Photographer unknown. Click for pop-up.

(Liner notes excerpted from For the miners, Kathy Mattea’s new album digs into Appalachia’s heart by Ben Salmon, The Bulletin, 9/21/07.)

Coal is king in eastern Kentucky, as well as in West Virginia, where country music star Kathy Mattea grew up.

Her parents didn’t work in the mines, though her mom was a secretary for the miners’ union. But both Mattea’s grandfathers were coal miners, and in West Virginia, that’s enough.

“Even when it’s your grandparents, there’s a lot of that lore that gets passed down,” she said Monday in a telephone interview from her home in Nashville.

Even so, it wasn’t until she moved to Nashville that Mattea really began to understand the connection between the coal industry and folk music. (Even though Mattea owns two Grammys in country categories and four Country Music Association awards, her music has always been more in line with the traditions of folk.)

“When I was a tour guide at the (Country Music Hall of Fame) … in Nashville in 1978, I was 19 and I learned all this history about Nashville and country music that I didn’t know. We had old films that played every halfhour … and I would go and sit on my lunch break and watch these things,” Mattea said. “Among our treasures was this film of Merle Travis doing ‘Dark as a Dungeon.’

“That song always stuck with me, and over the years, I realized there were several songs with coal themes that I really liked, and I thought, ‘Oh, maybe someday I’ll make a record of that stuff,’” Mattea said. “And then the Sago disaster happened last year.”

The Sago disaster, you may remember, was a mine explosion that killed a dozen miners in Sago, W.Va., on Jan. 2, 2006. Mattea and several other musicians were invited to sing at a memorial service for the 12 miners, and that experience was the impetus for Mattea’s new project, “Coal,” a collection of coal-mining songs due out next year.

“We went down there and sang, and I thought, ‘Now is the time. This is all right at the forefront for me,’” she said. “It was just obvious that it was time for me to do it.”

The result is a spare, folky record of coal-mining tunes that span the second half of the 20th century. The track listing isn’t final, but “Dark as a Dungeon,” Billy Edd Wheeler’s “Coal Tattoo” and “Ballad of Lawrence Jones,” a song about a miner killed on the picket line, are possibilities.

Mattea and producer Marty Stuart recorded “Coal” in an acoustic set-up that befits the old-time nature of the songs, she said.

“The thing about this music is it really is roots music. It’s the music of a group of people expressing a way of life,” Mattea said. “It’s much more raw and connected to people living their lives. It’s not about sounding beautiful.”

At about the same time as the Sago disaster, Mattea saw Al Gore present his now-famous slideshow, “An Inconvenient Truth,” about global warming. She was so shaken by what she learned she signed up to be trained to give the presentation herself. (Since then, she has traveled across the country doing just that.)

As you might expect, her two interests soon became intertwined.

“Suddenly, every rock I turned over had coal under it,” Mattea said with a chuckle. “I got trained to do the Gore slide show, and there were references to coal and fossil fuels in that. And they encouraged us to personalize it and I wanted a picture of a (coal) strip mine. So I go looking online, and I find this slide of a mountaintop removal site in West Virginia that’s half the size of Manhattan.”

“That opened up a whole other can of worms about mountaintop removal and what’s going on with that,” she said. “I had no clue.”

In fact, Mattea returned to West Virginia to see first-hand the effects of mountaintop removal on nearby residents. There’s a video of the trip on her Web site that shows the singer listening to story after story, often driven to tears. And there’s a clip of her stunned silence when asked to describe what she saw.

This week, she found the words.

“It’s like eco-rape, and no one knows about it. It’s a rural place. It’s remote and hard to get to. It’s sparsely populated, and there’s not a lot of industry,” Mattea said. “And coal money powers the state, but the coal companies are mostly headquartered outside the state. These coal rights were bought in the late 1800s; I have songs about that. They were bought from people who didn’t know what they were selling. So now, basically, the mineral rights of West Virginia are owned by people who are not West Virginians, but they pay for the campaigns of the people who are in office.

“It’s a very complex and challenging situation, and I’m telling you, man, people do not want to talk about it.”

