One of the rare socially conscious blue-collar songwriters working today Mike Stout continues to be a passionate troubadour for worker safety, economic justice, and a clean environment.
Outstanding tracks on the album include the rousing foot-stomping Irish chorus workers unity anthem “One Big Union”, and the up-tempo banjo and fiddle bluegrass picket line rallying cry “One Day Longer”. In a cool down-home blues tune Mike laments about his woeful painful ordeal with kidney stones on Kidney Stone Blues. The gentle Johnny Cash style country-flavored “You’re Never Gonna Fall As Long As You Hold On to Me” is illustrated with outstanding classic crying slide guitar. Over the past decade, an average of 129 workers per year have died in road construction accidents. Operating Engineers Local 66 commissioned Stout to write the rocker “Keep ‘Em Safe and Alive” to urge the public to slow down and pay attention to highway construction workers.
Mike Stout – All lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Kevin McDonald – Electric & Acoustic & Slide Guitars, mandolin, harmony vocals
Laura Daniels – Keyboards, harmony vocals
Kelly Burgos – Harmony vocals
Doug Wilkin – Harmony vocals, acoustic, electric & bass guitars, mandolin
Tom Valentine – Bass guitar, stand-up bass, harmony vocals
Brian Cole – Acoustic guitar (There Will Always Be), harmony vocals (Terry Greenwood)
Joe Munroe – Keyboards (Kidney Stone Blues)
Vince Taglieri – Drums
Sean McDonald – Drums
Bob Banerjee – Violin & fiddle
Fred Nelson – Harmony vocals
Corey Congilio – Banjo (One Day Longer)
Jim Dougherty – Dobro slide solo (Kidney Stone Blues)
Jason Kendall – Alto sax (Stand Up)
Choir on One Big Union, Stand Up: Ken & Loretta Weir, Paula Lim, Marc Mancini, Casandra Armour, Steve Capri, Molly Ritter, Rose Trump
Mike Stout – Executive Producer
Sean & Kevin McDonald – Co-Producers
Doug Kasper – Engineer, Soundscape Studio, McKeesport, PA
Doug Wilkin – Engineer, Wilkin Audio, Wilkinsburg, PA
Sean McDonald – Engineer, Red Medicine Recording Studio, Swissvale, PA
Molly Ritter – CD Cover Design
Mastered at Treelady Studios, by Garrett Haines, Turtle Creek, PA