PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (WVDN) – Philadelphia-based Celtic-tinged folk-rock collective River Drivers has announced their new song “Everlasting Faint (The Tale of the Greenbrier Ghost),” released on Oct. 21 in conjunction with Domestic Violence Awareness month.
The song by bandmate Mindy Murray tells of the death of a young woman at the hands of her husband. According to the mile marker and local legend, the Greenbrier County woman’s ghost appeared before her mother to help convict her husband of murder.
Money will be raised for the Family Refuge Center which serves three counties in southern West Virginia and is several miles away from where the murder occurred.
A music video shot on location is set to release soon.
River Drivers is a four-piece band whose unique passion- infused style of music draws from Celtic, Americana and Appalachian influences and features powerful and distinctive vocals. Their repertoire strikes a fine balance of original songs and more obscure folk songs, resurrected from deep folk vaults.
Anchored by Murray (vocals, guitar, banjo, bass) and Kevin McCloskey (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass) with accompaniment by Marian Moran (tin whistle, low whistle, concertina) and Meagan Ratini (fiddle, Irish flute, tin whistle) their high energy music explores themes of social injustice and hard-working men and women.
In “Everlasting Faint (The Tale of the Greenbrier Ghost),”as in many of the songs she wrote, Murray draws on her life experiences and oral histories to create songs that serve to tell the stories and raise awareness of people caught up in the struggles of day-to-day living. Her song “Blair Mountain” which tells of the fight to bring the union into the coal fields of West Virginia
caught the eye of the United Mine Workers of America and was featured in their annual report the year it was released. Another of her songs, “Did Ya Vote” was recognized by the International Women’s Freedom Song in 2020. Stories of West Virginia reflect the years she spent in the Mountain State tending the needs of the people while attending medical school in
Lewisburg.
McCloskey’s passion for songs portraying the plight of working men and women was kindled by a childhood performing Irish standards with his father, Irish tenor Tommy McCloskey. He brings a raw intensity to his music and to the band’s sound that was shaped by years in a punk band.
Moran’s roots lie in the town of Ardara , County Donegal, an epicenter of Celtic music. She steals back to the rugged coastline as often as she can to play in the town’s many traditional Irish music festivals.
Ratini, Moran’s daughter, rounds out the band with her fiddle, Irish flute and tin whistle. She and Moran performed for several years as the duo, Port Murray.
River Drivers can be found playing major festivals such as the Philly Folk Festival, The New Jersey Folk Festival and Musikfest, as well as in beautiful concert halls like The Bucks County Playhouse and Carnegie Hall, West Virginia. Across the pond, they have played for the Cup of Tea in Donegal County, Ireland.
Their music has been widely praised by reviewers from such notable outlets as The Irish Music Magazine, fRoots, No Depression and many others.
Everlasting Faint (The Tale of the Greenbrier Ghost)” is available on all streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and Amazon.
You can also be able to purchase it on Bandcamp and see the video on YouTube.