As is her nature, Mattea is using her celebrity to try to educate people about mountaintop removal and effect change in a way that makes sense for both industry and individuals.

“We have to find a way to talk about the longer view, because nobody wants to change their way of life and everybody gets threatened when we start talking about this stuff,” she said. “Is there a way that we can all try to come together and listen to each other and find a long-term solution where we can all feel like we’re being heard and considered? That’s the thing I’m looking for is civil discourse about the long-term problem.”

On March 25, 1947, a mine exploded in Illinois, killing 111 miners. Mineworker president John L. Lewis (mentioned in the song) surveyed the disaster site. Click for pop-up.

The cause is just the latest in a long line of activism that has blossomed late in Mattea’s career. Because she had a string of hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s — including four that reached the very top of the charts — Mattea has been able to devote these last few years to projects that are, if not radio staples, perhaps more rewarding.

“I think I was really lucky with the commercial success I had, because I really didn’t feel like I was compromising artistically. It was a really special time in the music business. The door was wide open to a lot of interesting music,” she said. “When I came up, Nanci Griffith and Steve Earle and Lyle Lovett were being played on mainstream country radio. It was a real, kind of mini-Golden Era, and I feel like I got a chance to get in on it.

“At a certain point, though, you make your choice. You either chase after that, or you say, ‘Well, what do I want to do?’” Mattea continued. “I just decided that I’d had all that. I’ve got the gold records on my wall. I’ve got the Grammys and the CMA awards. Now I can go and push my own boundaries and explore my roots and collaborate with interesting people and have fun.”

Blue Diamond Mines

I remember the ways in the bygone days
when we was all in our prime
When us and John L. we give the old man hell
down in the Blue Diamond Mine

Well the whistle would blow ‘for the rooster crow
full two hours before daylight
When a man done his best and earned his good rest
at seven dollars a night

In the mines in the mines, in the Blue Diamond Mines
I worked my life away
In the mines in the mines, in the Blue Diamond Mines
I fall on my knees and pray.

You old black gold you’ve taken my lung
your dust has darkened my home
And now I am old and you’ve turned your back
where else can an old miner go

Well it’s Algomer Block and Big Leather Woods
now its Blue Diamond too
The bits are all closed get another job
what else can an old miner do?

Now the union is dead and they shake their heads
well mining has had it’s day
But they’re stripping off my mountain top
and they pay me eight dollars a day

Now you might get a little poke of welfare meal
get a little poke of welfare flour
But I tell you right now your won’t qualify
’till you work for a quarter an hour.

Personnel: Kathy Mattea, vocals, acoustic guitar; Marty Stuart, mandolin, harmony vocals, producer; Bill Cooley, acoustic guitar; Byron House, upright bass; Stuart Duncan, fiddle, banjo; Patty Loveless, harmony vocals; Mick Conley, Charley Hubbs, Emory Gordy Jr., Jim DeMain, sound; Maria-Elena Orbea, production coordination.

