Music for the Mountains and Music for the Mountains 2 are compilation albums released at two live concerts created to call attention to (and raise funds to fight against) mountaintop removal, a form of mining in which explosives are used to blast the tops off of mountains so that coal companies can access strips of coal, which eventually gets converted into energy for everyone’s households. Mountaintop removal is employed in the hills of Kentucky, West Virginia and east Tennessee. It permanently destroys the landscape, and it pollutes the environment, including the drinking water for the local residents To date more than 500 Appalachian mountains have been dynamited and nearly 2,000 miles of rivers and streams have been choked by mountaintop removal coal mining. The Appalachians are the only mountain range in the country where this practice is allowed.

The most recent concert and album release show was a "whole-house" show (utilizing all three stages) at the SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL in Newport, KY on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2013.

Here is the finalized list of tracks for the Music for the Mountains 2 compilation CD (23 great tracks, all unique to this album and not available anywhere else):

01 UNCLE MIKE CARR - "Traditional Fiddle Tune #1" (traditional tune recorded for this project)
02 THE TILLERS - "Gospel Plow" (traditional tune recorded for this project)
03 THE BEAR - "Coal" (original song written for this project)
04 MAGNOLIA MOUNTAIN - "Appalachian Home" (original song written for this project)
05 RABBIT HASH STRING BAND - "Sowing on the Mountain" (traditional tune recorded for this project)
06 RED CEDARS - "Mountain That Eats Men" (original song written for this project)
07 THE KENTUCKY STRUTS - "Prayer (Mountain Remix)" (original song remixed for this project)
08 JAKE SPEED AND THE FREDDIES - "Raining on the Mountain" (original song written for this project)
09 10 STRING SYMPHONY - "Quicksand" (original song recorded for this project)
10 UNCLE MIKE CARR - "Cotton Eyed Joe" (traditional tune recorded for this project)
11 TEX SCHRAMM AND THE RADIO KING COWBOYS - "Blue Ridge Mountain Square Dance" (original song written for this project)
12 MA CROW AND THE LADY SLIPPERS - "Memory of a Mountain" (original song written for this project)
13 WONKY TONK - "Mister Peabody Struck Again" (original song written for this project)
14 JEFF SCOTT ROBERSON - "Where the Bitternut Fell" (original song written for this project)
15 JANET PRESSLEY - "If a Mountain Could Speak" (original song written for this project)
16 THE MITCHELLS - "Elisha" (original song written for this project)
17 BILLY TWO SHOES - "Go On, Buddy" (original song written for this project)
18 SUSAN PEPPER - "Now is the Cool of the Day" (Jean Ritchie cover recorded for this project)
19 MARGARET DARLING - "Farther Still" (original song written for this project) 
20 JEAN DOWELL WITH MIKE OBERST - "Little Country Cabin" (original song recorded for this project)
21 KENTUCKY TIMBRE - "Mountaintop Home" (original song written for this project)
22 TERMINAL UNION - "There on That Mountain" (original song written for this project)
23 UNCLE MIKE CARR - "Traditional Fiddle Tune #2" (traditional tune recorded for this project)

The Music for the Mountains 2 CD is available for purchase online from OHIO CITZEN ACTION. It is also available for purchase as a digital download with a bonus track ("Your Hometown" by PORTER AND THE POLLIES) from the THIS IS AMERICAN MUSIC record label.

Sponsors for the event were The Puffin Foundation, Greenpeace, 89.7 WNKU-FM, CityBeat, Shake It Records, Everybodys Records, KN8 Designs, Serif Sound, Center City Collision, Whispering Beard Folk Festival, Folk School Coffee Parlor, Transportaion Connection Inc., and Novena Designworks. Northern Kentucky artists Todd Lipscomb and Dave Umbenhour produced a limited-edition, hand-pulled screen print especially for the event:

All proceeds from the album, the prints, and the concert were split 50/50 between Ohio Citizen Action and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, the two most local organizations fighting against MTR.

FINALIZED PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE FOR THE BENEFIT CONCERT ON SAT., OCT. 12, 2013:

Watch this space for further updates. You can also keep up with the project by "Liking" our Facebook Page.

