Steve Earle - Ghosts of West Virginia [Private Virtual In-Store]

Virtual In-Store bundle sales are now closed.

Private Virtual In-Store • May 15, 2020 @ 8PM EDT

If you purchased, you will receive instructions via email on how to tune in.

Ghosts Of West Virginia is still available for pre-order through a variety of retailers.

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Pre-order Ghosts of West Virginia ticket packages from your local record store to get access to the in-store performance.

Price includes shipping and handling. Physical products are only available in the United States. Outside the US, please choose the ticket-only option.

Album will ship on or before May 22, 2020. Ticket to the virtual in-store will arrive via email prior to May 15 with complete instructions.

** Indie-exclusive edition available while supplies last

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.”

In ten deftly drawn, roughly eloquent, powerfully conveyed sonic portraits, Earle and his long-time band the Dukes explore the historical role of coal in rural communities. More than merely a question of jobs and income, mining has provided a sense of unity and meaning, patriotic pride and purpose.

“I said I wanted to speak to people that didn’t necessarily vote the way that I did,” he says, “but that doesn’t mean we don’t have anything in common. We need to learn how to communicate with each other. My involvement in this project is my little contribution to that effort. And the way to do that – and to do it impeccably – is simply to honor those guys who died at Upper Big Branch.”

TRACKLIST: 

Side A - 

1. Heaven Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
2. Union, God and Country
3. Devil Put the Coal in the Ground
4. John Henry was a Steel Drivin’ Man
5. Time is Never on Our Side

1. It’s About Blood
2. If I Could See Your Face Again
3. Black Lung
4. Fastest Man Alive
5. The Mine