Steve Earle & The Dukes Unveil ‘It’s About Blood’ Single

Steve Earle and The Dukes released the single, “It’s About Blood.” The track will appear on Earle and company’s forthcoming album, Ghosts Of West Virginia, out on May 22 via New West Records.

The album focuses on the tragic Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion that killed 29 men in 2010. Investigations later revealed that safety violations contributed to the disaster and were subsequently covered up. Earle began the project when playwrights Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen approached him to write and perform the music for their theatre production, Coal Country, tracing the narrative of the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion.

One of the theatre performances features Earle speaking the names of those lost in the explosion. That performance became the song “It’s About Blood,” originally premiered by Mother Jones. Listen to it below: