User:Billwasser/Coal Porters

The Coal Porters are an Anglo-American bluegrass band headquartered in London and co-led by eighth-generation Kentuckian Sid Griffin and Scotsman Neil Robert Herd. Griffin formed the group in Los Angeles in 1989 and then reorganized the band after moving to London. Joining Griffin (mandolin, autoharp, harmonica and vocals) and Herd (guitar and vocals) in the Coal Porters’ lineup are Canadian Carly Frey (fiddle, vocals) and Brits Dick Smith (banjo, vocals) and Andrew Stafford (bass, vocals).

Before coming together as the Coal Porters, the members built up an impressive résumé. Griffin co-founded The Long Ryders, often cited as godfathers to the alt.-rock movement, and earlier performed with the Unclaimed. He is the author of Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band and The Basement Tapes (Jawbone Books, 2007), co-author of Bluegrass Guitar: Know the Players, Play the Music (Backbeat Books, 2005) and the author of the first book to appear on Gram Parsons, Gram Parsons – A Music Biography (Sierra Books, 1985). He also co-wrote the BBC documentary Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel and has contributed reviews and feature articles to Mojo, Q, Manchester Guardian and other publications. Griffin appears every six weeks on BBC Radio 2 to discuss cultural changes on the Mark Radcliffe-Stuart Maconie Show.

Neil Robert Herd, in addition to his career as a musician, has performed as a comedian. He finished second to Stewart Lee as the Best New Stand-Up Comedian at the Hackney Comedy Awards Festival in 1992. After several years on laugh circuit, he shifted gears and went into production, producing and promoting many major British comedy, film and music festivals. His work on the British short film Wasp helped win an Academy Award for Best Live Short Action Film in 2004.

Carly Frey has performed with the FACE Symphony Orchestra in Montreal, the McGill University Orchestra, the University of Glasgow Orchestra and was part of the international fiddling extravaganza Barrage, performing more than 300 dates in North America, Europe, China, Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand. She appeared in the Walt Disney film A Magical Gathering and is featured on the album and DVD of Barrage: Vagabond Tales, which has aired on CBC, PBS and Bravo. A love of adventure took her to East Africa in 2005, where she performed and recorded with the group Gogo Simo and such artists as Kaz, Hellon James and Mutinda. She was principal violinist for the Nairobi National Orchestra and, with renowned British composer Simon Brint, recorded the soundtrack for the popular TV drama set in Kenya, Makutano Junction.

Banjoist Dick Smith was the leader of the Lost T-Shirts of Atlantis for many years and also played in The Other Brothers and formed a short-lived, post-Pogues band with Spider Stacey, Daryl Hunt and Andrew Rankin. He later played with the Lisa Knapp Band and with Gerry Driver on the British folk circuit. In addition, he has performed on numerous soundtracks and on commercials for UK television and radio. He is also the proud recipient of a Blue Peter badge from having appeared on the children’s show.

Bassist Andrew Stafford for years played rockabilly with the Death Valley Surfers and indie rock with Grandads Don’t Indicate. He is also a solicitor, practicing law in London, and an actor with credits in commercials airing on UK and Continental television.

History
Seven full-length albums and two EPs are credited to the Coal Porters. Their latest release (January 2010) is Durango on the Prima label, distributed in the UK by Proper and in the USA by Burnside. Veteran producer Ed Stasium (Ramones, Talking Heads, Smithereens, Hoodoo Gurus, Mick Jagger, Long Ryders, etc.) recorded the 12-track album in the Southern Colorado town for which the album is named. Tracks include No More Chains, Roadkill Breakdown featuring Tim O’Brien as guest mandolinist, and Peter Rowan’s Moonlight Midnight, with Rowan joining the Coal Porters for the session.

Their preceding CD, Turn The Water On, Boy! (2008), received four-star reviews in Mojo, Uncut, The Sunday Times, Maverick and Word magazines. The dozen-track album featured original songs by Griffin, Herd and other band members, as well as a bluegrass revamping of the Long Ryders’ Final Wild Son, a cover of former Byrds member Gene Clark’s Silver Raven and a guest appearance by another member of the Byrds, Chris Hillman who played mandolin on a tribute to Woody Guthrie. Earlier bluegrass-style Coal Porters’ albums are How Dark This Earth Will Shine (2004), with Peter Case and Amy Rigby as guests, and the live Chris Hillman Tribute Concerts (2001), featuring run-ups of songs from Hillman’s illustrious career with the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas and Desert Rose.

The evolution to bluegrass from country-rock occurred after Griffin produced Lindisfarne’s Here Comes The Neighborhood album in 1998. Inspired by that band’s acoustic instrumentation, he and Herd worked up bluegrass versions of their Coal Porters’ (and occasional Long Ryders’) repertoire and debuted them successfully at a London charity event for Children in Need at Royal Festival Hall. The band earlier country-rock albums are the following: the live Gram Parsons Tribute Concert (1999), EP Roulette (1998), Los London (1995), Land of Hope and Crosby (1994) and the initial EP Rebels Without Applause (1991).

Griffin formed The Coal Porters in 1989 following the demise of The Long Ryders. The Coal Porters, like their predecessors, initially demonstrated strong Byrds and Gram Parsons influences, playing country and country-rock songs written by Griffin with occasional collaborators. Before the band’s initial lineup fell into place, a number of Griffin’s musician friends made appearances at early gigs and performed on first recordings, including drummer Greg Sowders from The Long Ryders and Billy Bremner of Rockpile.

By 1991, the band had solidified with Griffin on lead vocals and guitar, Chris Buessem lead guitar, Ian Thomson bass, Billy Block drums and Andy Kaulkin keyboards. Tracks featuring this lineup appeared on the EP Rebels Without Applause, Land of Hope and Crosby and Los London. By then Griffin and Thomson had relocated to the United Kingdom, while Block opted for a career in Nashville and Kaulkin moved to the business side of music to run Epitaph Records and found the Anti- label. Subsequent UK members have included Kevin Morris (Dr. Feelgood), John Bennett (High Llamas), Ian Gibbons (Kinks), and Rob Childs (Otis Lee Crenshaw).

The Coal Porters

Origin	Los Angeles, California, USA

Genres Alternative bluegrass

Years active	1989–present

Labels Prima Records, Temple Bar, Zuma, Rubber Records

Associated acts	Western Electric, Long Ryders

Website Coal Porters

Members

Sid Griffin

Neil Robert Herd

Dick Smith

Carly Frey

Andrew Stafford

Former members

Paul Sandy

Gemma White

Matt Woolvett

Bob Stone

Andy Steele

Rob Childs

Will Morrison

Kevin Morris

Dave Morgan

Ian Gibbons

Pat McGarvey

Graham Chesters

John Bennett

Ian Thomson

Chris Buessem

Andy Kaulkin

Billy Block

Discography
Rebels Without Applause (1991)

Land of Hope and Crosby (1994)

Los London (1995)

EP Roulette (1998)

Gram Parsons Tribute Concert (1999)

Chris Hillman Tribute Concert (2001)

How Dark This Earth Will Shine (2004)

Turn the Water On, Boy (2008)

Durango (2010)

Video
Gram Parsons Tribute Concert (1999)

Related links
Long Ryders website