West Virginia-born Kathy Mattea (muh-TAY-a) has been one of country's top-level stars over the last three decades, building bridges to Nashville's serious songwriting community with such hits as Tim O'Brien's "Untold Stories." She has "18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses" and a few other great American anthems to her name, but after the Sago mine disaster of 2006 she began to think about something new—an album of songs about her native coal country. "Coal" was an extraordinary personal statement from an artist of Kathy's stature, and she's followed it up with more music rooted in her native Appalachia, including the bluegrass-oriented "Calling Me Home." Kathy Mattea has always been recognized as one of country's classiest acts, and she puts on a live show matched by few others in the business.