Ideas worth spreading

A tribute to West Virginia coal miners

Johnny Staats, Davey Vaughn • TED@UPS

By day, Johnny Staats is a UPS package car driver. The rest of the time, he is a world-class bluegrass mandolin, guitar, and violin player. In this performance Staats, accompanied by Dave Vaugn on guitar, sings of the hardships faced by generations of coal miners working in West Virginia.

By day, Johnny Staats is a UPS package car driver. The rest of the time, he is a world-class bluegrass mandolin, guitar, and violin player. In this performance Staats, accompanied by Dave Vaugn on guitar, sings of the hardships faced by generations of coal miners working in West Virginia.

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with UPS.

Read more about the TED Institute.

About the speakers

Johnny Staats

Bluegrass virtuoso

During the day, Johnny Staats is a UPS driver. At all other times, he is a world-class bluegrass mandolin, guitar and violin player. He has appeared on stage at the Grand Ole Opry five times and won Charleston’s Vandalia Gathering Mandolin Championships in 1996, 1997, and 1999 -- in 1997, he also won the guitar title and placed third in the fiddle competition. Staats's most recent album, "Time Moves On," with his band the Delivery Boys, features contemporary bluegrass combined with country and blues influences.

Davey Vaughn

Musician

Dave Vaughn plays guitar, bass, and mandolin spanning genres from country to bluegrass.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with UPS.

Read more about the TED Institute.