Wings to Fly

Producers, Beegie Adair and Ron Short
Executive Producer, Dudley Cocke

"This is the real deal: the music that came from Britain and Ireland, augmented by those who toiled in the mines and on the farms, and evolved into American folk music."
—CMT (Country Music Today) Magazine

Roadside Theater's music CD, Wings to Fly, is available in record stores nationally and from Copper Creek Records.

With eleven new songs by veteran Roadside composer and playwright, Ron Short, Wings to Fly tells a story about Appalachia, sung by those who grew-up there. Both the CD's original and traditional songs are performed in the rich Appalachian harmony singing tradition, and are part of Roadside's stage production, Singing on the Mountain.

In addition to Short and Roadside performer, Kim Neal Cole, Wings to Fly features some of the region's finest musicians and the vocals of the Mullins Family Singers of Clintwood, Virginia. For 150 years, the Mullins Family has been singing in the mountains.

Current Family members are songwriter Ron Short's cousins. "I always wanted to record with my family," says Short. "There's a special quality and sound to family harmony that is unlike anything else."

Wings to Fly strays from the standard musical formula in more ways than one. The album's 17 selections focus on cultural, family, and spiritual values, mixing narrative with song to tell a compelling story of how mountain people have lived, changed, and survive.

Wings to Fly was produced by Nashville recording artist Beegie Adair and Short. The Copper Creek label is quietly making a national name for itself by including in its catalogue legends like Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers, as well as the contemporary voices of American roots music.

"This is the most powerful and emotional listening I've done in years. I'm not ashamed to say it's hard to type with tears flowing."
-Red Shipley, host of Stained Glass Bluegrass, WAMU-FM, Washington, DC

"This is entirely fresh, contemporary work, but it captures the heart and soul of the Celtic roots and the foundation of traditional old time mountain music. . . Wings to Fly is completely unique, timeless work."
-John Wolfe, Colorado Bluegrass Music Association

 

For more about the Roadside/Mullins Family collaboration, see:

"New Ground Revival Roadside's Newest Musical Hits the Road" an interview with the Mullins Family by Blanton Owen (from Roadside's Spring-Fall '99 newsletter)

"Scott Mullins Recollects: There Was Always Music in the House" an interview with Scott Mullins (from Roadside's Fall '97 - Spring '98 newsletter)

"New Play Features Local Family" an interview with Ron Short (from Roadside's Spring '96 - Fall '97 newsletter)