We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Local 6167

from Jewell Ridge Coal by Jeni & Billy

/
  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Jewell Ridge Coal is steeped in the traditions of the mine and the families whose lives depended on them. The production is simple and uncluttered; the lead instrument is clearly the voice of Jeni, for whom these songs are like members of the family.
    – Wayne Winkler, Now & Then: The Journal of Appalachian Culture

    Jewell Ridge Coal is the best CD by folk, edge of bluegrass artists I've heard in a long time. Jeni's singing sounds to me like a cross between the young Hazel Dickens and Iris Dement. The songs range from raw and powerful to sweet and funny. The instrumental work is excellent and the harmony is just what you'd want it to be." – Si Kahn, Songwriter and Activist

    A six panel eco-friendly wallet, designed by Jeni and her father, Greg Hankins, featuring photos from Jewell Ridge and the Smith Family archives. A 16-page booklet includes all lyrics and credits — plus more photos of Jewell Ridge. The envelope also includes a souvenir postcard.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Jewell Ridge Coal via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 2 days

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 26 Jeni Hankins releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of String Unraveller Demo May 2021, The American Dream (Harlis and Freda), Voice Memo Demo, I'm Letting Go of You – Kitchen Single, The Wondarium: Songs For Kids, A Body is a Delicate House, I Fell Into the Fire, The Loneliest Snowman, I Fell Into The Fire – Limited Edition Handprinted, and 18 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $181.68 USD or more (20% OFF)

     

lyrics

Local 6167

Well I’ll go down to Coaldan and I’ll lay on the tracks
and I’ll listen to the rails that stopped talking back.
Or I’ll go down to Richlands to a Blue Tornados game
and I’ll look for the old-timers and ask them their names.
Did you know Hankins in the UMWA?
Were you there when Meadows got his black lung pay?

There used to be a train that hauled this coal away
back when John L. Lewis paved the miner’s way.
Now there’s just a strike shack fallen to disrepair
and if you go down to the coalfields, well there ain’t no miners there.

I’ll go across to Smith Ridge to the Friendly Chapel Church
and I’ll ask the good women there to help me keep my shirt.
They’re bound to have some dinner there or a pack of cigarettes.
I’ll take their religion if that is all I can get.
They tell me that Jesus is for the UMWA
and it don’t mean nothing what the politicians say.

There used to be a train that hauled this coal away
back when John L. Lewis paved the miner’s way.
Now there’s just a strike shack fallen to disrepair
and if you go down to the coalfields, well there ain’t no miners there.

John Lewis called the mines a blood and bones machine
that grinds up the miner for the American Dream.
Now the Company’s got machines that’ll mine for the coal
and they don’t need us miners to go down in that hole.
Well God bless Jewell Ridge and the UMWA
and God bless the miner who has seen his day.

There used to be a train that hauled this coal away
back when John L. Lewis paved the miner’s way.
Now there’s just a strike shack fallen to disrepair
and if you go down to the coalfields, well there ain’t no miners there.

© 2004 Jeni Hankins, BMI

credits

from Jewell Ridge Coal, released January 1, 2008

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Jeni Hankins London, UK

Jeni Hankins grew up in the coalfields of Appalachian in Southwest Virginia among a family of miners, moonshiners, and journalists. Her writing pulls the grit, gumption, and keen sense of observation out of that heritage like drawing water from her grandmother’s well.

In every song, Jeni’s “true sense of place shines through – old as the hills, but brand new at the same time.”
... more

contact / help

Contact Jeni Hankins

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

Jeni Hankins recommends:

If you like Jeni Hankins, you may also like: