“Coal Mining Man” (the press called it “Coal Minin’ Man”) was written by Ronnie Bowman and the Nashville singer-songwriter Mark Collie. Bowman, Don Rigsby and Kenny Smith, who had all been members of the Lonesome River Band until 2001, recorded it as the second track and first single of Band of Ruhks, the debut album of their trio, released by 101 Ranch on 17 March 2015. The song opens with Ralph Stanley singing the melody a cappella, and Bowman called Stanley “as big as it gets in bluegrass.” Rolling Stone described the song as “an elegy to those who work underground.”
The narrator is a miner at the moment of a cave-in. He hears thunder in the ground and a moaning sound as the mountain shakes, timbers break and the walls close in, and the air gets thin. He asks that, if he dies in the mine at “Fairmont number nine,” he be buried right where he stands. He asks someone to watch over Adeline if the rescuers do not reach him in time, to keep her near and dry her tears and hold her trembling hand. He names his father and brothers and the others who went before him, and says they dig coal until there is no coal left. The last lines ask that someone read some words and say amen, here lies a coal mining man.
The track was recorded at Digital Underground in Greenbrier, Tennessee, with Ralph Stanley, Bowman, Rigsby and Smith all credited with vocals. A music video, directed by Glenn Sweitzer of Fresh Film + Design, followed.
