When I caught up with the musically eclectic, eyes and ears still wide open, renaissance man Sid Griffin at this summer’s Ely Folk Festival, he was briefly revisiting the Coal Porters section of his musical wardrobe. Admitting that over “seventeen years we went at it pretty hard,” they were tempted by the timing of Ely and the opportunity to give a section of their following a heads-up about next years ‘Best Of The Coal Porters’ release. That collection will also have a live album attached and they teased up the possibility of playing some promotional dates. Delightfully, it was red hot bluegrass all the way that night but, typically for a man with a self-confessed low boredom threshold, only a few weeks later he is touring his Americana pioneering band The Long Ryders across the UK (dates here https://www.sidgriffin.com/). It follows the release of the bands ‘High Noon Hymns’ from earlier this year, another well received and potent addition to a jangling and shimmering country-rock back catalogue. But speaking as a lifelong crate digger, I primarily associate Sid Griffin with his role as an infectiously well informed, passionate musical scholar, archivist and preservationist who frequently cropped up waxing lyrical about records on some of my favourite radio shows of the past thirty years. Inevitably, when the opportunity arose to throw some questions his way for the pages of Fruit Tree Records, I grabbed it with both hands.
What was the seed of the idea when forming Coal Porters? Define the alternative side to your bluegrass
We had an electric Coal Porters but the drummer was injured after being hit by a car. He made me promise I would not gig without him on drums, so the only way forward was to form an acoustic band as his recovery was understandably taking months and months and months. At first, it was kinda a folk acoustic act but that was kinda dull so it slowly began to morph into bluegrass music; and then it shifted even further into bluegrass music. But as I was the main one into bluegrass and at least two of the others not so much, we played a fair few versions of indie tunes souped up into bluegrass arrangements. This made us different, which is good. This prevented us from playing 95% of the many UK and European bluegrass festivals as they consider this taboo, that it is not the sign of a real, honest bluegrass band. Which, I suppose, it isn’t in a way.
As we are talking at Ely Folk Festival, can I ask you about UK folk music, what artists or periods in UK folk do you enthuse about?
I like the guitarists like John Renbourn, Davy Graham, Bert Jansch, and so on. I played with Renbourn a few times opening for him as a solo. Richard Thompson is pretty terrific as well and a nice guy to boot. He even played on a Coal Porters album, does Richard, bless him.
Are you keeping up with new folk acts? If so, any recommendations?
Like everybody else I like the Unthanks. There are two female guitarists here that I love. One is Jessie Reid, whose fingerpicking on the acoustic guitar is astounding, and the other is a Welsh lass named Gwenifer Raymond who is equalling astounding. Watch out for both of them as we can expect great things from them in the future.
Having already put out a new Long Ryders album this year of mostly new material, are the creative juices still flowing freely?
Yes. I am working on finishing two books now. I hope to do another solo album, the follow up to my album ‘The Journey From Grape To Raisin,’ early next year but I don’t have enough good songs yet. I have the songs but not enough good ones, ha!
Having written books about Bob Dylan, have you ever played with / met him?
No, but for my books on him I met many, many people associated with him. Meeting Robbie Robertson and hanging out with him chatting several times was a particularly big thrill for me.
If the Coal Porters went electric would their audience boo and shout ‘Judas’?
They could shout anything they wanted if they bought a ticket. I feel people should behave and respect performers but if you have bought a ticket to see something and it is under par or worse one of the performers is simply not trying then I feel you have the right to boo or hiss. But that is where it stops, booing and hissing. Throwing stuff and so on is a bridge too far for me.
Were you always a multi-tasking renaissance man? Is it the only way to satisfy your many interests?
Yes, to the first question. Yes, to the second. I get bored easily plus I need to generate income as I am freelance, so I have to create to get money to come my way. Simple as that. I supposed a yuppy would say I am establishing my brand but whatever. I like work. Mark Twain said, “if your job is something you love then you will never work a day in your life” and I agree with that. Heck, I am proof of that!
Your first band The Unclaimed had a garage aesthetic, was Nuggets an early influence?
No. I was born in 1955 in Kentucky USA and listened to the radio religiously since 1962, so I didn’t need Lenny Kaye to point me to the Seeds or the Standells or the Knickerbockers. I knew all those acts already. I am happy Nuggets became such a big deal, however, as 1960s garage band rock is sooooooooo much fun. I am of the age where I heard Sweetheart-era Byrds, the Burritos, the Beau Brummels, International Submarine Band et al the first time around. I like Shindig! magazine a great deal but what is problematic for me is it is written for people who started seriously listening to pop music in the 1980s…I have been addicted to the world of rock music and its tributaries since 1962 so a lot of Shindig! articles are stuff I already know…at least as regards the bigger bands put on the cover.
If you will note when the Unclaimed started you could count on one hand all the 1960s garage band influenced acts in the English speaking world. When the Long Ryders started you could count on three fingers all the country-ish young punk acts in the world, period. When the Coal Porters started no one, but no one was doing what bassist Paul Sandy and I called “alt-bluegrass”. What I am saying here is I have always been ahead of the game. I have never caught the wave and successfully rode it into the beach where my friends lay waiting for me.
So, being one of the first of the new garage generation, an Americana pioneer and the man who put the alt into bluegrass, is always pushing forward with a fresh perspective the key to your longevity?
