Michigan Music: Larry Groce — “Junk Food Junkie” and much more

Larry Groce. Picture used with permission from Mountain Stage.

by Steve Girbach

So why does an article, or in this case an interview, about “Michigan Music” feature a musician who was born and raised in Texas, moved to New York after graduating college, and finally settled in West Virginia after performing there as a “Musician-in-Residence”  sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts?

Glad you asked. He was just passing through!

I had the pleasure of spending time with Larry Groce this past September while at my summer residence on Beaver Island. I was helping some friends who are in a musical group called The Carpenter Ants that had a concert scheduled on the island. This tour featured the Ants with special guests Larry and John Ellison (look for pieces on Ellison, as well as The Carpenter Ants, soon). If you’ve ever listened to Mountain Stage, a two-hour live music radio show produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio, you are no doubt familiar with Larry Groce, or at least you may be familiar with his voice.

Since cofounding the program in 1983, Larry has served as host, producer, and artistic director. He retired as host in 2021 and was replaced by two-time Grammy Award winner Kathy Mattea but retained the position of artistic director until June of this year.

Steve: Larry, you are known as the voice of Mountain Stage, but you are so much more than that. I had no idea of your vast musical pedigree until I started researching you in preparation for this interview.

Larry: Well, that’s what I started out as, a singer and songwriter. I grew up in Dallas, actually, before I went to West Virginia. In my high school there where four of us that went on to write songs that everybody knew. The oldest one was Michael Martin Murphy, then B.W. Stevenson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and me. Ray and I used to be in a band together in Dallas, a “jug band” kind of a thing. He still comes on Mountain Stage.

Steve: So you’ve decided to step back from the show (Mountain Stage) that you cofounded.

Larry: Mountain Stage started in ’83. Two other guys and I started the show, and I was the host for 38 ½ years and handed it off to Kathy Mattea a year and a half ago. Now I’m kind of easing away from the show. I’ve been the artistic director until June 30 of this year and now I’m just a consultant. Soon, they will be on their own after 40 years, and I’ll be on my own, too, which gives me a chance to sing a little bit while I still can. I’ve played with this band (The Carpenter Ants) off and on, every now and then, for 25 years. We went to Russia together and Slovakia, did a lot of traveling around. I didn’t do it very often, but I know a lot of their repertoire and they know some of mine. This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to say, Hey, I’m going out on tour! I couldn’t do this regularly for the last 40 years because I’ve always had to be doing something with Mountain Stage.

Steve: And you’ve been making records a long time.

Larry: I’ve made a lot of records over the years, of all kinds.

Steve: Your first record was in 1969, a collection of hymns called Peace, Joy and Power, correct?

Larry: Yes, I’ve made six albums of hymns in my life. I also made eight or nine records for Walt Disney for children, and then a bunch of albums of my own singer-songwriter stuff. But, you know, once you become producer and host of a show you can say you’re a singer-songwriter, but it fades out pretty quick and you become known as a producer and show host.

Steve: I can’t let you get away that easy on the Disney thing, because between 1976 and 1990 you performed on nine Disney albums — one was certified gold and five certified platinum!

Larry: Right!

Steve: And your first Disney recording, “Winnie the Pooh for President,” was Grammy nominated?

Larry: It was, yes. Best Children’s Record of the Year, nominated 1976. That was the first thing I did for them, and it worked out very well. We got the nomination, it was a very successful campaign for Winnie the Pooh. Unfortunately, he didn’t win the presidency, but I was hoping. However, it did start me with Disney and that was great, because Disney is Disney, and I did four albums: The Best of Children’s Favorites, Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4, Christmas favorites, and those albums continue to sell. The first one I made was in ’78 and what is this now, 2023? And they continue to sell!

Steve: You also had a charting hit in 1976 with “Junk Food Junkie.”

Larry: Yeah, that was a fun song. Made it to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. Stayed there for 15 weeks. I’ve been lucky.

Steve: So what did you think of Beaver Island (Mich.)?

Larry: We’ve found so many connections to West Virginia. It’s very much like West Virginia in the way people treat each other. People here are wonderful, and they treat you right. You feel like you’re just walking into their house and you’re part of their family. That’s the way we like it. That’s the way our world is, plus it’s beautiful! You’re surrounded by a lake, and it’s cut off from the rest of the world in a way, and that’s the good part. We’ll be back. Maybe do a little fishing.

You can listen to Mountain Stage locally at WEMU 89.1 FM on Friday, 10pm to 12am, and Sunday, 7pm to 9pm. You can also listen to archived shows featuring Larry Groce as host on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And the next time Larry is passing through with The Carpenter Ants, do yourself a favor and go check them out. Tell him and the crew I said “Hi.”

Manchester resident Steve Girbach writes articles for the Manchester Mirror about Michigan music and cohosts Songs From The Trail, a weekly Michigan-connected radio show every Saturday at 7pm EST at WVBI.net.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.