MUSIC OF COAL: Mining Songs from the Appalachian Coalfields

A bit of disclaimer here -- it was interesting that in the interview with Melissa Block, someone (the transcriber?) couldn't make heads nor tails of the Appalachian dialect and their interpretation of some lyrics is rather amusing. For instance, in Aunt Molly Jackson's song Hardtimes in Coleman's Mines the line "and without a bite o' meat" was transcribed as "without a bottle of mead". Methinks someone got lost on their way to the Renaissance Fair. In the Appalachian dialect the letter "f" in "of" is sometimes dropped, depending on the application and region; the phrase "bite of meat" would sound like "baat uh meat" or "baat o meat" (I'm more familiar with the former).

http://www.crawdaddydave.net/tom_t_hall/podcasts/01_npr_jack_wright_interview/09_03_07_music_of_coal.html

MUSIC OF COAL -
Mining Songs from the Appalachian Coalfields

Two years in the making, the two-CD set Music of Coal: Mining Songs from the Appalachian Coalfields collects 48 songs addressing various aspects of coalmining history and culture, including black lung, union organizing, environmental impacts and the contribution of coal to the national economy. The CDs are accompanied by a richly detailed book of liner notes and lyrics, as well as striking historical photographs...

"CD Celebrates Music from the Coal Mines"
All Things Considered, September 3, 2007
Melissa Block Interview with Jack Wright on NPR (read or listen)