Vinyl Record Embedded with Coal Dust Launches at Renewable Energy Conference
Durham, 3 November 2025 – An unprecedented project that combines music, spoken word, and photography with coal dust from Blackhall Colliery has been launched today at the Pitman’s Parliament in Durham. The record, entitled Ancestral Reverb, is believed to be a world-first and aims to engage former mining communities and families in discussions around their heritage and the current conversation around climate change.
The 20-minute track features the voice of Newcastle’s indie folk troubadour, Richard Dawson, speaking the words of former miners and their families. It uses colliery music spanning over 100 years, and the verbatim words of coal miners and their families. The track can be listened to online at: https://threadsintheground.bandcamp.com/album/ancestral-reverb
Dawson expressed his honor to be a part of this unique and important project, stating, “I’m honoured to have had the chance to lend my voice to this important, strange, and stirring work. The long poem, assembled from recordings of interviews with mining families and set to a lushly crackling suite of electronica, is beautifully balanced and thought-provoking. It evokes conflicting feelings – pride and dismay, hope and fear, community-spirit versus abandonment – by placing layer upon layer of crucial little details one on top of the other to create a sort of intoxicating cascade. I find it very moving.”
Ancestral Reverb is produced by the climate hope organization, Threads in the Ground, which collected chunks of coal from Blackhall colliery beach and smashed them up to embed into transparent records. The smashed-up coal was also used to ‘carbon print’ documentary photos of the project, making this the first known use of coal dust in a creative production process. Adam Cooper, director of Threads in the Ground, stated, “We believe this may be the first time that coal dust has been used as part of a creative production process.”
In addition to being literally produced with coal dust embedded into the vinyl, Ancestral Reverb also captures the ‘sound of carbon’ as musicians journeyed down an old drift coal mine at Beamish Colliery to digitally capture the ‘reverb’ of the mine, which was then used in the track. The result is a unique and evocative piece that has been dubbed as ‘Moby meets Brassed Off’ due to its blend of spoken word, colliery bands, and electronica.
The record was previewed at the conference hosted by the Durham Energy Institute, where it was met with enthusiasm from delegates. The project aims to engage former mining communities and families in shared discussion around their heritage of solidarity as a powerful tool when talking about climate change.
The project features an array of northern talent, including the poet Jacob Polley who curated the interviews with some of the last living deep coal miners in the North East, alongside their children and grandchildren, discussing coal mining heritage and climate change. The project was also documented by acclaimed North East photographers, Andy Martin and Rachel Deakin.
Only 100 copies of the unique records will be pressed, with copies being held in the archives of Redhills, The National Coal Mining Museum, and the British Library, as well as a copy being held by each of the families interviewed for the project for future generations to enjoy. Cooper stated, “We want to honor the past we inherit, to inspire more people to have their voices heard to build our future. We are at a crucial moment in history where the changes we set in motion now around our energy infrastructure will shape the future for all our communities.”
Cooper added, “Music and photography have a visceral and democratic power that can amplify conversations around our carbon future in a meaningful way.” The music was produced by DJ Bert Verso and includes some of the oldest known recordings of colliery pit bands from 1903, as well as new performances by the Durham Miners’ Association brass band.
For further media enquiries, please contact Ann at ann@causeuk.com, m: 0753 489 2715.
Notes to Editor:
Threads in the Ground is a climate hope organization dedicated to unearthing powerful climate stories to inspire action for future generations. Their goal is to engage communities through arts, culture, and education, aiming to involve 8 million people in climate hope by 2030. Their initiatives include unique projects like the world’s first fungal sculpture trail and various community engagement activities focused on sustainable practices.
Ancestral Reverb is an exploration of our Carbon Heritage, through sounds, words, and pictures. It was commissioned by the Durham Miners Association as part of the Redhills creative residency program and is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
The Artists:
– Andy Martin: An award-winning photographer and filmmaker from Sunderland, Martin’s work primarily focuses on the North East and its
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.