Pine Mountain is one of the few “ridge and valley” mountains in Southern Appalachia that overlaps with the central Appalachian coalfield of the Cumberland Plateau. Its folded layers tower above a dozen coalfield counties in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Communities that are 3 centuries old are innovators and survivors in this rugged landscape. Their amazing music, outlook on life, and sense of place are rare in this world.

This video chronicles two of the hardships these wonderful people faced in the last 170 years: The American Civil War and Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining.

Filmed by Benji Burrell