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Labor Day

Here are some bluegrass songs to honor the hard working men and women who make our country great! Labor Day also marks the end of summer, so there’s a few end-of-summer songs here as well.

  • A Working Man
    • The Osborne Brothers (Bear Family 1968-1974, Vol. 1)
  • Another Day, Another Dollar
    • Alison Krauss & Union Station “Every Time You Say Goodbye”
    • Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers “Rambler’s Call” (no label)
  • Blew Monday
    • Lou Reid and Carolina “Calling Me Back Home” (KMA Records)
  • Blue Collar Blues
    • Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers “Another Day in Life” (Rebel)
  • Blue Collar Dreams
    • Balsam Range “Mountain Voodoo” (Mountain Home)
  • Bottomland
    • The Gibson Brothers “Ring The Bell” (Compass)
  • Brand New Hit in Nashville ( a song about quitting your job and moving to Nashville)
    • The Kody Norris Show “All Suited Up” (Rebel)
  • Busted
    • Patty Loveless “Mountain Soul 2” (Saguard Road)
  • Chasing Someone Else’s Dreams
    • Balsam Range “Five” (Mountain Home)
  • Classic Labor Songs
    • This album is a compilation of folk songs by Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Hazel Dickens, etc. (Smithsonian/Folkways)
  • Coal Mining Man
    • The Roys “Lonesome Whistle” (Rural Rhythm)
  • Cotton Mill Man
    • Jim and Jesse “Bluegrass and More, Vol. 2” (Bear Family)
  • Daddy Was a Hard Working Honest Man
    • Ricky Skaggs “Love’s Gonna Get Ya” (Epic)
  • Doin’ His Job
    • The Dappled Grays “Doin’ My Job” (Band Ranch); Also on Prime Cuts #87
  • Don’t Let Nobody Tie You Down
    • Jim and Jesse “1952/1955” (Bear Family)
  • Further in the Hole
    • Claire Lynch “Moonlighter” (Rounder)
  • Great American Hero
    • Mark Newton and Steve Thomas (single/Pinecastle)
  • Hard Work (Will Kill You)
    • Lonesome River Band “The Winning Hand” (Mountain Home)
  • Hard Working Man
    • Grasstowne “The Other Side of Towne” (Pinecastle)
  • Hopkinsville
    • Mile Twelve w/ Chris Eldridge (single/no label)
  • I Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow
    • Hot Rize “Radio Boogie” (Sugar Hill)
    • Deep River “Cottonwood” (Deep River)
    • Don Rigsby, other artists “Epilogue: A Tribute to John Duffey” (Smithsonian Folkways)
    • High Fidelity “Hills and Home” (Rebel)
  • Joe Hill
    • Circus No. 9 “Mo-der-nus” (no label) Story of a well-known labor organizer who was executed in 1915.
  • Life of a Hard Working Man
    • Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver “Life is a Story” (Mountain Home)
  • Lower on the Hog
    • Third Tyme Out “Puttin’ New Roots Down” (Rebel)
    • “Larry Cordle, Glen Duncan and Lonesome Standard Time” (Sugar Hill)
  • Making Hay
    • Dan Tyminski “Wheels”
  • Mayberry State of Mind
    • Daryl Mosley “A Life Well Lived” (Pinecastle)
  • Moneyland
    • This is an album with a labor theme by various artists on McCoury Music label.
  • Mr. Time Clock
    • Peter Rowan “All on a Rising Day” (Sugar Hill)
  • Nine Pound Hammer
    • Tony Rice “Manzanita” (Rounder)
    • Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers all recorded this song as well.
  • Pastures of Plenty
    • Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs “Hard Travelin'” (Columbia)
    • Alison Krauss and Union Station “Lonely Runs Both Ways” (Rounder)
    • Tim O’Brien “Tim O’Brien Band” (Howdy Skies)
  • Papa Made a Living
    • Blue Moon Rising “No Summer Storm”
  • Poor Boy Working Man Blues
    • Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver “Hard Game of Love” (Sugar Hill)
    • Dailey and Vincent “Dailey and Vincent” (Rounder)
  • Poverty Line
    • Mason Via “New Horizons” (Mountain Fever)
  • Restless Working Man
    • Blue Highway “Sounds of Home” (Rounder)
  • Sawmill Man
    • Shawn Lane “All For Today” (Rebel Records) (Larry Sparks, vocal lead)
    • Valerie Smith “No Summer Storm” (Bell Buckle)
  • Sawmill Road
    • The Lost and Found “January Rain” (Rebel)
  • 17 Cents
    • Infamous Stringdusters (with Dierks Bentley) “Things That Fly” (Sugar Hill)
  • Son of a Sawmill Man
    • The Osborne Brothers (Bear Family)
    • The Grascals “The Famous Lefty Flynn’s” (Rounder)
  • Still Here
    • Steve Gulley & Tim Stafford (single/Mountain Home)
  • Summer’s Gone
    • The Bass Mountain Boys “My God Made it All” (Pinecastle)
    • The Hagar’s Mountain Boys “Forever Yours” (no label)
  • Summertime is Past and Gone
    • Bill Monroe “1970-1979” (Bear Family, disc 1)
    • The Osborne Brothers “1968-1974” (Bear Family, disc 4)
  • The Striking Man
    • Lonesome Highway “Got Away with Murder” (no label)
  • Today’s the Day I Get My Gold Watch and Chain
    • Richard Bennett “A Long Lonesome Time” (Rebel)
    • David Davis and the Warrior River Boys (Rebel)
    • Volume Five “For Those Who Care to Listen” (Mountain Fever)
  • Tonight I’m Heading South
    • Balsam Range “Moxie and Mettle” (Mountain Home)
  • The Working Man Way
    • Bo Isaac “I’m Not Living Life, It’s Living Me” (Goodtyme)
  • Union Man
    • Blue Highway “Still Climbing Moutains” (Rounder)
  • Unemployment Line
    • Larry Rice “If You Only Knew” (Rebel)
  • Unsung Heroes
    • Patriots & Poets (BFD)
  • Walking Boss
    • Doc & Merle Wats on “Memories” (United Artists)
    • Jerry Garcia “Garcia/Grisman” (Acoustic Disk)
  • What a Man Has to Do
    • Jeff Brown and Still Lonesome “A Distant Horizon” (Turnberry)
  • When I Get My Pay
    • The Grascals “When I Get My Pay” (Mountain Home)
  • Working End of a Hoe
    • Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time “Songs from the Workbench” (Ripchord)
  • Working Hard Ain’t Hardly Working Anymore
    • Jason Davis (single/Mountain Fever)
  • Working for a Living
    • Randy Waller and the Country Gentlemen “Keeper of the Flame” (Lendel)
  • Working Girl Blues
    • Cherryholmes “Cherryholmes” (Skaggs Family)
  • Working Man
    • Cherryholmes “Cherryholmes” (Skaggs Family)
    • Shannon Slaughter “The Side Man Steps Out” (Elite Circuit Music)
  • Working Man Blues
    • The Osborne Brothers “Hillbilly Fever” (CMH)
    • Richard Bennett “Last Train to Poor Valley” (Lonesome Day)
  • Working Man’s Prayer
    • Daryl Mosley “A Life Well Lived” (Pinecastle)
  • Working On a Railroad
    • Special Consensus “35” (Compass)