While we’re down in the bowels of mother earth, let’s tip a dulcimer to the men (and women) who loosen the anthracite from the veins of the planet.
AJ Lee delivers “Christmas in a Coal Mine” as a fretting little girl worried about her daddy coming home. Pretty, light folkcountry for such a terrifying topic.
A bit more Tom Waits-ish, Matt Miskie gets the gruffer POV when he makes his folk way to “Christmas at the Coal Mine.” Also sad, cuz people might die.
Adam Bolt’s “Coal for Christmas” is about the miner Daddy who brings home presents, but they’re all coal anyway, ‘cuz they’re poor. Folk but a bit more Celtic. And Daddy dies.
The Barra MacNeils thistle and stomp for “Miners’ First Noel” about the laborers who take a nearly-tragic moment to reflect on the season and celebrate. Party/prayer break!