LIVING ON ANOTHER PLANET WITH YOU Always wanted to take Mole the girl who loves banjos to see the Coal Porters. Double bonus on Friday night, Dee and Eric, were coming with us, their pedigree and passion for country and bluegrass like a veritable whos who of the greats and back porch heroes of Mole and I. On the point of the Coal Porters gig the Railway changed hands but it was clearly business as usual thankfully. The back room of the Railway is now called the barn though no cows or hay bales in evidence. Its still the same bare dark back room it ever was. What turns this room into something special is the musicians that have played here and the atmosphere they create. Tonight Sid Griffin the head honcho of the Cole Porters and the band tonight continue the legend of this scuzzy back bar. Dee says the Coal Porters have a couple of new musicians tonight, as it turns out a double bass and a banjo player. The band stand out from the sneakers and jeans crowd in their pressed suits and the young lady on fiddle in her sparkling pink frock. The audience at the back dont seem to have come to listen to the Coal Porters and Sid Griffin nails them with a brilliant mimick that finally silences the inane babble from the back. “Were the Coal Porters from Fargo, Dakota” announces Sid Griffin and thte band kick into their first number. What follows is a magical blend across two sets mostly songs from the last album For The One, steeped in Bill Monroe style bluegrass and a gospel that sounds like a sermon from a South Carolina baptist church. Amidst these came a David Bowie song Heroes Id never heard, then that aint suprising given my record collection, but I knew Paint It Black for sure which Sid Griffin brillantly had the audience sing and hum along on. Musically the band are top notch, deftly picked banjo on one wing and brilliant fiddle swinging in from the other. Sid Griffins backporch mandolin comping dancing between Neil Robert Herds strident guitar plucking, an ageless, timeless harking back to another time when all there was old steam driven radios, the Lousiana hayride and a back porch. Add to this the spine tingling harmonies gracing the vocals shared by the contrast of Sid Griffin, Neil Robert Herd and Carly Frey. The song that had me isnt on record just yet, on the next one as the fellah on the merchandising desk said, was Another Planet, Another Girl with the alluring chorus line “Im on another world with you” I guess its a Neil Robert Herd song, love his stuff and this one was a belter. And twas a perfect end to a great night, they did an encore and then unplugged and came into the audience for a final song think it may have been New Cut Road, whatever it was it drew deeply on the magic of performing live and unplugged and like the rest of the set it went down a storm. Cracking night, cracking company. Mole loved it, Dee and Eric were beaming. On the way out there was Oliver Grey beaming too. The Coal Porters then Oliver putting on Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express. Now theres a pride of lions to draw too. youtube/watch?v=TVAYmlryaOY Ratty
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 06:06:33 +0000
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