"Steve Earle er vred, og det swinger hos den gamle countrydreng ... Over en små 20 lp'er har den efterhånden 65-årige Earle holdt stilen med et personligt udtryk, der blander stilarter som amerikansk og gælisk folk, bluegrass, hardcore country og rockabilly ... Folk, der er bekendt med Earles musik, vil hverken blive skuffede eller overraskede over Ghosts of West Virgina, det er den samme intense gryderet, han med små variationer har serveret i årevis ... Backingen leveres af hans faste band, The Dukes, og det swinger heftigt hele vejen igennem ... Ti seje sange er der kommet ud af samarbejdet"

"Given his talents and inclinations, Earle was the ideal choice to write songs for Coal Country, a play written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen about the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, in which 27 West Virginia coal miners lost their lives in 2010. There is a certain irony that Earle created a song cycle about the real costs of being a blue-collar worker in America in the 21st century for an off-Broadway play staged by New York's Public Theater, where the majority of people who lead the lives he's singing about will never see it. That said, that does nothing to change the emotional power and honesty of Earle's songs ..."