The Coal Men Dave Coleman’s, er, Coal Men doesn’t stray far from even the most middle-of-the-road MOR. Even the band’s label describes its music as meat and potatoes … calls it “old school” music. Which could lead you to believe that listening to these Coal Men is pretty much the aural equivalent of sitting down to a tinned dinner of corned beef hash: Rib-stickin’, yet redundant. Yet, to Coleman’s credit, it works. The band’s latest, Kids With Songs, was recorded on a 16-track analog reel-to-reel (that’s good old-school), and most of it was done live in the studio. True, it’s still slicker than the spit that used to seal deals on Nashville’s Music Row – there’s more than a bit of country in the band’s country-rock – but it’s an honest slick, meaning finely polished, not bowdlerized. Call it “Jeff Twitty” – equal parts early Wilco and Conway-style country, served without pretense. Double Door Inn
This article appears in Dec 1-7, 2009.
