The title track for Dark Black Coal two years before its release.
When this video was recorded at just seventeen years old, Logan Halstead was a hidden gem, waiting to be mined out of Appalachia.
You have to give a hand to video platforms like Red Barn Radio and RadioWV for discovering these young talents. Giving up and coming artists a platform to showcase high quality performances helps to rocket launch them into the public eye.
That is precisely what happened when RadioWV filmed Logan Halstead singing “Dark Black Coal.”
With the video now having 6.4 million views, fans (including myself) are going back and reliving the magic of Halstead from the start of his career after his album release.
The album’s title track highlights the hardships and other trials that coal miners face. The track is heavy, raw, and authentic.
“And you miss being younger, a boy with a hungerTo get far away from this townYou never knew how, why, or whenJust knew that you’d make it somehowNow twenty years older shoulder to shoulderWith boys who we’re just like youSpending their lives undergroundProving their collars are blue.”
Appalachian songwriters can dig (no pun intended) so much deeper, given the environment they grew up in. Halstead capitalized on that for this track and throughout the whole album, giving listeners a peek into life in the holler.
There is no doubt the virality of this video made the release of Dark Black Coal so highly anticipated, even two years later.
For fun, check out the Spotify OurVinyl Session of the tune too.
