went on to become a fixture on the blues scene. Best known for her million selling 1965 hit "Wang Dang Doodle," Taylor released her final CD in 2007, "Old School." She collected her 29th Blues Music Award on May 7 in Memphis where she also gave her last performance. This recording of "Jump For Joy" was made at Snowshoe, WV on July 13, 2001.

Nashville based songwriter Shawn Camp has penned hits for Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Ricky Skaggs and Del McCoury. Sis Draper was written with Texas songwriting legend Guy Clark, about an Arkansas lady whose fiddlin' makes everyone's jaw drop.

Arlo Guthrie performs one of his father Woody Guthrie's many classics that remain timely to this day. Arlo's introduction says a lot about the song and the world.

Austin, TX string-band The Belleville Outfit has emerged on the Americana scene with their up-tempo songs and oustanding musicianship. The group is comprised of six admirable players and features two guitars, bass, drums, fiddle and piano. "Sunday Morning" appears on their upcoming CD "Time to Stand."

Slide-guitarist Derek Trucks is a quiet, unassuming person to be around, but with his instrument in hand, his overwhelming talent becomes evident.  Featuring the versatile vocals of Mike Mattison and the lyrical tone of Trucks' slide guitar, The Derek Trucks Band perform the title track to their latest release "Already Free."

Here is a song heard every week on Mountain Stage but not in its entirety. Larry Groce took the opportunity to perform the song on the 100th Anniversary of the Celebration of Mother's Day because of its lyrics:A Song is a little thing/ Just a drop in the sea Like the step of a baby/ Or a sweet melody But the world is made of drops and steps/ And memories and dreams And the wisdom of the ages/ Is the song a Mother sings

Guggenheim Grotto-a duo made up of Irish singer-songwriters Kevin May and Mick Lynch- use acoustic instruments in addition the electronic-programmed beats, which kind of act like a third member of their band. For their Mountain Stage performance, they perform acoustically, emphasizing their playful vocal harmony in "Just Not Just," expressing a "Can't Always Get What You Want," sentiment.

Country super-star Dierks Bentley has made a huge impact in the world of country music in a relatively short time. He has sold millions of records with his radio-ready hits but maintains an artistic profile by recruiting the likes of Del McCoury Band and Patty Griffin to sing and play on his records. Our Song of the Week is the title track from Dierks' latest CD, "Feel That Fire," which peaked at No.3 on the Billboard 200.

Acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke's finger-style guitar playing and original compositions are known all around the world. Equally recognized as an  interpreter of other songs as well, Kottke melds two of his staple arrangements in our Mountain Stage Song of the Week: Vaughn Horton's "Mockingbird Hill" (a 1951 hit for Patti Page and Les Paul & Mary Ford) with Duane Allman's "Little Martha" (from 1971). This online version has a bit more of Kottke's charming banter and a few false starts, proving he is, indeed human.

We look to a West Virginia songwriter for this edition of Song of the Week. Wood County's Todd Burge recently released a CD produced by Wheeling native and roots-music MVP Tim O'Brien. Performed here on the 25th Anniversary of Mountain Stage, "I Believe This, I Believe" is a perfect example of how Burge can observe the world in all of its complexities and translate it into a simple song.

From Austin, TX, James McMurtry and his long-time band perform the title track from his 2005 record "Childish Things" live from the Cultural Center Theater in Charleston, WV. A social and political observer, McMurtry is never short on words that describe the working class and the varied life-perspectives of America.

The words "eccentric" and "eclectic" get used a lot in the world of music. Few artists resemble those terms as well as multi-instrumentalist David Lindley. A well known accompanist to artists like Warren Zevon and Jackson Browne, Lindley uses unconventional instruments like the Palestinian Ude ("ood") and the Hawaiian Lap Steel guitar, to interpret legendary works through with his own unique ways. Here he covers one of his biggest inspirations, slide-guitarist Blind Willie Johnson, and the song "Soul of a Man."

Carlene Carter was born into touring life. Her mother June Carter and aunts Anita and Helen accompanied their mother Maybelle as Mother Maybelle Carter & the Carter Sisters throughout the 50s and 60s until Maybelle’s death in 1978. Carlene presents a first hand account of life as a Carter in her song “Me and the Wildwood Rose.” This recording comes from a Mountain Stage episode recorded in Bristol, TN/VA on the 80th Anniversary of the historic Bristol Recording sessions, at which AP, Sara and Maybelle Carter recorded some of country music's earliest successful recordings.

Fiddler and songwriter Carrie Rodriguez released three duet albums with famed songwriter Chip Taylor (Wild Thing, Angel of the Morning) before setting out on a solo career of her own. Our song of the week is the title track from her latest CD, "She Ain't Me," and features a saxophone solo by Rodriguez's husband Javier Vercher.

On his 2nd appearance on Mountain Stage, Philadelphia soul singer Amos Lee plays songs from all three of his CDs. For Song of the Week we chose one of his better known songs from his self-titled debut, "Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight." Formerly a school teacher, Amos Lee found his second calling while working at a record store in Philadelphia. Before long he was opening shows for Norah Jones and most recently he toured with John Prine, Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello. His latest is called "Last Days at the Lodge."

Jakob Dylan, of the Grammy winning pop-rock band The Wallflowers and son of legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, sings "Will It Grow" from his first album as a solo artist, "Seeing Things." Produced by Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond) "Seeing Things" is a stark, mainly acoustic effort, released on Columbia records, the same label that releases the music of his father.

Lead by former Nickel Creek member Chris Thile (Thee-lee) and featuring a who’s who of contemporary bluegrass players- fiddle player Gabe Witcher, banjo player Noam Pikelny, guitarist Chris Eldridge, bassist Greg Garrison- the Punch Brothers are the newest of the new-grass brigade. Cazadero is an upbeat fiddle tune written by west-coast fiddler Paul Shelasky.

This week's Mountain Stage Song of the Week comes from West Virginia native Kathy Mattea. Her latest CD, "COAL," has been nominated for a Grammy in the Traditional Folk Album category. Here Kathy singing a song by another West Virginian, Billy Edd Wheeler, "Red-Winged Blackbird," performed live on Mountain Stage.

The bluegrass veterans in Blue Highway returned in 2008 with their Rounder Records CD "Through the Window of a Train." Hear the title track performed live from Tamarack in Beckley, WV, from March 16, 2008.

Swedish musician Jose Gonzalez gives a somber take on a 1989 hit for Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue.