Coal (CD - 2008)

Personnel: Kathy Mattea (vocals, acoustic guitar); Marty Stuart (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandocello, mandolin, background vocals); Stuart Duncan (acoustic guitar, banjo, mandocello, fiddle); Bill Cooley (acoustic guitar); John Catchings (cello); Randy Leago (accordion, piano); Eric Fritsch (Hammond b-3 organ); Byron House, Fred Newell (upright bass); Mollie O'Brien, Patty Loveless, Tim O'Brien (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Mick Conley.

Recording information: Cave 2 Studio, Atlanta, GA; House Of David Recording Studio, Nashville, TN; Puremusic Studio, Nashville, TN; The Playground, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: James Minchin.

The daughter and granddaughter of coal miners raised in West Virginia, Kathy Mattea has had a lifelong and complex relationship with the element. In the aftermath of the Sago mine disaster in 2006, when 12 miners perished, Mattea was inspired to create the song cycle COAL. A social and environmental activist as well as a musician, Mattea draws on all strands of her beliefs and biography for these 11 songs. They avoid finger-pointing and easy moralizing, accepting that there are no easy answers for the problems of her hometown area or the country as a whole. However, the deep emotion and plainspoken truth of songs like "Black Lung," "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive," and "The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore" is obvious even to those who had never given a moment's thought to the subject. Mattea and co-producer Marty Stuart give the album a suitably stripped-down, folky sound. minimize