SPOTLIGHT ON KATHY MATTEA & "COAL"
Kathy Mattea CD Release Party for "COAL" in Nashville 
Station Inn
Nashville, TN USA
March 6, 2008
Story by Glenda S. Paradee & Sue Phelps
Concert Photos by Glenda S. Paradee

Kathy Mattea held her new CD release party in Nashville on March 6, 2008. Mattea's great band consists of Ireland's Amon O'Roarke plays fiddle, David Spicher plays upright bass and Bill Cooley on guitar. 

It's always interesting to me to figure out which songs Kathy leaves out of the live shows. The only songs on Coal that never make it into a set list are: Lawrence Jones & Sally in the Garden. It's fairly evident why Sally doesn't make the cut: it's played on a claw-something banjo. I can't think of the term they use.... Lawrence Jones is one of my favorite tunes, that if it were me doing it, I'd put in the show and take something else out. But, I'm the one that knows virtually nothing about pacing and set lists. I'm sure it has to do with the song's content. It is the song version of the young man who was shot and killed during the Harlan County Wars (the strike over fair pay). I'm absolutely sure that Kathy and the band looked at the set list for this show as closely as any tour before. Because of the danger, depression, dark, damp and dreary world of mining, it became necessary not to send everyone home suicidal. So, song selection became extremely important. There are lots of oldies in there to break up the mood...yet there's never been a tour that used so many of the tunes from a CD. I counted one night that they'd only left out 2!!! That's pretty amazing.

This show we would hear Kathy recount her family's involvement with mining in a more detailed way: Her grandfathers of course, mined. You'll see their photos in the liner notes. Her mother worked for the UMW in the office. Her brother Joe had something to do with selling the mines the scales they used to weigh stuff. Mike delivered coal on the barges he ran down the river. It all points to the enormous effect the coal industry has on the lives of West Virginians. Which is why there is so much agony now over the future of the coal industry and MTR (mountain top removal) specifically. It's part and parcel of the problems we have when we consider the environment vs. our lifestyles and enormous appetites. And it's not a simple problem with simple answers.

I've marveled at her honesty...following her conscience on environmental issues even at the risk of losing fans. She's not stupid. She knows that there are jobs at stake. She knows that her views are wildly popular with some and wildly unpopular with others. But there really are some overarching principles worth fighting for and consequences that loom. Personally, I think anyone who takes a stand on something is brave. It's much easier to go with the flow.

The happy surprise of these shows was the emergence of the new bass player, David Spicher. Rather unexpectedly (at least to us) the other Dave quit the band. Maybe he was only in it till the end of the year, who knows? But this Dave took up the bow and not a beat was missed. He is a prince of a guy, friendly and very happy to be there. His performances at the Station Inn were fun to watch. So many requests were thrown at the band. It might have been easy for Kathy to say "no" but they sucked it up and played everything. Kathy suggested David be paid more for his extra effort, and his little eyes lit up. He is just fearless. I suppose that's the mark of a great musician. After they did Sending Me Angels, Kathy figured they'd have to ante up a couple thousand more for that one.

You can pre-order Kathy Mattea's new cd "COAL" now at: http://kathymattea.shop.musictoday.com/

You can also check out Kathy's website: www.mattea.com

More on Kathy's new album:

Kathy Mattea will release her 17th album, "Coal," a collection of songs paying tribute to her West Virginian family heritage in the region's coal mining culture, on April 1, 2008. Marty Stuart produced the disc.

The tragic Sago Mine disaster, which killed 12 miners in 2006, brought back memories of the Farmington Mine disaster of 1968 near Fairmont, West Va. - an event that still haunts the then-9-year-old Mattea, whose grandfathers were miners and whose mother worked for the union. "When Sago happened, I got catapulted back to that moment in my life and thought, 'I need to do something with this emotion, and maybe this album is the place to channel it.' I knew the time was right."

The album features traditional and contemporary songs, many by songwriters with Appalachian roots. Songs by Jean Ritchie, Billy Edd Wheeler, Hazel Dickens, Si Kahn, Utah Phillips, Merle Travis and Darrell Scott were all chosen to articulate "the lifestyle, the bigger struggles," and "to speak to the sense of place and sense of attachment people have to each other and to the land."

Fellow West Virginia native and writer Homer Hickam (Rocket Boys and the upcoming Red Helmet) provides liner notes for the album, which plays like a textured novel itself, and features a trio of Nashville A-list players:

Musicians on the album include Byron House (bass); Bill Cooley (guitar); and Stuart Duncan (fiddle, banjo). Stuart also plays guitar and mandolin, and duets with guest background vocalist Patty Loveless on the track, "Blue Diamond Mines." Tim O'Brien and sister Mollie O'Brien, longtime musical compatriots of Mattea's, share the other background vocals. John Catchings on cello; Randy Leago on keyboards and accordion; and guest steel player Fred Newell round out the players.

Mattea's connection to land and planetary issues was stimulated in 2006 after she attended Al Gore's global warming power-point presentation at Vanderbilt University. She "walked out with a burning commitment to take this message to as many people as I can." She trained with Gore and scientists and now travels with the Climate Project presenting the slide-show lecture to audiences across the U.S.

"I want to spread the word of hope to regular people. We really can be part of the solution," Mattea said of the education project. "Even the smallest action empowers us to change our world."

Of the new album, Mattea reckons, "It's a coming together of a lot of different threads of my life."

"Coal" will be released on Mattea's newly formed label Captain Potato Records.

Thanks for the Music Kathy!