By Bill Lynch, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After 38 years and more than 950 shows, Larry Groce is stepping down as the host of Mountain Stage.
Groce, 73, will be replaced by country music star and West Virginia native Kathy Mattea. Her first turn behind the microphone will be Sunday, when Mountain Stage returns to the Clay Center for a 7 p.m. show.
“We’ve been working toward it for a while,” Groce said. “I thought, generally, it was time for me to step aside.”
Groce originally intended to leave as host after taping his 1,000th episode of the recorded-live radio program, but COVID-19 shut down most live performances for nearly a year.
Mountain Stage was able to record only a couple of shows near the end of 2020, and is set to record fewer shows in 2021 than normal.
“We’ve done 972 shows, and I’ve hosted 952 of them,” he said…