Steve Earle and The Dukes - Ghosts of West Virgina

Ghosts of West Virginia centers on the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion that killed twenty-nine men in that state in 2010, making it one of the worst mining disasters in American history.  When asked about what drove him to craft his deeply evocative new album, Steve Earle says, “I thought that, given the way things are now, it was maybe my responsibility to make a record that spoke to and for people who didn’t vote the way that I did,” he says. “One of the dangers that we’re in is if people like me keep thinking that everybody who voted for Trump is a racist or an asshole, then we’re fucked, because it’s simply not true. So this is one move toward something that might take a generation to change. I wanted to do something where that dialogue could begin.”

Tracklisting:

A1 Heaven Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
Vocals – Erik Jensen
A2 Union, God And Country
A3 Devil Put The Coal In The Ground
A4 John Henry Was A Steel Drivin’ Man
A5 Time Is Never On Our Side
B1 It’s About Blood
B2 If I Could See Your Face Again
B3 Black Lung
B4 Fastest Man Alive
B5 The Mine