Coal, released in 2008 on Captain Potato and Thirty Tigers (7653260-2), is Kathy Mattea's stark, reverent Appalachian coal-mining song cycle, inspired by the 2006 Sago Mine disaster that reawakened memories of the 1968 Farmington tragedy near her West Virginia hometown. Marty Stuart produced and plays mandolin and guitars with Bill Cooley, Byron House, and Stuart Duncan on fiddle, with harmony vocals from Patty Loveless and Tim and Mollie O'Brien. The repertoire collects covers of Jean Ritchie, Hazel Dickens, Merle Travis, and Billy Edd Wheeler — the deep songbook of coal-country protest and elegy. The record topped Billboard's Bluegrass chart and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Folk Album, repositioning Mattea from country crossover star into traditional-music tradition bearer.
Tracklist
- 1 The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore alt version 4:12
- 2 Blue Diamond Mines alt version 5:00
- 3 Red-Winged Blackbird 2:54
- 4 Lawrence Jones 3:04
- 5 The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia alt version 3:24
- 6 Coal Tattoo 3:17
- 7 Sally In the Garden 0:45
- 8 You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive alt version 5:03
- 9 Dark as a Dungeon alt version 2:47
- 10 Coming of the Roads 4:39
- 11 Black Lung/ Coal 6:08