Mattea 's decision to make an album about this topic was influenced by the fact that both of her grandfathers were miners , as well as by the Sago Mine disaster in 2006 , which , when it occurred , reminded Mattea of the Farmington Mine disaster that had occurred when she was nine years old . She has said that she was expecting a set of stories in the songs she covered on this album , but instead found a connection to her miner ancestors . Her deep interest in this topic was also noted by the album 's producer , Marty Stuart , as when they were recording the a cappella song " Black Lung " . Stuart said it would be like " trying to repaint the ' Mona Lisa ' " , in that it requires authentic commitment to the task . Mattea also stated that it was so difficult for her to learn the song that it took her six months to do so . Nevertheless , the first recording of Mattea 's version of the song ended up being kept after it made the recording engineer , whose father had died of black lung disease , cry . Stuart reacted by telling Mattea that this was a sign she was performing the song right
Farmington Mine disaster
Farmington Mine disaster
Coal (Kathy Mattea album)