The innovative cellist blends a percussive attack with pure vocals. In his third appearance on Mountain Stage, Sollee performs songs from his solo debut, Learning to Bend.

Cellist Ben Sollee has made two previous appearances on Mountain Stage as a member of Abigail Washburn and Sparrow Quartet (along with Bela Fleck and Casey Driessen). He returns to play songs from his debut solo recording, Learning to Bend.

With an innovative, percussive attack, the classically trained cellist's music is unconventional yet still highly accessible, thanks in large part to Sollee's pure voice. He's joined here by fiddler/vocalist Cheyenne Mize (Will Oldham) and percussionist Jordan Ellis.

The Mountain Stage Band and Julie Adams perform "Them There Eyes" as a tribute to West Virginia-born songwriter Maceo Pinkard (1897-1962), who also wrote the standard "Sweet Georgia Brown."

This segment originally aired on October 22, 2009.

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