There's a very nice page on this song here:http://www.beatoninstitutemusic.ca/mining/coal-town-road.html
In Coal Town Road, Allister MacGillivray describes life in a Cape Breton coal mining town using information he gathered from stories told by his great-uncle, a former coal miner.

This live recording by the Men of the Deeps features solos by Yogi Muise and Billy McPherson.