Following the breakup of the Long Ryders, Sid Griffin—who had already established himself as a music journalist through his 1985 book Gram Parsons: A Music Biography—launched the Coal Porters in Los Angeles. He was joined by Long Ryders drummer Greg Sowders and English bassist Ian Thomson. The band soon moved its base to England and issued its first recording, Rebels Without Applause, which had originally appeared as an Australian 12" EP. That release was succeeded in 1994 by the full-length album Land of Hope and Crosby, which included contributions from ex-Green on Red organist Chris Cacavas and ex-Rockpile member Billy Bremner. Griffin maintained a fluid lineup for the next album, Los London.
A live document drawn from a September 1998 performance at London’s Garage, The Gram Parsons Tribute Concert, marked the Coal Porters’ final electric recording before Griffin steered the group toward acoustic music. The shift was prompted while he was producing Lindisfarne’s Here Comes the Neighbourhood and became captivated by that ensemble’s acoustic approach. The band then reformed as an acoustic bluegrass outfit featuring Griffin on mandolin, Pat McGarvey on banjo, Neil Robert Herd on guitar, Alan Bisset on bass, and Ivor Ottley on fiddle. In 2001 this configuration released the all-acoustic bluegrass album The Chris Hillman Tribute Concerts, which surveyed the work of the ex-Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers member. The acoustic Coal Porters made their studio debut with 2004’s How Dark This Earth Will Shine and followed it in 2008 with Turn the Water On, Boy!, an album that extended Griffin’s investigation of his own bluegrass heritage.
