An all-star line-up featuring Dave Matthews and Emmylou Harris got together overnight to sing to stop Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining.
The show was on last night (May 20, 2010) at the iconic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.Alison Krauss, Patty Griffin, Kathy Mattea, Patty Loveless, Big Kenny and Buddy Miller played on the bill.
The ‘Music Saves Mountains’ show specifically targeted Appalachian communities.
"Protecting Appalachia's natural heritage is critical in preserving both our musical legacy and the future of our craft," said Emmylou Harris. "The Appalachians have inspired countless country, folk, bluegrass, gospel and Americana songs. Now those sources of inspiration are being secretly destroyed. We're standing together with one voice to send the message that we will not sit idly by while our mountains are being blown apart."
"For generations, countless legendary performers have shared with the world songs that celebrate Appalachia," said Big Kenny of Big & Rich. "This campaign is no different. We're celebrating these treasured mountains and want the whole world to know that they will be lost forever if we don't all come together and help end mountaintop removal."
The collective says it is not anti-mining. “Rather, it seeks to raise awareness and put an end to just one destructive form of coal mining, mountaintop removal,” their statement says. “Less than 7 percent of the coal mined in the U.S. comes from mountaintop removal, and yet its cost to local communities and the environment is irreparable and devastating”.
"Nothing good comes from mountaintop removal," said NRDC president Frances Beinecke. "It costs jobs, destroys forests and poisons drinking water. People become sick as a result of this form of mining, and communities are forever damaged. Mountaintop removal would never be allowed in America's other treasured mountain ranges, such as the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada or the Adirondacks. It should not be allowed in the Appalachians, and it must stop."
