Sid & his work have recently been discussed on BBC Radio Two (Radcliffe-Maconie show, July 30, 9:30GMT) and in both Variety AND Rolling Stone! Check these links:
Variety and Rolling Stone.

Durango has been such a success that after knockin’ ‘em dead at SxSW the Coal Porters are now playing both the Americana Festival in Nashville this Sept and Folk Alliance in Feb 2011 in Memphis. And Durango  is of course the fourth and best “alt-bluegrass” album by ex-Long Ryder Sid Griffin’s outfit, The Coal Porters.  Mojo, Uncut and Q gave it four star reviews! Featuring the amazing fiddle of Carly Frey, the banjo of Europe’s best five-string picker Dick Smith, the songs and mandolin of author/broadcaster Sid Griffin as well as the witty songs of Scotland’s fine guitarist Neil Robert Herd ’tis no wonder Durango is one of the choice musical highlights of the year.

Produced by the great Ed Stasium (Ramones, Smithereens, Jeff Healey Band, Belinda Carlisle, etc., etc.) the album features two key guest appearances: the first being Tim O’Brien who plays a wild mandolin solo on Roadkill Breakdown and the second being Peter Rowan who duets with Miss Frey on his own song Moonlight Midnight. This is the sound of a bluegrass Clash, of a Bill Monroe for the 21st century, of a folk Goddess, two ex-punks, an Americana founder and …errr…a London lawyer making the best music of not just their careers but their lives. Read what the critics have already said about Durango:

“Griffin’s breakneck bluegrass band has made the album of their career”
**** (four stars) Q magazine

“a feast of highly crafted ensemble playing with the odd virtuoso turn”
**** (four stars)Uncut

“the audio equivalent of a feel-good movie”
****  (four stars) Mojo

“a wonderful achievement by a band that is going from strength to strength”
**** (four stars) Country Music People

You can buy Durango now at the Sid Griffin Store or via amazon.co.uk or amazon.com

listen to a sample here;

The circus was documented in the film Renaldo and Clara, the live album Hard Rain, and a TV concert special of the same name, while in between the two legs of the tour Dylan released the classic Desire album. It is this period of heightened creativity and personal drama that Dylan-authority, author, and musician Sid Griffin examines in Shelter from the Storm.

Interviewing many of the tour’s participants including musicians Roger McGuinn, T-Bone Burnett, Kinky Friedman, Arlo Guthrie, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and tour manager Louie Kemp, Griffin mixes meticulous musical analysis into a gripping narrative in this definitive account the Rolling Thunder years. Shelter From The Storm will be in bookstores in the USA and Europe on June 21, 2010! (please see below for pre-ordering it)

Order now from amazon.co.uk or amazon.com

They were the number one Indie/Alternative band in the USA in the mid-1980s and if it wasn’t for The Smiths they would’ve held that crown in the UK as well. The Long Ryders are now seen as a primary ingredient in what is now alt-country or Americana and Sid Griffin & Co. are equally seen as THE link in the chain connecting Gram Parsons then with the Kings Of Leon now. NME cover boys with TV appearances in country after country and with a tour schedule which helped them hone the hottest live show to ever feature a 12-string Rickenbacker, glorious songs and punk energy they had it all!

For their first shows in seventeen years the Long Ryders proved they still had it as they tore the roof off London’s fabled Dingwall’s venue on the hottest night of 2004. Featuring a smokin’ solid hour of footage from that London show and with five extra songs filmed back in their 1985/1986 heyday this is the first authorised Long Ryders DVD and the closest and best way you will ever but ever get to see them!

You can order it here: 991.com and here: hmv.com

(Q Magazine)

(Uncut Magazine)

(Maverick)

(Mojo Magazine)

06 Mar 2010, 08:00 PM – The Green Note
106, Parkway, Camden Town, London, NW1 7AN -
ph 020 7485 9899 www.greennote.co.uk onstage 8pm and at 10pm

12 Mar 2010, 09:00 PM – Kavarna
707 East Lake Drive, Decatur, Georgia 30030 -
404-371-1113

13 Mar 2010, 09:00 PM – Hummingbird Stage & Tap Room
430 Cherry Street, Macon, Georgia 31201 – (478) 741-9130‎

15 Mar 2010, 09:00 PM – All Good Cafe
2934 Main Street, Dallas, Texas 75226 -

17 Mar 2010, 03:00 PM – SXSW: The Independent
501 N IH 35, Austin, Texas -

18 Mar 2010, 08:00 PM – SXSW: Waterloo Records
600 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78703 – time TBA

19 Mar 2010, 03:00 PM – SXSW: Waterloo Bicycles
2815 Fruth, Austin, Texas 78705 -

20 Mar 2010, 01:00 PM – SXSW: Flipnotics
1601 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, Texas 78704 -
512.480.8646

20 Mar 2010, 03:45 PM – SXSW: Yard Dog
1510 S. Congress Ave, Austin, Texas 78704 -

20 Mar 2010, 05:30 PM – SXSW: Antones Records
29th and Guadelupe, Austin, Texas -

01 Apr 2010, 08:00 PM – The Inn at Lathones
Lathones, by Largoward, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland KY9 1JE – Tel: 01334-840494 http://www.mundellmusic.com

02 Apr 2010, 08:00 PM – The Inn at Lathones
Lathones, by Largoward, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland KY9 1JE -
Tel: 01334-840494 http://www.mundellmusic.com

03 Apr 2010, 08:00 PM – Eastgate Theatre
Eastgate, Peebles, Scotland EH45 8AD – £12/£10
Tel 01721-725777 on Weds 31 March 2010. Tickets £12/£10

04 Apr 2010, 08:00 PM – Special Easter Charity Show – Midlem Village Hall
(near Selkirk), Selkirkshire, Scotland TD7 4QD – £10
Tickets £10 for Coal Porters on Sunday 4th April Fundraiser for The Katie McKerracher Trust (raffle on night) Gig starts at 8pm (doors open 7.30pm) For tickets call 07813 804097

13 May 2010, 10:00 PM – The Betsey Trotwood
56 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3BL – £6
ph: 020 7253 4285 www.thebetsey.com admission £6 Opening act is the ace Foghorn Leghorn. The Coal Porters are onstage 10pm for at least an hour.

22 May 2010, 08:00 PM – The Acoustic Festival of Great Britain
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, -
www.acousticfestival.co.uk ph: 0333 9000 919

11 Jun 2010, 08:00 PM – The Quarterhouse
Tontine Street, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1JR -
info@quarterhouse.co.uk http://www.quarterhouse.co.uk/venueinformation tel: 01303 858500

26 Jun 2010, 11:30 AM – Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival – Milltimes Hotel, Mayo
11:30pm onstage at the Milltimes Hotel http://www.myspace.com/westportfolkbluegrassfestival

17 Jul 2010, 08:00 PM – Grub Café & Music Bar
110 –112 London Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex, RH19 1EP -

01342 313139 to reserve your table with your booking reference. Tickets available from wegottickets.com info@grubonline.co.uk www.grubonline.co.uk www.myspace.com/grubcafe

24 Jul 2010, 08:00 PM – Watermill House
Mill Street, Iden Green, Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 4HL
www.solparty.org.uk

Stay tuned, join Sids mailing list via the menu on the left or follow SidCPsGriffin on twitter for all the latest news and tour dates.

The Basement Tapes were recorded during 1967, a year in which Dylan went publicly quiet yet wrote more classic songs than in any other year. In one 94,000 word book you can now read EXACTLY what Bob and The Band were up to at Big Pink as well as where, why and how they made this timeless music. Featuring interviews with Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Roger McGuinn, Joe Boyd, Manfred Mann, Band producer John Simon, Ronnie Hawkins and many more.

Available in all good bookshops and at amazon.com and amazon.co.uk

He admits to voting for Barack Obama, wanting to play professional basketball for a Spanish team and liking the band NRBQ.

Two new Western Electric songs have appeared on compilations in 2006. One compilation is a tribute to Sid’s dear friend Peter Case and the other is the Buffalo Springfield tribute CD Five Way Street (Not Lame Records, USA).

“I have known Peter Case over a quarter of a century and he is in my top five all-time fave musicians along with McGuinn, Aretha, Sir Doug and Magic Sam. The fact the greater world doesn’t know about him only proves to me that the flaming media hoops you gotta jump through to become rich and famous are not the kind of challenges a noble, talented, dignified artiste such as Hamburg, New York’s finest son seeks, knowing full well (as Peter does) that the greatest achievement is in the creation and the love of creating and not, not ever, in the selling or the marketing or the merchandising.” -Sid

Dave Morgan, M.B.E.-drums, sampling, mixing; Pat McGarvey-bass, hair gel, classical guitar, arrangement, lead vocals; Neil Robert-pedal steel guitar, guitar, vocals; Sid Griffin-Rickenbacker 12-string guitar, guitar, vocals; produced by Pat McGarvey & Dave Morgan; recorded by Esther Mae Griffin in London, England.