The LoneTones

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KNOXVILLE — When the LoneTones perform before the showing of the film "Coal Country" on Monday LoneTones co-lead singer/songwriter Steph Gunnoe can sing with particular insight.

"I grew up in West Virginia where it's probably the worst," says Gunnoe. "I think there's about 300,000 acres that have been (used for mountaintop mining) since I graduated from high school."

Coal mining has a history of controversy. Unlike old mines which cut caverns into the side of mountains, mountaintop removal takes the entire top off of mountains to get to the veins of coal. The rock and soil that is removed is dumped into valleys often burying streams and changing the flow of runoff water from rains. And, with no trees, topsoil or natural fauna to trap water, flooding is a regular side effect of the process.

The LoneTones became involved with the cause when LoneTones co-lead singer/songwriter Sean McCullough found a request on the Internet for musical submissions for an album that would be a fundraiser for Aurora Lights, an organization that raises awareness about mountaintop removal mining. The group's song "State of the Art" was chosen to be included in the album "Still Moving Mountains: The Journey Home," which also includes contributions from the Del McCoury Band, Kathy Mattea, Blue Highway and many others.

"It's a really good album," says McCullough. "We're definitely happy to be part of it."

The LoneTones also agreed to perform a series of benefit concerts and to perform before the showing of the film "Coal Country."

Gunnoe and McCullough, who are married, say the visits back to West Virginia can be tense.

Considering that approximately 60 percent of the electricity in the Southeastern United States is generated by burning coal, and the coal industry supplies jobs to the areas where mining takes place, it is a controversial topic.

Gunnoe says that when she visits family in Boone County, W. Va., there's always a sense of tension from those against mountain top removal and those for it.

"There's almost a Civil War feel to it in West Virginia," she says. "The people there have bumper stickers with either 'I love mountains' or 'I love coal.'"

She says that although the companies attempt to make the mountains look a little better after they have been mined, it is not the same.

"The reclaimed sites are really weird-looking because only a certain type of grass grows there," she says. "They don't have luck (replanting) trees because the topsoil is gone. ... You don't have to do too much for people to be outraged. If you show a picture, sometimes that's enough."

McCullough says that, regardless of your take on the issue, it's good to think about where the energy you use comes from and all the costs it entails.

"A lot of times when people think about energy use they don't think it is connected to them, but this is," he says.

"I don't know the solution," says Gunnoe, "but it's good to have a discussion about it."

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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