Deep from inside the mines. Oliver Anthony is kicking off the new year by releasing a West Virginia coal mine video session. Anthony and a crew of talented players brought a live performance to the working miners, honoring this hard-working sector of blue-collar workers. "We were recently able to come pay our respects to a great crew of underground coal miners in Laeger, WV. Anthony was accompanied in the mines by Billy Contreras, one of the best fiddle players in the game. Contreras started young and has been a well-respected player for decades. He currently plays with Ricky Skaggs but has been featured on recordings for artists like George Jones, Zach Bryan, and more. "Billy Contreras, one of the world's best fiddle players, was also able to be a part of these recordings of 'Ole Red' and several other new original songs we played for the miners." But instead of performing one of his original hits like "Rich Men North of Richmond" or "Ain't Gotta Dollar," Anthony decided to cover "Ol' Red," which Antony refers to as "Ole Red" in the video's title. Although Anthony mentioned in the video's caption that he also played some new songs, he has only shared a video of "Ole Red" on YouTube at the time of writing. I must admit, when I first saw this video, I was surprised to see him cover a song that is widely known because of Blake Shelton. While "Ol' Red" was initially recorded by George Jones in 1990, it's most well-known as Blake Shelton's 3rd career single, which he released as part of his debut self-titled album. Since Antony has made his feelings widely known that he's anti-establishment, seeing him cover a song that had massive success on country radio threw me off guard. I digress... The lyrics detail a man who is locked up after finding his woman with another man, and his fit of violence landed him in the slammer. While serving his time, he's been thinking about ways to break free, but an old hound dog, Ol' Red, guards the prison gates well, ensuring no one escapes. But after some brainstorming, he figures out how to distract Red with a female dog, and his interest in other dogs makes it so he slips up on his job. The man escapes successfully without Red hunting him down. "Well, I paid off the guard and I slipped out a letter To my cousin up in Tennessee Oh, and he brought down a blue tick hound She was pretty as she could be Well, they penned her up in the swampland 'Bout a mile just south of the gate And I'd take Ol' Red for his evening run I'd just drop him off and wait..." Anthony's take on the track is stellar. Anthony's rugged vocals transport you back in time and perfectly capture the story told through the lyrics. The simplicity of Anthony on acoustic with Contreras supporting him on fiddle lets his vocals shine while still providing a prominent melody. Although Anthony messed up a small portion of the lyrics, noting his bobble by making a sound with his mouth and a smile, he recovered well and drove the final words home, packing a punch with his delivery. It just goes to show you that Oliver is no doubt a phenomenal country music talent... you just kind of wish he would spend his time making music instead of always ranting and raving, often times misguided ranting and raving, about the industry that he doesn't even want to be a part of. Not a big proponent of the "shut up and sing" thing, but for Oliver, probably can't hurt... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMcR0qDvTx4