“Not your average fish and chips bluegrass, The Coal Porters have expanded their music with broad strokes and fearless execution.”

Biography

Formed in Los Angeles during the last century, as so many things were, The Coal Porters were originally an electric act centered around ex-Long Ryder Sid Griffin, composer of the Long Ryders 1985 hit single “Looking For Lewis And Clark”.

After the band relocated from Los Angeles to London Griffin sallied forth renewed in spirit. In 1998 he produced Lindisfarne’s Here Comes The Neighborhood album and upon completion of that album, Lindisfarne so inspired Griffin he purchased a mandolin. With Griffin on Bill Monroe styled mandolin, the Paul Fitzgerald on five string banjo, Neil Robert Herd on flatpickin’ guitar, Andrew Stafford on bass and fiddler Kerenza Peacock sawin’ away on the strings the acoustic Coal Porters were born. And bluegrass music found itself birthing a hip, sub-genre: Alt-bluegrass.

With several European bluegrass tours under their belt, The Coal Porters released The Chris Hillman Tribute Concerts in 2001, an acoustic exploration of Byrds, Burritos, Gram Parsons and Bob Dylan. Rave reviews piled in from America’s Bluegrass News, Britain’s Sing Out!, British Bluegrass News, Q, Mojo, Making Music, Folk Roots and many more.

Soon the CPs found themselves opening for Chris Hillman and Herb Peterson in London and completing two exhausting US tours. In October 2004 they performed a extremely well-received showcase at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s prestigious World Of Bluegrass Festival in Louisville, Kentucky and the band found themselves swamped by both demands from the press and media and the rigors of the road.

September 2004 saw the release of the first Coal Porters acoustic studio album, entitled How Dark This Earth Will Shine, and March 2008 saw the release of their second acoustic studio effort, Turn The Water On, Boy! In March 2010 the world rocked out to Durango, the first Coal Porters album to crack the USA’s Americana Chart’s Top Forty!

September 2012 was the date Find The One, the Coal Porters most accomplished release by far. Produced by British folk-rock legend John Wood (Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Squeeze, Beth Orton, John Cale) Find The One was so dynamic the band were invited to appear on NPR’s Weekend Edition in the USA (!) and to do a live session for no less than the legendary Whispering Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2!

2016 saw the release of their latest album, No. 6, produced again by John Wood. No. 6 pushes the bands musical boundaries further than ever before featuring Kerenza quadruple tracking herself into a string quartet, Andrew on a ukulele, Sid on trusty autoharp and mandolin, both Neil and Paul on dobro, a Byrdsy acoustic 12-string guitar, and very emotional, long, sweet trumpet solo by Cuba’s noted “son y mambo” music virtuoso Eikel Venegas. No. 6 was found on many year-end lists and Griffin now refers to it as his finest work.

After a seventeen year run The Coal Porters called it a day on July eleventh, 2018.

Selected Album Discography

Music

Press Photos

Click on the images to download high resolution press photos.

Videos

The Day the Last Ramone Died from The Coal Porters latest album 'No. 6'.

The Coal Porters play The Only Ones' Another Girl, Another Planet at London's historic Betsey Trotwood. Video by Alex Barnes - Apple and Biscuit Recordings.

The Coal Porters playing New Cut Road live on stage at London's Green Note. A fine Guy Clark song about a long road in south Louisville where Sid used to work.

The Coal Porters latest album, No. 6, is produced by John Wood, the legendary British folk-rock mastermind who recorded the classic albums of Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Beth Orton and Squeeze. No. 6 is a bit of a departure for the Coal Porters as it pushes their musical boundaries further than ever before.

This album features Kerenza quadruple tracking herself into a string quartet, Andrew on a ukulele, Sid on trusty autoharp and mandolin, both Neil and Paul on dobro, a Byrdsy acoustic 12-string guitar, and very emotional, long, sweet trumpet solo by Cuba’s noted “son y mambo” music virtuoso Eikel Venegas. There has never been music like this before. And already, the album’s opening track, Sid’s “The Day The Last Ramone Died,” is being hailed as a classic).

Recorded in two creative bursts in late 2014 and in 2015 this is the Coal Porters album which took three years to incubate. Four new Sid songs, three new Neil Bob Herd originals, and Kerenza Peacock contributed her first recorded lead vocal on a very personal song with Play A Tune while also gracing the record with a totally catchy instrumental, Chopping The Garlic. The album goes out on a high note with the band’s warm-hearted cover of The Only Ones’ classic hit Another Girl, Another Planet.

The Coal Porters No. 6 Cover Art

The Coal Porters Live Show Poster

For more on The Coal Porters visit SidGriffin.com/the-coal-porters/