October brings an eclectic mix of music to the Pocahontas County Opera House. Tribute band Long Strange Night leads the month with a mix of Grateful Dead and Beatles classics October 8.
Hard Days Night bandmates Will Newman and Tommy Cox team up with Doug White and several special guests for a return to the Opera House stage as Long Strange Night. The band’s name is a play on The Beatles 1964 classic “Hard Day’s Night” and a line from The Grateful Dead’s 1970 hit “Truckin’” (“What a long, strange trip it’s been…”). Fittingly the evening will feature a family-friendly combination of Beatles favorites, followed by a rocking set of Grateful Dead jams, making for another memorable night from Newman, Cox, White, and their fellow musicians.
The October 8 concert with Long Strange Night begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.
On Saturday, October 22, at 7:30 p.m., the Opera House will welcome back audience favorite Muriel Anderson.
One of the world’s foremost fingerstyle guitarists and harp-guitarists, Anderson is the first woman to have won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. Her recent CD Nightlight Daylight has won top honors in 11 national awards.
She has performed/ recorded with Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Victor Wooten and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra. Her obvious joy of music, humor and her facility across the genres of folk, classical, jazz, bluegrass and international music is revered by guitarists worldwide.
An engaging performer, Muriel’s unique approach to the instrument virtually transforms the guitar into a lyrical choir, then a marching band, then a Japanese koto, then a Bluegrass band, one minute launching into a Beatles’ tune and the next, a Rodrigo concerto.
Anderson is host of the renowned Muriel Anderson’s All Star Guitar Night and founder of the Music for Life Alliance charity. Anderson has published articles in Guitar Player, Acoustic Guitar, Fingerstyle Guitar, Classical Guitar and Frets magazines, and is currently a regular columnist for Acoustic Guitar Japan magazine. She is a regular guest instructor for Truefire and at guitar workshops across the country.
Tickets are $10.
The month wraps up on October 23 with a remembrance of a long-time friend and a regular on the Opera House stage, Terry Richardson.
Richardson passed away in May of this year. He was the fourth-generation owner of Marlinton’s iconic C.J. Richardson Hardware, which his family has operated for more than a century. A talented guitarist, Richardson also played in a number of bands from a young age. In recent years, he was a fixture on stage with traditional Appalachian music groups Juanita Fireball and The Continental Drifters and The Elk River Ramblers
The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. with a potluck social and open jam session. Everyone is invited to bring an instrument and join in the music.
At 7:30 p.m., the musical tribute continues with an all-star lineup of Pocahontas County traditional musicians who once played with Richardson, including Juanita Fireball and The Continental Drifters, The Elk River Ramblers, Dwight Diller, Stony Bottom Crossing, Kelsey Beverage and Friends, Clair Mosesso, and more.
There’s no admission fee to the tribute concert, but donations will be accepted to benefit the Pocahontas County Opera House, where Richardson frequently enjoyed playing.
Performances at the Opera House are informal, family-friendly and open to all. 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.
The Opera House Performance Series is presented with financial assistance through a grant from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. Support is also provided by Pocahontas County Drama, Fairs and Festivals and the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau.