Kathy Mattea Examines Coal Mining on New CD
It's reassuring to now and then see a singer exhibit a social conscience. Kathy Mattea does so masterfully with her upcoming CD Coal, due Apr. 1. Mattea, a coal miner's granddaughter, grew up in West Virginia, which was the scene of bloody coal mine wars in the early 20th century when miners began trying to unionize. I myself grew up in Texas, where I saw the effects of the oil business on people and the land, but knew nothing about the coal industry. Until, that is, I married a woman from a small coal mining town in Kentucky. Then I learned pretty quickly about coal and its history.
Mattea was moved to record this album by the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia, which killed 12 miners. Coal includes songs from the pens of activist Hazel Dickens, the late Kentucky legend Merle Travis, Utah Phillips, Darrell Scott and others. Marty Stuart produces and Patty Loveless sings on one cut. Good stuff.
Did you know that Mattea graduated from Nitro High School? The school and its little town of Nitro were named for the nitroglycerin plant built during WWII near her hometown of Cross Lanes.
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Shauna Santrock Hampshire says:
Yeah Kathy,
You are awesome Kathy!
Dorothy Santrock agrees, and Deloris McGucken!
Cheer for Nitro High School!
If it Comes From the Heart!, It WILL WORK!
LOve, Ya Shauna Santrock Hampshire
Eh says:
She shouldn’t have done “Dark as a Dungeon”, forever a John Cowan song.