Kin & Coal

06/12/2026

Gas prices are high enough right now that this song wrote itself. 🤣
"Ain’t Buying Gas No More" is a little Kin & Coal comedic interlude for everybody who has stood at the pump recently, watched the total climb, and briefly considered 19th-century transportation.

Grandpa may have been onto something.

🐴⛽

Lyrics and storytelling by Shirley Radabaugh.
Music brought to life with modern digital music and AI vocal tools.

06/10/2026

Thank y’all for listening, commenting, and sharing. I’m truly grateful.

The last two songs have leaned into the “Coal” side of Kin & Coal — the mountain that gives, the mountain that takes, and the creeks that still carry the scars.

And we can’t tell these stories without leaning into who our kin were: true mountaineers, coal families, hard workers, storytellers, and people who knew how to keep going.

More coal stories and songs are coming. After all, it’s called Kin & Coal for a reason.
♥️
~ Shirley

06/07/2026

🎵 New from Kin & Coal

Coal history is complicated.

The mountain fed families. It put bread on the table. It gave men work, purpose, pride, and a way to carry their families through hard times.

But it also took names.

This song is for the miners who walked to the mine mouth before daylight, for the mothers who kept supper warm, and for the families who understood that coal gave — but it always asked a price.

I’m only sharing a short clip here because the full song is now streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

“The Mountain Gives, The Mountain Takes”

A Kin & Coal song for Preston County, coal families, and the names the mountain remembers.

Thank you for listening, commenting, and sharing — it truly keeps me going.

Based on real history, places, and people.
Lyrics and storytelling by Shirley Radabaugh.
Many thanks to James Brown for use of his photos.
Brought to life with modern digital music and AI vocal tools.

06/06/2026

I’ve had a few people ask what genre the music from Kin & Coal really is.

The honest answer: I don’t think it belongs to just one.

It isn’t strictly bluegrass, country, folk, Americana, gospel, or old-time. Kin & Coal is a storytelling project. The story comes first, and the sound follows.

"Two Sons from Preston County" needed weight — rooted in place, loss, and wartime sacrifice.

“When Pap Stopped at Street’s” needed something different — playful, local, and front-porch-story kind of fun.

“The Hills Keep Score” called for a darker, more cinematic sound to tell the story of the 1869 Preston County courthouse fire and the mystery surrounding Elihu Gregg.

Three songs. Three very different sounds.

What connects them isn’t genre. It’s real people, real places, family history, local history, and memories that survive long after the people are gone.

So no, Kin & Coal probably won’t ever fit neatly into one musical category.

The story decides the music.

The genre is the story.
❤️

06/06/2026

🎵 Full song is up this morning.

Yesterday I shared a short clip of “Before the Rocks Turned Orange.” Today, I’m sharing the full story.

This song was inspired by Deckers Creek — by what acid mine runoff did to the water, the orange-stained rocks it left behind, and the people who kept believing that a wounded creek could run clean again.

Some stories are about what was lost.

This one is also about what was restored.

06/05/2026

🎵 New from Kin & Coal

Deckers Creek once ran through the mountains carrying the scars of abandoned mine runoff, turning rocks and streambeds a vivid rust-orange.

"Before the Rocks Turned Orange" remembers the creek before that change—but it also honors the people who refused to give up on it.

This is just a short 50-second clip from a song inspired by the history of Deckers Creek, the impact of acid mine drainage, and the volunteers and organizations who spent decades helping bring the creek back to life.

I’ll be posting the full song this weekend.

Some stories are about what was lost.

This one is also about what was restored.

06/02/2026

This one is pure Appalachian slapstick.

This one started with a little 1890’s Preston County Journal news snippet about a bunch of folks who thought they’d found themselves a bee tree.

Unfortunately for them… it was not bees.

It was yellow jackets.

So naturally, I turned that tiny piece of Preston County chaos into a song.

“Yellow Jackets” is part of my Kin & Coal storytelling project, where I turn real local history, Appalachian roots, odd little newspaper finds, and everyday mountain-life moments into songs.

This one is funny, frantic, and probably a little too familiar to anybody who has ever misjudged a hollow log. 😂

Ever had a yellow jacket story of your own? Or a “well, that was a bad idea” moment in the woods?

06/02/2026

While digging through old issues of the Preston County Journal, I stumbled across this little gem from 1887.

A fellow thought he'd found a bee tree.

He hadn't.

A new Kin & Coal song inspired by a real Preston County newspaper snippet is on the way.

“Yellow Jackets Instead” 🐝🌲😂

05/30/2026

Some Kin & Coal songs are now beginning to show up on:

Spotify • Apple Music • iTunes • Amazon Music

This project started with family stories, newspaper clippings, local history, and a whole lot of “what if this was a song?” — and now some of them are actually out there in the world.

These songs come from real family memories, Preston County history, Appalachian roots, and the stories that refuse to stay quiet.

Thank you to everyone who has listened, shared, encouraged me, and followed along as Kin & Coal has started to grow. It means more than you know. 🎶

05/30/2026