Steve Earle & The Dukes – “Devil Put The Coal In The Ground”
Steve Earle & The Dukes have a new album coming this May. Titled Ghosts Of West Virginia, it’s built largely from songs Earle wrote for Coal Country, a new play by The Exonerated’s Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen running throughout March at NYC’s Public Theater. Earle performs the tunes as part of the stage production, which is currently in previews.
Whereas Earle sees his The Revolution Starts…Now album as an exercise in preaching to the choir, he conceived Ghosts Of West Virginia in the hopes of connecting with working people who don’t see the world the same way he does. In a press release, he explains, “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.”
The album’s lead single is called “Devil Put The Coal In The Ground,” and you can hear it below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Heaven Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”
02 “Union, God And Country”
03 “Devil Put The Coal In The Ground”
04 “John Henry Was A Steel Drivin’ Man”
05 “Time Is Never On Our Side’
06 “It’s About Blood”
07 “If I Could See Your Face Again” (Feat. Eleanor Whitmore)
08 “Black Lung”
09 “Fastest Man Alive”
10 “The Mine”
Ghosts Of West Virginia is out 5/22 via New West. Pre-order it here.
