Vaskaleedez Records
2007

When I was a kid, it wasn’t cool to like country. It was the music our parents listened to, and therefore we couldn’t have anything to do with it. By the time I hit college, I was open-minded enough to give country music a try. One of the first bands I took a liking to was a group called The Desert Rose Band, which was led by Chris Hillman.

At the time, I had no idea who Chris Hillman was, but with a bit of research I learned about his work with the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Rising from the ashes of that classic Hillman sound is a new breed of country-rock led by The Coal Men and the band’s leader Dave Coleman, who sings lead, plays guitar, and is the group’s principal lyricist.

When I first listened to Beauty Is a Moment, I immediately harkened back to The Desert Rose Band and then began hearing touches of ’90s roots rockers The Jayhawks and Son Volt. My ears were not deceiving me, as The Coal Men (made up of Coleman, bassist Jason “Hitch” Hitchcock, and drummer Dave Ray) collaborated on this CD with Chris Frame (of Son Volt) on guitar and Jen Gunderman (of The Jayhawks) on keyboards.

I guess the “country” acts that I’ve liked over the years have generally been those not part of the mainstream country scene. Another such act from the late 1980s and early ’90s was Foster & Lloyd, and a few songs on Beauty Is a Moment have similar stylings to that of good ol’ Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd during their years of collaboration.

So now that you have a base understanding of the style of music performed by The Coal Men, we’ll explore their actual music. We’ll start with one of my favorites, “Cleveland Sky.” Like good roots rock tunes, it has enough pop to be catchy and enough country to be warm, honest, and real. Similarly, the CD’s first track, “Pretty Girls,” has many of the same qualities.

Of the songs that are a bit slower, “Delicate” stands out as a superb wistful, melancholy tale, while “On My Way Down” offers the great line: “You’re moving up in the world while I’m still on my way down.”

Overall, Beauty Is a Moment is a solid collection of songs from a band that deserves attention now and in the immediate future. With this effort, the group seems to be on the brink of great things in the future. And if that happens, you can say you saw them “back before they were popular.”

The Coal Men will be playing locally June 4 at 202 Market in Roanoke. You can also catch them at IOTA Club & Café in Arlington on June 5. Both of those shows will be with Tommy Womack.

Tim W. Jackson is a music fan who loves to explore various genres and artists.