Steve Earle had a very specific goal in mind for his next record, to record an album that spoke to people that didn’t vote the same way that he did, and as he says, unions seem to be a thing both sides of the aisle can agree on. And that’s where The Ghosts of West Virginia starts.
The album is tied to a documentary musical called Coal Country which tells the story of a 2010 mining disaster that killed 26 miners, with 90% of the dialog coming straight from interviews of people who were there or close to those who passed. Steve Earle was tapped to write the music and perform it as a character in the production.
For the album, Earle takes those mining stories and expands them in a way both Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, can understand and get behind. In an era of extreme division, Ghosts of West Virginia is a piece of art that tells all of our story.
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Album available at Guestroom Records and Matt Anthony's Record Shop.
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