Founded in 1999, The Coal Men have been playing there own brand of roots rock ‘n’ roll for twelve years with the same core line up. Guitarist and lead singer Dave Coleman grew up with bassist Jason “Hitch” Hitchcock in rural Jamestown, TN. After playing in high school bands, the blood brothers from the Cumberland Plateau both moved to Nashville. Coleman started writing his own songs, and through luck and fate, wrote for two years at legendary Acuff-Rose Music Publishing.
The Coal Men formed as an outlet for these songs with the addition of drummer and singer Dave Ray, a Virginian native. The band tightened with residency gigs in Nashville. “Playing every Tuesday night for six months was a way to explore songs in every avenue.” The band released their first E.P in 2001 and their first full length record in 2004. Coleman spent time as a side guitarist for major label acts on Warner Brothers Records and Big Machine Records. The band started touring with ventures into North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia.
The album “Beauty is a Moment” brought The Coal Men into 2006 with an extended band. Jen Gunderman (The Jayhawks) joined on keyboards, and Chris Frame (Son Volt) joined playing a second guitar. The Song “Louisiana” from that record was featured on a Benefit album for New Orleans Flood Survivors. The album has been played extensively on Sirius/XM Radio’s Loft Station.
The Bands 2009 album Kids with Songs, found the band back as a stream lined three piece and on the road in the “Silver Beagle” van for a long time, opening for acts such as the Avett Brothers, Chris Knight, and Roger Clyne and the Peace Makers; and also a performance on West Virginia’s Mountain Stage, alongside The Squirrel Nut Zippers and Southern Culture on the Skids. In 2010 the band opened for and backed the Banjo/Slide guitar virtuoso Tony Furtado on a tour out west to Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Wyoming.