READ BELOW FOR INFORMATION ON THE FIRST "MUSIC FOR THE MOUNTAINS" PROJECT:

The first Music for the Mountains CD, a compilation album of music by artists from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Alabama, features a combination of songs specially written or covered for this project and other previously-unreleased tracks not available on any other album. NONE OF THE MUSIC ON THE CD IS AVAILABLE ANYWHERE ELSE. It was released in conjunction with a "whole-house" benefit concert at the historic Southgate House in Newport, KY on Saturday, February 12, 2011. (By "whole-house", we mean that we secured all three stages within the venue - lounge, parlour, and ballroom - to feature musicians devoting their time and talents to this project). Featured artists included a veritable who's-who of the regional roots music scene, with artists like The Tillers, The Hiders, Kim Taylor, Magnolia Mountain, Shiny and the Spoon, Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker of Wussy, Joey Kneiser and Kelly Kneiser of Glossary, Ed Cunningham, Ma Crow, David Rhodes Brown, Frontier Folk Nebraska, The Rabbit Hash String Band and more all pitching in to aid the cause. The concert also featured author Jeff Biggers (Reckoning at Eagle Creek), filmmaker Mari-Lynn Evans (Coal Country, Low Coal), and other speakers on the subject of mountaintop removal coal mining, as well as informational and sign-up tables for people who were interested in getting involved in the ongoing fight against this obscenity.

This project was spearheaded by Mark Utley of the Cincinnati-based Americana band Magnolia Mountain. Sponsors for the event were 89.7 WNKU-FM, CityBeat, Shake It Records, Neltner Creative, Goodsleeve Screenprinting, and Novena Designworks. Acclaimed Northern Kentucky artist Keith Neltner produced a series of three stunning hand-pulled screen prints especially for the event:

All proceeds from the album, the prints, and the concert were split 50/50 between Ohio Citizen Action and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, the two most local organizations fighting against MTR.

The "Music for the Mountains" benefit concert and CD release show was a huge success by any yardstick. The 625-capacity venue sold out in two hours and the final total raised for the evening was over $11,700.00.

LINKS TO ONLINE ARTICLES ABOUT THE EVENTS OF THE WEEKEND:

CityBeat Magazine: "Fire on the Mountain: Mark Utley Spearheads Project to Fight Mountaintop Removal Mining"

The News Record: "Mountaintop Removal Spurs Musical Protest"

Ohio Citizen Action: "600 Pack Sold-Out Music for the Mountains Benefit"

Copies of the "Music for the Mountains" CD are available for sale online from Ohio Citizen Action and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. They are also available from Cincinnati-area merchants Shake It Records, Everybody's Records, Mole's Record Exchange, and Park + Vine. The album is also available as a digital download from the This is American Music record label.

FINALIZED TRACK LISTING FOR THE CD:

01 JOEY KNEISER (of Glossary) - "Me, William, and the Mountain" (original song written for this project)
02 RABBIT HASH STRING BAND - "High on a Mountain" (Ola Belle Reed cover recorded for this project)
03 MAGNOLIA MOUNTAIN - "The Hand of Man" (original song written for this project)
04 SHINY AND THE SPOON - "Black Nag" (original song written for this project)
05 MA CROW AND TRINA EMIG - "Foggy Mountain Top" (traditional tune recorded for this project)
06 DUQUETTE JOHNSTON - "Blood for Money" (original song written for this project)
07 KIM TAYLOR - "Build You Up" (previously unreleased studio track donated for this project)
08 UNCLE MIKE CARR AND TOMMY TAYLOR - "Sugar Hill" (traditional tune donated to this project)
09 THE TILLERS - "My Red River Home" (Boys from Indiana cover recorded for this project)
10 THE RUBBER KNIFE GANG - "Forever Remain" (original song written for this project)
11 CHUCK CLEAVER & LISA WALKER (of Wussy) - "Mountain in Our Backyard" (original song written for this project)
12 FRONTIER FOLK NEBRASKA - "Clay's Room" (original song written for this project)
13 THE HIDERS - "White Hat Blues" (previously unreleased studio track donated for this project)
14 MIKE OBERST (of The Tillers) - "Coal Creek March" (traditional tune recorded for this project)
15 JANET PRESSLEY - "Come Thou Fount" (previously unreleased studio track donated for this project)
16 ED CUNNINGHAM AND BRAD MEINERDING (of Comet Bluegrass All-Stars) - "Brookside '73" (original song written for this project)
17 RED CEDARS - "Coal Miner's Blues" (traditional tune recorded for this project)
18 MURDER CREEK ASSEMBLY - "Note to Jimmie Rodgers" (original song written for this project)
19 BROWNGRASS & WILDFLOWERS - "The Price" (original song written for this project)
20 HICKORY ROBOT - "Bluegrass Lullaby" (original song written for this project)
21 SEAN GEIL (of The Tillers) - "I've Endured" (Ola Belle Reed cover recorded for this project)

FINALIZED PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE FOR THE BENEFIT CONCERT ON SAT., FEB. 12, 2011:

Dozens of photographs of the event are available to view at the "Music for the Mountains" facebook page.

THANK YOU TO ALL PARTICIPATING ARTISTS, SPONSORS, VOLUNTEERS, ATTENDEES, AND SUPPORTERS!