The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore

When we were growing up, the undisputed queen of Kentucky folk music was the extraordinary singer/songwriter Jean Ritchie. Memories of her cool-as-crystal-water voice singing a cappella on some mountain ballad still send shivers down our spines. Now Jean typically eschewed controversial topics, but in the mid-1960s, the plight of impoverished coal miners in his native Perry County moved her to write perhaps her best known song, one we’ve been playing for decades now. Here’s a recent rendition from one of our recent minimalist rehearsal with Doug Chaffin on lead guitar and Danny Gillum standing in on upright bass. The highlight of the track is Paul Martin’s haunting solos and fills, first on mandolin, then on acoustic guitar.