Music Archives

	November 2009 Francisco Herrera Trabajo en el Hotel Francisco Herrera Photo: David Bacon
	October 2009 Kathy Mattea Blue Diamond Mines Jean Ritchie, Bill Monroe Photo: Unknown
	September 2009 Rich Trumka Raise Your Voice And Be Heard Rich Trumka Photo: Labor Heritage Foundation
	August 2009 Professor Louis Hurricane Professor Louie Watercolor: Ricardo Levins Morales
	July 2009 Special Get Ready To Strike Ray and Rachael Rodriguez Riley Wallace Photos: CWA
	June 2009 Billy Edd Wheeler Coal Tattoo Billy Edd Wheeler Photo: Earl Dotter
	May 2009 Joe Jencks Adonde Pertenezco Joe Jencks Photo: Scott Robinson
	April 2009 Rabble Rousers Card Count Bill Collins Photo: Corbis Bettmann
	March 2009 Dan Hall Lake Seaman's Union Men Dan Hall and David Norris Photo: Lee Rowe
	February 2009 Pete Seeger Talking Union Almanac Singers (Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger) Photos: Unknown.
	January 2009 Los Lobos, Santa Isabel School Children's Choir De Colores Traditional Cover: Domingo.
	December 2008 Steve Earle Christmas In Washington Steve Earle Photo: Jim West.
	November 2008 Emma's Revolution Coast of Maine Sandy O, Pat Humphries Photo: William B. Folsom.
	October 2008 Bev Grant & Dissident Daughters In America Bev Grant, Bruce Markow Photos: National Park Service, Russell Lee, Marion Post Wolcott
	September 2008 Jon Fromer Little One Jon Fromer Photo: Emily Kunstler
	August 2008 DC Labor Chorus Picket Line Songs Andries vanTonder, Susie Rucks, Traditional Photo: Unknown
	July 2008 Tayo Aluko Go Down Moses Traditional Photo: NARA
	June 2008 Anne Feeney How Long? Anne Feeney Photo: Dick DeMarsico
	May 2008 Pat Wynne When Rats Dream Pat Wynne, Bernard Gilbert Photo: NHGRI
	April 2008 George Mann Rest, Papa Rest George Mann Photo: Howard Goldbaum
	March 2008 Lynn Marie Smith Rebuilding The Union Movement Lynn Marie Smith, A Taste Of Honey Photo: Jim West
	February 2008 Dropkick Murphys Worker's Song (Handful of Earth) Ed Pickford Photos: Jim West, Fred Askew
	January 2008 Joe Uehlein Artists See The World In A Different Light Joe Uehlein, Dave Alvin Photo: FBI
	December 2007 Finest Kind Homeless Wassail Ian Robb Photo: Unknown
	November 2007 Guy Carawan Which Side Are You On? Florence Reece Photo: Harlan County Library
	October 2007 Paul Robeson Water Boy Avery Robinson Photos: Alan Lomax, Joseph John
	September 2007 Billy Bragg The Internationale Eugène Pottier, Pierre Degeyter, Billy Bragg Lithograph: Unknown
	August 2007 Si Kahn Go To Work On Monday Si Kahn Photo: Earl Dotter
	July 2007 The NewLanders The Altoona Freight Wreck Fred Tait-Douglas, Carson Robison Photo: Unknown
	June 2007 Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello And Now What? Zack de la Rocha Poster: Ahmed Resistol
	May 2007 Coco Brown I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night Alfred Hayes, Earl Robinson Oil: M. Baer
	April 2007 Ry Cooder Strike! Traditional, new verses by Ry Cooder Drawing: Vincent Valdez
	March 2007 Teresa Healy, Tom Juravich Bread and Roses James Oppenheim, Tom Juravich Painting: Ralph Fasanella
	February 2007 Detroit Cultural Workers and Artists Caucus Walking 500 Days Bob Vasseur Photos: Pat Beck, Daymon Hartley
	January 2007 New York City Labor Chorus Ode To Workers Friedrich Schiller, L. V. Beethoven, Jeff Vogel Photo: Unknown
	December 2006 Charlie Bernhardt Children Of Abraham John McCutcheon Photo: Jerry Anderson
	November 2006 Ted Warmbrand Who's The Criminal Ted Warmbrand Photo: Mizue Aiseki
	October 2006 Woody Guthrie Buffalo Skinners Woody Guthrie Painting: Neil Waldman.
	September 2006 Freedom Song Network Rockin' Solidarity Ralph Chaplin, David Welsh Painting: Irving Fromer.
	August 2006 Seattle Labor Chorus Torn Screen Door David Francey Photo: Eric Nelson
	July 2006 Emma's Revolution Bound For Freedom Pat Humphries, Sandy O Puppet: SOAW Puppetistas
	June 2006 David Rovics Used To Be A City David Rovics Photo: George Waldman
	May 2006 Len Wallace Leaving The Fishing Behind Len Wallace Drawing: H. W. Elliott, J. W. Collins
	April 2006 Marc Blitzstein The Nickel Under The Foot Marc Blitzstein Photo: Unknown
	March 2006 Judy Gorman Step By Step American Miners Association, Waldeman Hille, Pete Seeger Cartoon: Mark Hurwitt
	February 2006 John Handcox The Planter And The Sharecropper John Handcox Photo: Evelyn Munro Smith
	January 2006 Lynn Marie Smith U.N.I.O.N. Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali, Lynn Marie Smith Photo: Rebecca Cook
	December 2005 John McCutcheon Christmas In The Trenches John McCutcheon Drawing: Frederice Villiers
	November 2005 Davis Gloff, Michael Carluccio, Larry Schrock Radio, Guns, and Money Steve Jones Poster: W. DeLappe, Holly Syrrakos
	October 2005 Chris Chandler, David Roe The Pageant of the Paterson Silk Strike Chris Chandler, Lisa Stolarski John Henry's Slow Rag David Roe Poster: Robert Edmund Jones
	September 2005 Brooklyn Women's Chorus We Were There Bev Grant Ceramic mask: Geri Gventer
	August 2005 Anne Feeney Shut 'Cha Down Anne Feeney Photo: United Airlines
	July 2005 Francisco Javier Herrera La Tierra Eduardo Robledo Photo: Ellis Boal
	June 2005 Si Kahn He Lies In The American Land Andrew Kovaly / Pete Seeger Photo: It's All Relative
	May 2005 Luci Murphy, Pam Parker Mother's Day Peter Jones Publicity photos
	April 2005 Angel Martinez Memoirs of Bernardo Vega Bernardo Vega, Juan Flores, César Andreu Iglesias Photo: Unknown
	March 2005 Pam Parker We Speak Louder Than Machines Steve Jones Photo: Jim West
	February 2005 Maria Dunn Troublemaker Maria Dunn Photo: Glenbow Archives
	January 2005 The Troublemakers Troublemakers Theme Pauly Gailiunas Graphic: Ricardo Levins Morales
	December 2004 Joe Jencks Christmas In Mansfield Joe Jencks Painting: Ray Tapajna
	November 2004 Kelly Wideman A Capella Banjo Samuel Augustus Ward, Katherine Lee Bates, Earl Scruggs Photo: Jim West
	October 2004 Chris Bricker, George B, Utah Phillips, George Mann Hail To The Thief / Stupid's Pledge / I'm George W George Mann, James Sanderson, Utah Phillips, Stephen Foster Cover art: Quenton of rushlimbaughonline.com
	September 2004 Laurel Blaydes, Joe Jencks, Chapman Zon What Will I Leave Behind / If I Had A Golden Thread Si Kahn, Pete Seeger Photo: Jim West
	August 2004 Utah Phillips 1910 Spokane Free Speech Fight Utah Phillips Photo: Roger Leisner
	July 2004 Dave Lippman I Hate Wal-Mart Dave Lippman Photo: Jim West
	June 2004 Finland Station Unemployment Compensation Blues Les Pine, Jerry Silverman Photo: Dorothea Lange, Farm Security Administration
	May 2004 John McCutcheon What It's Like John McCutcheon Photo: Hormel Foods
	April 2004 Pete Seeger & Tao Rodriguez-Seeger A Little A' This 'N' That Pete Seeger
	March 2004 Charlie King & Karen Brandow Moving Day / We Shall Not Be Moved Fred Stanton / Traditional Photo: Unknown
	February 2004 Fruit Of Labor Solidarity Fruit Of Labor
	January 2004 Tom Juravich Ring Some Changes Tom Juravich Photo: Ellis Boal
	December 2003 Anne Feeney War On The Workers Anne Feeney Photo: Jim West
	November 2003 Rebel Voices Hospital Workers Paul McKenna Photo: Ellis Boal
	October 2003 Águila Negra El Mojado Flaco Jimenez Photo: Jim West
	September 2003 Joe Uehlein Jerusalem Steve Earle Photo: Ellis Boal
	August 2003 AFT Singers We're An On-Time Union Dottie Peoples, Gloria Britton-Ellis Photo: Michael Campbell
	July 2003 Jon Fromer, Francisco Herrera I Cannot Sleep Malvina Reynolds Photo: Ellis Boal
	June 2003 Pat Wynne Toxic Dreams Pat Wynne Photo: Pat Wynne
	May 2003 Susan Lewis, Janet Stecher, Luci Murphy Mean Things Happening / Roll The Union On Ain't You Got A Right John Handcox, Guy Carawan Photos: Labor Heritage Foundation, Highlander Center
	April 2003 George Mann & Julius Margolin If I Only Had A Brain Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, George Mann Photo: White House
	March 2003 Ray Korona The People Are In Charge Ray Korona Album cover: David Beyda
	February 2003 Charlie King One Puppet Town Charlie King Album cover: Mark Hurwitt
	January 2003 Pat Humphries No Sweat Bev Grant Graphics: Margaret Randall, Pat Humphries
	December 2002 David King Reindeer Games David King Doll: Linda Anderson
	November 2002 Bev Grant Labor Of Love Bev Grant
	October 2002 Charlie Ray Fetty III The Mobile Inspirational Charlie Ray Fetty III Colorado state fair parade float: USWA Local 2102
	September 2002 Joe Glazer The Mill Was Made Of Marble / I Ain't No Stranger Now Joe Glazer

