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Thus began "The Anthracite Shuffle". Over a frantic few month period, Flannery wrote an extensively researched song cycle. "I wanted to give all sides a chance to speak", he says now. "I wanted to capture the humor and the camaraderie along with the exploitation. I wanted to give the breaker boys a chance to be heard. I wanted to give the women a chance to be heard. This was my family's story, but in reality, if your roots are in Northeastern Pennsylvania, then it's your family's story too."

The results are unrelenting, and according to producer George Graham, "masterful.....an extended suite of songs about the rich and often brutal history of hard coal in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It's one of the finest musical treatments of miners and their lives I have ever heard."

Indeed, it was Graham whom Flannery first approached with the idea of recording the songs. Together with some regional musicians they recorded versions for Graham's acclaimed Homegrown Music series on PBS affiliate WVIA-FM in Pittston. The response was overwhelming, and the 150 cassette copies the Flannery had made of the show quickly disappeared. "I couldn't believe it", Flannery says now. "I really didn't think this was the sort of thing people cared about anymore. I'd really just recorded the songs for myself.....as a kind of exorcism I suppose."

But he was never very happy with the recordings. "We'd cut them all in one night, basically as live tracks", he says. "And there were a lot of rough edges that I always wanted to smooth out. I really wanted to take a crack at them again, and release them on CD."

Yet that would cost money.....money that Flannery did not have. "It was always the first thing I was gonna do if I hit the lottery", he says laughing.

Well, in a sense, he did. Albeit 4 years later.

Flannery's wife suggested that he go out and look for funding, as the project had historical significance that might make it attractive in that way.  The Scranton Cultural Center responded enthusiastically, and after "routine bureaucratic delays" (as Flannery calls them) that lasted over a year, the funding finally came through.

Flannery knew who to call. "The first thing I did was call George Graham and book the studio. The next thing I did was call  John Ginty."

Keyboardist Ginty and Flannery had worked together before, most notably on Flannery's acclaimed debut CD "Song About a Train". "We have a musical chemistry that's just there. You can't explain it. John seems to instinctively know what is needed, and if I take off on some musical tangent, he's always standing on the corner waiting for me when I get back. He is without a doubt the best musician I have ever played with, and I couldn't think of anybody better to breathe life into these mining tales."

And Ginty is indeed all over the record. His trademark swirling organ sound raises the roof on the raging Seems Like the Place to Be and the playful "Bob Tailed Check." Most notable, however, may be his piano work on We'll Sing Hallelujah, a song that Flannery has wrestled with for years. "I always hated the arrangement", he says now. "It was this bluegrass type of thing that was just too obvious, so I wanted to get as far away from that as possible. I talked to John about giving it a gospel feel, and as soon as the words were out of my mouth he was at the piano playing the prettiest thing you've ever heard in your life. It was the most extraordinary moment I've ever had in the recording studio. We recorded it in one take. The entire process took about 6 minutes. I beat myself up over this song for 4 years, and in 6 minutes John fixed it up."

Flannery also called on State College multi instrumentalistKris Kehr. "Kris and I played a gig together last year", Flannery remembers. "And it was the most fun I've ever had onstage. His energy level, and his unwillingness to be tied down a any one particular musical style really impressed me. He was liable to pull anything out of his hat, and that was part of the fun. You never knew what was coming next." Kehr adds mandolin, banjo and dobro to the project, injecting energy as only he can.

When the project began Flannery knew he wanted to add some local blood to the mix. His good friend and co-conspirator Lorne Clarke actually served as the sounding board for many of the songs. And when Flannery got stuck trying to articulate life in a coal breaker, he knew who to call. "Lorne is the best songwriter I know", he says. "I knew what he was capable of, and soon he came to me with a song called "The Breaker", which was the most devastating thing I've ever heard. It was so powerful that I couldn't even sing it, so I asked him to do it instead. I'm a musical coward in some ways I suppose." Indeed, Clarke's powerful baritone fits the song perfectly, and with acclaimed Washington DC area vocalist  Lisa Moscatiello adding ghostly harmony, the song is one of the CD's highlights.

Tim Carbone came highly recommended by producer George Graham. "I didn't really know how good he was", Flannery remembers now. "But I trust George, and as soon as he pulled the fiddle out of his case and started playing I knew it was gonna work out. It was only later that I found out about his impressive resume, including his colaborations with Rick Danko." Carbone ended up adding fiddle parts to half a dozen songs, including his manic performance on "Seems Like the Place To Be" and his ghostly understated fills on King Coal. "He certainly didn't need much direction", Flannery says now. "He went through one take of "Seems Like the Place to Be" to warm up, and it was great. I told him I wished we had rolled tape. He just told me not to worry....that he could do it again no problem. I like that."

Flannery may not have known Carbone, but he certainly was well aquainted with Kate Jordan and CJ McKenna. "We've worked together before", he says. "They're great to work with, and they have the ability to fit themselves around a song. And Kate has this real soulful voice that I just love." Jordan delivers what Graham calls a "sultry" performance on Miner Boy, while McKenna added her own personal touches to "Two Coal Cars".  "We turned the lights down low when they were adding the vocals, to get the right atmosphere", Flannery remembers. "The really dove into every aspect of the project."

Eddie Appnel has been a good friend of Flannery's since the two recorded together back in 1998. "Eddie fronts probably the best original rock and roll band in the state", Flannery says. "So it was a no brainer to ask him to come in. Trouble was I didn't really know what I wanted him to do when he got to the studio. I had a lot of ideas but nothing finalized. Typical really. So I just threw the song "Why Do You Blame Me?" at him, gave him about 2 minutes to rehearse, and then rolled tape." As expected, Appnel does not disappoint. "He threw himself into the song", Flannery says. "Just like he does in a club full of people. I looked over at him during the take and the veins in his neck were bulging."

The aforementioned Moscatiello does not disappoint either. "I really wanted Lisa for this project", Flannery says. "I had a chance to open for her one time, which was a bit daunting. She's one of the best in the business, and I really had to screw my courage up to ask her to come in." "Yet", he ads with a smile, "I figured she owes me 'cause the last time she was in town her car broke down and I gave her a ride to the mechanic. Hey, I have no shame. Whatever it takes."

Luckily she agreed to work on the project, and she transforms "Little Boy in the Mines", a hearbreaking song of lost innocence. "You just hear things in your head sometimes", Flannery says. "And I heard Lisa singing this song. It would have sounded incomplete without her."

"My wife and I took our daughter up to the old Winton breaker in Archbald for the cover photo shoot", Flannery remembers fondly. "And it's a desolate place now, almost spooky. But I got the sense that she immediately felt at home there. It made me feel good to know that she's gonna know where she came from. She's gonna know that her great great Uncles and Grandfathers were anthracite miners. And she's gonna know that her dad did what he could to keep their memory alive. And maybe someday she can do something to keep their memory alive too."

"I've done the best I can do" Flannery writes in the CD liner notes. "I only hope that I have served a memory well."

He has.