The Coal Porters hit the road and the Long Ryders get reissued!

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4th September (Friday) – Sedgefield Folk Festival, County Durham
Sedgefield, County Durham TS21 2AQ
Stage time 10pm.
sedgefieldfolkfestival.co.uk/

5th September (Saturday) – Fife, Scotland
Letham Nights, Letham Village Hall, Fife, just off the A92
Phone. 01337 810372 or 07838 820659 Email. mike@lethamnights.org
letham.org.uk/lethamnights

6th September (Sunday) – Glasgow, Scotland
Sounds In The Suburbs, Woodend Lawn Bowling & Tennis Club
30 Chamberlain Road, Jordanhill, Glasgow G13 1QG
Phone. 0141 959 1428

7th September (Monday) – Hawick, Scotland
‘String Theory’ – Also on the Bill: Ivan Drever
Tower Mill, Kirkstile, Hawick Roxboroughshire TD9 0AE
Phone: 01450 360680 (Box Office) or 0786 6533416 (Info)
facebook.com/stringtheoryhawick

8th September (Tuesday) – Edinburgh, Scotland
Leith Folk Club Victoria Park House Hotel Edinburgh
221 Ferry Road Edinburgh EH6 4NN
Phone. 07502 024852 - leithfolkclub.com

13th September (Sunday) – Winchester
The Railway Inn 3 St. Pauls Hill, Winchester SO22 5AE
Phone. 01962 867795 - railwaylive.co.uk/

14th September (Monday) – Brighton
The Greys, 105 Southover Street, Brighton, Sussex, BN2 9UA
Phone: 01273 680734 - Email terracecred@gmail.com
facebook.com/TheGreysPub

24th September (Thursday) – Baston (near Peterborough)
The Barn, Main Street Baston (near Peterborough) PE6 9PA
tickets: £10 - Showtime 8pm & 9:15pm
community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/…

26th September (Saturday) – Hastings, England
The Stade Open Space (outdoor venue but covered performance area)
Rock-A-Nore Road, Hastings Old Town, TN34 3FJ
FREE entry - The Coal Porters onstage 7:30pm

October

2nd October (Friday) – Allenheads, Hexham
Allen Valleys Festival - Allenheads, Hexham, Northumberland, NE47
Phone: 07769 672557 - Email: peteraldcroft@gmail.com
allenvalleysfolkfestival.co.uk/

3rd October (Saturday) – Helmsley Arts Centre
Helmsley Arts Centre, Meeting House Court, York YO62 5DW
Phone: 01439 771700 - Email. mail@helmsleyarts.co.uk
helmsleyarts.co.uk

15th October (Thursday) – Camden School for Girls Benefit

16th October (Friday) – Ampfield, Romsey
Ampfield Village Hall , Morleys Lane, Ampfield, Romsey, Hampshire SO51 9BJ
Hog the Limelight/Hampshire Rural Touring series
Phone: 023 8025 4040 - Email. ampfieldvh@gmail.com
ampfield.org.uk/

However the release of the almost-completed new Coal Porters album has been delayed until sometime in 2016. Entitled No. 6 (The Shoreditch Sessions) the album release has been postponed for a number of reasons. The album cover has not been completed as our artwork guru, the great Phil Smee, has been swamped with other projects and another reason is Sid has been quite concerned about the mix of one song and his lead vocal on another.

Also the Long Ryders box set is coming out in October and that date cannot be changed so there is no point releasing a Long Ryders box set and a Coal Porters album around the same time! It is too much of a strain on the wallet of those tasteful souls and developed spirits who follow Sid’s career. So a delay on the Coal Porters new album has been unavoidable.

Yet there is indeed more good news from the Coal Porters camp! Ex-Coal Porters bassist Andrew Stafford returns to the very bosom of the CPs family after three years…hats in the air, eh? Andrew even has his new mulberry suit ready to both rock out and match the suits of Paul Fitzgerald, Neil Bob Herd, Sid G and, ahem, Kerenza Peacock’s near-purple frock.

Andrew has been much missed by the Coal Porters. A fine, fine bassist already he has been taking singing lessons and is now an accomplished harmony singer so get ready to hear him warble his way into your heart as well as musically thump his way forward. Many will remember Andrew played on the majority of the tracks on the last Coal Porters album, Find The One, and he has been missed by a sizeable section of the CPs’ audience ever since he left the band to devote himself to his law practice.

Final Wild Songs: The Long Ryders Box Set

Want some Long Ryders news? As stated the four CD Long Ryders box set will be out on Cherry Red, an imprint of Universal Music, in October. It is called Final Wild Songs: The Long Ryders box set. The first three CDs feature the 10-5-60 EP, the three full LPs the band recorded, and eighteen (!) rare tracks, eight of which are previously unreleased…including the audio of the band performing Looking For Lewis & Clark absolutely live on the BBC’s Whistle Test program in 1985 and two unheard mixes of tunes from the State Of Our Union sessions which are completely, completely different to the versions heard on that classic LP.

Yet it is the fourth disc the Long Ryders are most proud of. It is a live CD from a radio broadcast in Benelux in March 1985 when the band was hot as a four dollar pistol on a Newark Saturday night. Broadcast twice thirty years ago it has not been heard since and its discovery is quite an event in the history of the founders of alt-country. And the track listing features rare Long Ryders songs like Time Keeps Travelling, As God Is My Witness, and Southside Of The Story so this fourth disc is not simply the same old songlist recycled but a new audio experience for us all.

Please, folks, do watch this space as more Sid Solo shows will be announced for 2016. Right now it looks like April will see Sid and a bass player to be named later to hit the road singing their troubadour hearts out but it might be May…so stay tuned in, don’t you dare touch that dial. And yes, time does keep travelling because on September 18th Sid Griffin turns sixty. The big six-oh. Lord, have mercy!

Finally, Sid requests folks Follow him on Spotify where he is listed as the artist “Sid Griffin”. So please, if you are on Spotify go to “Sid Griffin” (Click here!) and become a Follower. If we get enough folks doing this it means Sid can start sending out more musical information and playlists via Spotify!

Keep up with all the latest from The Coal Porters and Sid on The Coal Porters Facebook page and The Sid Griffin Facebook page.

Also there is always more to read, watch and listen at SidGriffin.com and you can also catch up with Sid himself on twitter at twitter.com/SidCPSGriffin