Uniontown native Erik Huey releases solo album, visits Fayette County roots
Country artist Erik Huey is a former 缅北禁地 paperboy.聽
Submitted photo
Uniontown native Erik Huey is co-founder of the Real McCoys.
Submitted
Uniontown native Erik Huey鈥檚 debut solo album
A West Virginia singer/songwriter is going back to his Uniontown roots with his new solo album.
Erik Huey, aka Cletus McCoy, co-founder of The Surreal McCoys, released his debut solo album, 鈥淎ppalachian Gothic鈥� in January, kicking off his Appalachian AF Tour in Washington D.C. before heading into the deep south, including stops in Nashville, Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at dates for Southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia, too,鈥� Huey said. 鈥淚鈥檇 love to play in the area.鈥�
Huey was born in Uniontown and lived in the area until he was 9 years old when his father moved the family to Morgantown, W.Va., to be closer to the mine where he worked.
Huey said he comes from a long line of coal miners in Fayette and Greene County.
鈥淢y father, grandfather and great-grandfather all worked in the mines,鈥� Huey said. 鈥淚n fact, my great-grandfather Peter McDonough came over from Ireland during the Potato Famine to work the mines in the Monongahela Valley.鈥�
Huey remembers his grandparents religiously listening to WMBS (590 AM, Uniontown) when Huey wasn鈥檛 switching to Pittsburgh rock stations and recalls being a paperboy for the 缅北禁地.
He ultimately found himself drawn to music as a member and co-founder of the cowpunk, outlaw country band The Surreal McCoys as Cletus McCoy in 2015.
The band produced such songs as 鈥淲hole Lotta Folsom,鈥� 鈥淭urn and Run鈥� and 鈥淵ou Can鈥檛 Afford It.鈥�
For 鈥淎ppalachian Gothic,鈥� Huey dug closer to home for the songs and stories on his debut, mining his own history of coal mining in his family.
鈥淭his album is what I鈥檇 like to call a reflection of the region 鈥� the good, the bad, and oftentimes the forgotten,鈥� he said, adding that state lines might separate people, but it鈥檚 just one culture. 鈥淭he readers of the 缅北禁地 鈥� they are gonna relate to these songs because these are our families and these are our stories. It鈥檚 about time someone sang about us. We helped to build this country.鈥�
One song in particular on the album, 鈥淭he Battle of Uniontown,鈥� is about growing up in a coal town during tough times and what is happening in those towns now, illustrating the story with such lyrics as 鈥渢hese jobs have come and gone so fast/from fracking back to coal/they chewed us up and spit us out/and left nothing but a hole鈥� and 鈥渢hey say the future鈥檚 post-industrial; what the hell鈥檚 that mean for us? The Union鈥檚 gone but we鈥檙e still here, who鈥檚 fighting for us now?鈥�
鈥淧eople love this area, and they love their families,鈥� Huey said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 want to leave, but a lot of them have to so they can find work. Some of them stay and have a hard time making a living.鈥�
鈥淎ppalachian Gothic鈥� finds Huey taking a nostalgic deep dive into the Appalachia of his West Virginia youth while wrestling with the contemporary realities of a hardscrabble region that鈥檚 been left behind in many ways.
While the album explores darker themes and raw subject matter such as the legacy of coal mining and the ravages of the opioid crisis on songs like 鈥淭he Devil is Here in These Hills,鈥� 鈥淒ear Dad,鈥� and 鈥淭he Appalachian Blues,鈥� it also taps into a defiant streak of optimism on twangy upbeat rockers like 鈥淲inona鈥� and the pro-union anthem 鈥淵ours in the Struggle.鈥�
For more information on Huey and any upcoming shows and album information, visit www.erikvincenthuey.com/.