Songs not otherwise attributed were recorded at the annual Great Labor Arts Exchange in 2001, 2003, 2004, or 2005 at the National Labor College/George Meany Center, Silver Spring, Maryland. Engineers: Bob Barnes, Ellis Boal, Charlie Ray Fetty III, Joe Jencks, Ray Korona, George Mann, Dave Sless, Isaac Wilson.

Listen in streaming RealAudio on a 56k modem or better.
Download a free RealPlayerSP.

Music Archives

	November 2009 Francisco Herrera Trabajo en el Hotel Francisco Herrera Photo: David Bacon
	October 2009 Kathy Mattea Blue Diamond Mines Jean Ritchie, Bill Monroe Photo: Unknown
	September 2009 Rich Trumka Raise Your Voice And Be Heard Rich Trumka Photo: Labor Heritage Foundation
	August 2009 Professor Louis Hurricane Professor Louie Watercolor: Ricardo Levins Morales
	July 2009 Special Get Ready To Strike Ray and Rachael Rodriguez Riley Wallace Photos: CWA
	June 2009 Billy Edd Wheeler Coal Tattoo Billy Edd Wheeler Photo: Earl Dotter
	May 2009 Joe Jencks Adonde Pertenezco Joe Jencks Photo: Scott Robinson
	April 2009 Rabble Rousers Card Count Bill Collins Photo: Corbis Bettmann
	March 2009 Dan Hall Lake Seaman's Union Men Dan Hall and David Norris Photo: Lee Rowe
	February 2009 Pete Seeger Talking Union Almanac Singers (Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger) Photos: Unknown.
	January 2009 Los Lobos, Santa Isabel School Children's Choir De Colores Traditional Cover: Domingo.
	December 2008 Steve Earle Christmas In Washington Steve Earle Photo: Jim West.
	November 2008 Emma's Revolution Coast of Maine Sandy O, Pat Humphries Photo: William B. Folsom.
	October 2008 Bev Grant & Dissident Daughters In America Bev Grant, Bruce Markow Photos: National Park Service, Russell Lee, Marion Post Wolcott
	September 2008 Jon Fromer Little One Jon Fromer Photo: Emily Kunstler
	August 2008 DC Labor Chorus Picket Line Songs Andries vanTonder, Susie Rucks, Traditional Photo: Unknown
	July 2008 Tayo Aluko Go Down Moses Traditional Photo: NARA
	June 2008 Anne Feeney How Long? Anne Feeney Photo: Dick DeMarsico
	May 2008 Pat Wynne When Rats Dream Pat Wynne, Bernard Gilbert Photo: NHGRI
	April 2008 George Mann Rest, Papa Rest George Mann Photo: Howard Goldbaum
	March 2008 Lynn Marie Smith Rebuilding The Union Movement Lynn Marie Smith, A Taste Of Honey Photo: Jim West
	February 2008 Dropkick Murphys Worker's Song (Handful of Earth) Ed Pickford Photos: Jim West, Fred Askew
	January 2008 Joe Uehlein Artists See The World In A Different Light Joe Uehlein, Dave Alvin Photo: FBI
	December 2007 Finest Kind Homeless Wassail Ian Robb Photo: Unknown
	November 2007 Guy Carawan Which Side Are You On? Florence Reece Photo: Harlan County Library
	October 2007 Paul Robeson Water Boy Avery Robinson Photos: Alan Lomax, Joseph John
	September 2007 Billy Bragg The Internationale Eugène Pottier, Pierre Degeyter, Billy Bragg Lithograph: Unknown
	August 2007 Si Kahn Go To Work On Monday Si Kahn Photo: Earl Dotter
	July 2007 The NewLanders The Altoona Freight Wreck Fred Tait-Douglas, Carson Robison Photo: Unknown
