ALAN JACKSON PAYS TRIBUTE TO FALLEN MINERS & RESCUE WORKERS FROM UPPER BIG BRANCH MINING DISASTER
WEST VIRGINIA COMMUNITY GIVES JACKSON A ROARING WELCOME!
Over the weekend, country music superstar Alan Jackson honored the fallen miners and rescue workers from April’s Upper Big Branch mining disaster with a benefit concert performance at the Charleston WV Civic Center. The 31 families affected and 230 rescue workers who were on site at the nation’s biggest mining disaster in four decades were offered free tickets to the show. 27 families who lost loved ones and the two whose family members survived met with Jackson before the show, including the family of Cory Davis who would have been 21 on Saturday. His family presented Jackson with a bracelet with David’s birthday on it, and Jackson wore it throughout the show.
Jackson kicked off his FREIGHT TRAIN tour date with the rousing #1 hit “Gone Country”, and told the packed auditorium that, “We're here to honor the ones that we lost or were injured and we're gonna celebrate their lives with some music." The show featured some of his biggest hits and tracks from his newest hit album Freight Train. During the show, Jackson’s long time pedal steel player Robbie Flint, originally from Sylvester, WV, played the haunting ballad “Coalwood” as the faces of the miners flashed on two large screens on either side of the stage. As each name and face appeared, cheers reverberated through the crowd. Jackson followed the heart-felt tribute with his post 9/11 anthem, "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning.
Profits from the benefit go to the Montcoal Mining Disaster Fund, administrated by the West Virginia Council of Churches. Rev. Dennis Sparks, Exec Director of the Fund said, “Alan Jackson was the right music star for the moment to come to West Virginia and honor the memories of the miners lost at the Upper Big Branch and to all miners who go into the mines each day; his music and performance offers a genuine expression of the hearts of our people. We offer a heartfelt thank you to Alan Jackson, his band and his entire team. The Montcoal Mining Disaster Fund will be enormously enhanced through his concert.” To make a donation:
Governor Joe Manchin’s office named Jackson an “Honorary West Virginian” for his efforts on behalf of the community.
A native of small town Newnan, GA, Alan Jackson is one of country music’s most respected and honored recording artists and songwriters. In songs like “Small Town Southern Man”, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” and “Hard Hat and a Hammer” from his newest album Freight Train, the special grace of Jackson’s words and music have made him an eloquent spokesman for the pride and struggles of working families everywhere. Photos of Alan Jackson:http://www.dbaronmedia.com/alan-jackson-biography.html
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