West Virginia folk singer Mike Morningstar will bring his self-dubbed brand ofexperimental Appalachianmusic to the West Virginia University Mountainlair as part of Mountaineer Week.

Morningstar, who has opened for such national acts as Vince Gill and the Marshal Tucker Band, will perform at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, on the first floor of the student union. The show is free and open to the public.Ill be performing some of my original compositions as well as some cover tunes,he said.

Morningstar has been playing country, folk and rock music since he was 12 years old because poor health limited physical activity. He began his professional music career in 1964 at the age of 16 when he joined a rhythm and blues band.

He debuted as a solo artist in 1972 with the songBuffalo Creek,which recounts an impoundment collapse that caused devastating flooding in West Virginias southern coalfields, leaving 125 dead and thousands homeless.

Since then, Morningstar has played a variety of venues, from nightclubs to college campuses. Other famous country music acts he has opened for include Black Oak Arkansas, Heart, Pure Prairies League and the Goose Creek Symphony. In 1993 he appeared on National Public Radios Mountain Stage.

For lack of a better term and the fact that I incorporate lots of different styles, I call my musicEx-Apwhich stands forexperimental Appalachian,he said.My partner, Rick Roberts, plays all the traditionalmountaininstrumentsbanjo, guitar, mandolin and fiddlebut we dont play traditional music. We write our own ticket and interpret our own style.

Morningstar has also been credited with the invention of theelectric hickory stick.It is made from a bowed piece of hickory limb with one string and an acoustic microphone. The pitch and tone are controlled by pushing and pulling on the stick, and the result is a twangy, mountain,jaw-harp, foot-stomping sound.

Morningstars appearance is sponsored in part by a West Virginia Humanities Council grant. For more information about the singer-songwriter, visit his Web site at http://members.citynet.net/mikemorningstar .

The Southeast Tourism Society included Mountaineer Week among its top 20 events for October, November and December. The society, which covers 11 states from West Virginia to Florida, has been touting travel to the region since 1983 and publishing its top 20 events since 1985.