Yes. That’s Sean Connery.

He played one of the Maquires in a movie about the underground Irish mining gang. And a few weeks ago I saw a play about the Maquire trial in Raleigh — “Molly Daughter.”

The gang was hanged in Pennsylvania for taking a stand against a powerful coal mining industrialist in the late 1870s. It’s damn too bad the 007 wasn’t around at that time.

Over time, the Maguires have come to represent the workingman’s grit in a vigilante’s battle between the union and the corporation. And in some parts of the Appalachian Mountains the Maguire spirit is still very much alive.

Appalachian Voices is an award-winning non-profit group working to end Mountain Top Removal. With a pending merger between North Carolina’s Duke and Progress Energy, which is expected to finalize in May, it’s a timely cause, once again.

That’s why we’re collaborating this month with Appalachian Voices on a special benefit show with Possum Jenkins. This band of musical brothers first formed about 8 years ago in Boone, NC.

A portion of the proceeds will go to Appalachian Voices. The group has teamed up with some creative projects in the past, such as musician and Kentuckian Yim Yames; as well as hosted screenings of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival winner, “The Last Mountain.”

Reps from Appalachian Voices will be at the Blind Tiger show with more information about their work and what can be done from here.

Hope to see you there.

Possum Jenkins & Wurlitzer Prize
A special Appalachian Voices benefit, working to end Mountain Top Removal
Saturday, March 24 @ the Blind Tiger
Greensboro, NC

About Mountain Top Removal
To date, over 500 mountains have been leveled for coal mining, and nearly 2,000 miles of precious Appalachian headwater streams have been buried and polluted by mountaintop removal, according to Appalachian Voices Web site. To learn more about what’s been done and what you can do, visit appvoices.org