You tell me. I am the ultimate cult artiste. I am in the black financially in terms of my career, but I am hardly fiscally sound. If I wanted income or a duller yet more stable life, I could have done something else, I could have had a regular day job like so many. But I wanted a life of excitement and travel and there is not much more exciting than travelling when you’d better be good onstage to get paid! Plus, I like music, I like people, I like playing. It is what I do. I practise every day…so much so you’d think I’d be Segovia by now, ha.
When writing, are you ever unsure if a song is bluegrass, country rock or folk (for example) or do you write specifically to genre?
No. When I start writing a song, I know very well what genre it will appear it. Admittedly, Danny, I might not know the best key for it or the best tempo but the genre, the style, the musical format I know, you bet. They are not interchangeable forms though sometimes you can blur the lines between them…witness Bill Monroe’s famous ‘Blue Moon Of Kentucky’ being Elvis Presley’s first single which Presley recorded as a rock & roll song.
Do you ever deliberately push a song against the form it seems to belong in?
Again, you can mash up the songs a bit…witness Elvis and Bill Monroe with ‘Blue Moon Of Kentucky’ or the Byrds electrifying ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ but you can only go so far before it leaves the sweet spot and becomes something only cleverdick musicians wanna hear.
Is there any aspect of your early writing that you have shed? And what have you kept?
Good question! Hmmm, some of my early prose is a bit embarrassing, a bit high school English class, true. But broadly speaking I am happy with what I have done. I am working on what might be called an autobiography of my musical years and I am going through the final pass of it now and I am very, very happy with it.
Have you ever ‘done a Ringo’ and unknowingly written a song that already exists?
Several times. I once was almost shaking with excitement as I was 100% sure I had written a hit single. This was about 1986. I played it to the Long Ryders and someone pointed out my tune was jolly close to being ‘One More Heartache’ by Marvin Gaye. Which it was! I heard the Gaye track the next day and was so embarrassed but at least I picked a cool tune to nick. Still, I did not mean to, I swear, Your Honour.
As a broadcaster who can eloquently explain music to listeners, do you find that analytical side informs the way you play?
Another good question. But no. Music is immediate and when I was on the Beeb or whatever I was happy to enthuse about stuff I loved and why I loved it. I was always aware others might not get it at all and would want me to play the new Beyonce or Ed Sheeran and that is fair enough.
Are you ever able to switch off your musicologist brain when listening?
On the first pass of a song, I am listening to the overall song just like anyone else. However, as time goes on and I hear it a few times, I start to pick out what the drummer is doing or how a particular harmony goes and I start relating it to other tunes in other styles and the whole thing goes down a Joe Boyd styled musicologist rabbit hole.
Has your work as a musical historian ever changed your opinion of an artist for the worse?
Several times. I try to remind myself “trust the music, not the artist” as some music acts are arseholes on a nuclear scale. One red line for me is what we were just discussing. A very famous arena rock act blatantly stole from old bluesmen, blatantly stole, and there are websites after websites which show chapter and verse what was nicked. This band should be ashamed of themselves. Ashamed.
Are you planning any future musical excursions that might surprise your fans? A free jazz album perhaps?
I am teaching myself Western Swing guitar and it is sooooooo much fun. But I am no Stephen McCarthy (the Long Ryders brilliant, Clarence White styled lead guitarist) so I don’t think I will form a Western Swing band but it sure would be fun sometime. It is a great music, witness Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.
Do you have a favourite music era or style that you turn to when you don’t need something new, just some beloved audio candy? For me it’s probably 1967 (so many timeless wonders there)
Any of the hits from the 1964-1967 era bring back a flood of happy memories to me as does the many L.A. acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s I used to go see perform almost nightly; Los Lobos, the Blasters, X, the Bangles, Fishbone, Green On Red, and so on and so forth.
Is music in a good place generally in 2026? I love that there never seems to be a shortage of incredible new music to check out but am less enthused that it feels like I have a niche interest, and the mainstream charts seem to offer me nothing
There is indeed great music out there but the industry reacted too slowly to the digital age and wasted so much time on back catalogue in the CD era, we now are in a zone where only a handful of music acts are known by the public and everyone else is scrambling for the few crumbs which have fallen off the dinner table to the floor.
I mentioned Jessie Reid and Gwenifer Raymond, both great artists, but how they will get ahead via playing music in this world I do not know. The Long Ryders were given brief chance to be a Big Deal and Jessie and Gwenifer deserve that chance too, but Lord knows how it will ever come their way. Oh, the Hanging Stars and Morton Valance…they are both great too, worth checking out…but how they will make a dime playing music as more and more faces turn towards the Taylor Swifts of this world I do not know.
Are there any unfulfilled ambitions / collaborations you are yet to realise?
Yes! I quite seriously would like just one book or one record to be a hit. Just for the satisfaction and the notoriety. Not so much the income for I have learned to get by on little. But for the sheer moment of saying, “YES. I finally got through to the public!”, I would really, really love that.
And finally, as it was only alluded to on your site, what is the secret to a perfect cheese mushroom omelette?
Use full fat milk like the French do and use a tangy cheese like Manchego or Bavarian smoked cheese.
Questions: Danny Neill / Answers: Sid Griffin