	June 2007 Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello And Now What? Zack de la Rocha Poster: Ahmed Resistol
	May 2007 Coco Brown I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night Alfred Hayes, Earl Robinson Oil: M. Baer
	April 2007 Ry Cooder Strike! Traditional, new verses by Ry Cooder Drawing: Vincent Valdez
	March 2007 Teresa Healy, Tom Juravich Bread and Roses James Oppenheim, Tom Juravich Painting: Ralph Fasanella
	February 2007 Detroit Cultural Workers and Artists Caucus Walking 500 Days Bob Vasseur Photos: Pat Beck, Daymon Hartley
	January 2007 New York City Labor Chorus Ode To Workers Friedrich Schiller, L. V. Beethoven, Jeff Vogel Photo: Unknown
	December 2006 Charlie Bernhardt Children Of Abraham John McCutcheon Photo: Jerry Anderson
	November 2006 Ted Warmbrand Who's The Criminal Ted Warmbrand Photo: Mizue Aiseki
	October 2006 Woody Guthrie Buffalo Skinners Woody Guthrie Painting: Neil Waldman.
	September 2006 Freedom Song Network Rockin' Solidarity Ralph Chaplin, David Welsh Painting: Irving Fromer.
	August 2006 Seattle Labor Chorus Torn Screen Door David Francey Photo: Eric Nelson
	July 2006 Emma's Revolution Bound For Freedom Pat Humphries, Sandy O Puppet: SOAW Puppetistas
	June 2006 David Rovics Used To Be A City David Rovics Photo: George Waldman
	May 2006 Len Wallace Leaving The Fishing Behind Len Wallace Drawing: H. W. Elliott, J. W. Collins
	April 2006 Marc Blitzstein The Nickel Under The Foot Marc Blitzstein Photo: Unknown
	March 2006 Judy Gorman Step By Step American Miners Association, Waldeman Hille, Pete Seeger Cartoon: Mark Hurwitt
	February 2006 John Handcox The Planter And The Sharecropper John Handcox Photo: Evelyn Munro Smith
	January 2006 Lynn Marie Smith U.N.I.O.N. Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali, Lynn Marie Smith Photo: Rebecca Cook
	December 2005 John McCutcheon Christmas In The Trenches John McCutcheon Drawing: Frederice Villiers
	November 2005 Davis Gloff, Michael Carluccio, Larry Schrock Radio, Guns, and Money Steve Jones Poster: W. DeLappe, Holly Syrrakos
	October 2005 Chris Chandler, David Roe The Pageant of the Paterson Silk Strike Chris Chandler, Lisa Stolarski John Henry's Slow Rag David Roe Poster: Robert Edmund Jones
	September 2005 Brooklyn Women's Chorus We Were There Bev Grant Ceramic mask: Geri Gventer
	August 2005 Anne Feeney Shut 'Cha Down Anne Feeney Photo: United Airlines
	July 2005 Francisco Javier Herrera La Tierra Eduardo Robledo Photo: Ellis Boal
	June 2005 Si Kahn He Lies In The American Land Andrew Kovaly / Pete Seeger Photo: It's All Relative
	May 2005 Luci Murphy, Pam Parker Mother's Day Peter Jones Publicity photos
	April 2005 Angel Martinez Memoirs of Bernardo Vega Bernardo Vega, Juan Flores, César Andreu Iglesias Photo: Unknown
	March 2005 Pam Parker We Speak Louder Than Machines Steve Jones Photo: Jim West
	February 2005 Maria Dunn Troublemaker Maria Dunn Photo: Glenbow Archives
	January 2005 The Troublemakers Troublemakers Theme Pauly Gailiunas Graphic: Ricardo Levins Morales
	December 2004 Joe Jencks Christmas In Mansfield Joe Jencks Painting: Ray Tapajna
