The Sagebrush Round-up, a live country music show on Bunner Ridge near Fairmont,
is featured in the latest issue of GOLDENSEAL magazine, now on sale. The article,
titled “‘Seventh Heaven’: Saturday Night at the Sagebrush
Round-up,” by Carl E. Feather, describes the popular gathering and recalls
its famous radio show namesake.
According to the article, the Round-up provides a haven for traditional country
music in a family setting. The regular Saturday night show features Dave Liller
as master of ceremonies and the house Stagecoach Band. Also appearing as frequent
guests are other musical artists, including 90-year-old Bill Murray, Buddy Priest
and his West Virginia Six Pack band, and other performers.
The Sagebrush Round-up is presented by the Country Music Association of West
Virginia, a volunteer group that also maintains the music hall on Bunner Ridge.
The Round-up borrowed its name in 1984 from a popular radio show broadcast from
the Fairmont Armory on WMMN from 1938 to 1948. Country music legends, including
Grandpa Jones, Little Jimmy Dickens, and the “Old Pardner” Murrell
Poor and his Tradin’ Post Gang, were a staple of the show. Other WMMN
regulars included local performers Little John Graham and Cherokee Sue, the
subjects of a companion article by Feather, “Little John Graham and Cherokee
Sue: A Radio Love Story.”
Also in this issue of GOLDENSEAL are articles on Wetzel County folk toy maker
Dick Schnacke; Marie Robinette of Matewan, an eyewitness to the infamous 1920
Matewan Massacre; and the Charleston Woman’s Improvement League, a century-old
black women’s organization.
GOLDENSEAL is West Virginia’s magazine of traditional life and is published
quarterly by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History in Charleston.
The magazine sells for $4.95 and is available in Fairmont at C&J News, Food
Lion, Shop & Go, and Warehouse Grocery or by calling (304)558-0220, ext.
153.
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