	November 2004 Kelly Wideman A Capella Banjo Samuel Augustus Ward, Katherine Lee Bates, Earl Scruggs Photo: Jim West
	October 2004 Chris Bricker, George B, Utah Phillips, George Mann Hail To The Thief / Stupid's Pledge / I'm George W George Mann, James Sanderson, Utah Phillips, Stephen Foster Cover art: Quenton of rushlimbaughonline.com
	September 2004 Laurel Blaydes, Joe Jencks, Chapman Zon What Will I Leave Behind / If I Had A Golden Thread Si Kahn, Pete Seeger Photo: Jim West
	August 2004 Utah Phillips 1910 Spokane Free Speech Fight Utah Phillips Photo: Roger Leisner
	July 2004 Dave Lippman I Hate Wal-Mart Dave Lippman Photo: Jim West
	June 2004 Finland Station Unemployment Compensation Blues Les Pine, Jerry Silverman Photo: Dorothea Lange, Farm Security Administration
	May 2004 John McCutcheon What It's Like John McCutcheon Photo: Hormel Foods
	April 2004 Pete Seeger & Tao Rodriguez-Seeger A Little A' This 'N' That Pete Seeger
	March 2004 Charlie King & Karen Brandow Moving Day / We Shall Not Be Moved Fred Stanton / Traditional Photo: Unknown
	February 2004 Fruit Of Labor Solidarity Fruit Of Labor
	January 2004 Tom Juravich Ring Some Changes Tom Juravich Photo: Ellis Boal
	December 2003 Anne Feeney War On The Workers Anne Feeney Photo: Jim West
	November 2003 Rebel Voices Hospital Workers Paul McKenna Photo: Ellis Boal
	October 2003 Águila Negra El Mojado Flaco Jimenez Photo: Jim West
	September 2003 Joe Uehlein Jerusalem Steve Earle Photo: Ellis Boal
	August 2003 AFT Singers We're An On-Time Union Dottie Peoples, Gloria Britton-Ellis Photo: Michael Campbell
	July 2003 Jon Fromer, Francisco Herrera I Cannot Sleep Malvina Reynolds Photo: Ellis Boal
	June 2003 Pat Wynne Toxic Dreams Pat Wynne Photo: Pat Wynne
	May 2003 Susan Lewis, Janet Stecher, Luci Murphy Mean Things Happening / Roll The Union On Ain't You Got A Right John Handcox, Guy Carawan Photos: Labor Heritage Foundation, Highlander Center
	April 2003 George Mann & Julius Margolin If I Only Had A Brain Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, George Mann Photo: White House
	March 2003 Ray Korona The People Are In Charge Ray Korona Album cover: David Beyda
	February 2003 Charlie King One Puppet Town Charlie King Album cover: Mark Hurwitt
	January 2003 Pat Humphries No Sweat Bev Grant Graphics: Margaret Randall, Pat Humphries
	December 2002 David King Reindeer Games David King Doll: Linda Anderson
	November 2002 Bev Grant Labor Of Love Bev Grant
	October 2002 Charlie Ray Fetty III The Mobile Inspirational Charlie Ray Fetty III Colorado state fair parade float: USWA Local 2102
	September 2002 Joe Glazer The Mill Was Made Of Marble / I Ain't No Stranger Now Joe Glazer

Songs not otherwise attributed were recorded at the annual Great Labor Arts Exchange in 2001, 2003, 2004, or 2005 at the National Labor College/George Meany Center, Silver Spring, Maryland. Engineers: Bob Barnes, Ellis Boal, Charlie Ray Fetty III, Joe Jencks, Ray Korona, George Mann, Dave Sless, Isaac Wilson.

Listen in streaming RealAudio on a 56k modem or better.
Download a free RealPlayerSP.