Ramakrishna Math is a monastic organisation engaged in the motto "For the salavtion of the Self and the welfare of the world." The organisation engages in active social service work such as running schools, dispensaries, vocational training, etc. apart from the spiritual activities such as weekly classes on hindu scriptures, devotional music and conducting religious gatherings.

I'm the guy from the Long Ryders in 1980s L.A. & the guy in the Coal Porters in London now. Yes, I also make solo albums and do some singer-songwriter gigs. Million Dollar Bash is my book on The Basement Tapes and I've never met Dylan.

“His intimate acoustic shows are consistently memorable” The Sunday Times

Sid Griffin displays many chapeaux in his career as a multi-faceted musician, proud author, knowledgeable broadcaster and professional golfer. Or is that professional go-fer? Okay, only the first three hats get anywhere near his noggin, but they all fit snugly. He is also a proud parent and part time journalist as well as a man who makes excellent cheese mushroom omelettes.

An eighth-generation native Kentuckian who currently resides in England, Sid has popped up in literary circles due to the success of his Million Dollar Bash book on Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes as well as the follow up Shelter From The Storm. He has also appeared in music circles due to his bluegrass band the Coal Porters enjoying success after success with their new CD, No. 6. and to his many media appearances, be they via print media or the airwaves. In 2006 ABC’s The Jimmy Kimmel Show had their house band play Sid’s song Jimmy Reed as they went to commercial…our hero was watching that eve and fell off the sofa when he heard the familiar melody struck up. In addition to falling off furniture Griffin has already won a Lifetime Achievement Award in Italy in 2003 (Piero Ciampi Award), and Sid’s old band the Long Ryders, the legendary founders of alt-country, are occasionally found touring.

Sid appears as Resident Musicologist on BBC Radio 6 Music DJs Stuart Maconie and Mark Radcliffe’s excellent afternoon show and this brought Sid to an entirely new demographic. Frequently heard on late night BBC Radio, Griffin’s silver-toned vocal chords were heard extensively when the BBC broadcast Mark Lamarr’s four-part series Redneck Music in early 2008. (Griffin was not the redneck in question.)

As a musician, Griffin continues to perform on bluegrass mandolin with his acoustic Coal Porters ensemble. The Coal Porters have played festivals in many places around the world including Glastonbury in the UK, Kilkenny Festival in Ireland and the World Of Bluegrass festival in Kentucky USA. He looks forward the future as his old rock band The Long Ryders sometimes perform again. The Long Ryders box set Final Wild Songs was released in January 2016 to universal acclaim, creating a new demand for live concerts by the band.

And yes, in between all of this activity Sid Griffin still performs the occasional, and very special, solo troubadour show. Lately his solo appearances are in support of his 2015 solo album The Trick Is To Breathe, which earned Griffin four and five star reviews globally. In 2018 Sid is performing solo in Spain, Italy, the UK, Scandinavia and his native United States.

Further to all this Sid has his very own musical Podcast 'Call All Coal Porters' which is availible on iTunes as well as on his own website at SidGriffin.com
Prima Records has compiled, archived and reissued seven albums of Sid’s 1980's band, The Long Ryders. The fifth of these reissues was the first “new” Long Ryders material in sixteen years with the well-received album, Three Minute Warnings: Live In New York City.

A sixth CD was released in October 2007, Live 2004: State Of Our Reunion and a seventh, an expanded Native Sons with extra tracks, appeared to loud huzzahs in January 2011. At present there are no further Long Ryder reissues planned.

The Long Ryders reformed for live concerts in 2004, 2009, 2014 and twice in 2016 and the band hope to record some new songs for a new album! So watch this space for a major announcement as regards new Long Ryders studio tracks.

The Coal Porters, Sid’s new band, continue to perform live and release albums via Prima Records with their latest being 2016’s No. 6, their well-received sixth studio album.

Lead singer and writer for 13 Frightened Girls. Also sang live as a back up singer for Heidi Berry, The Kettles, The Jazz Butcher, The Nivens and Adrian Borland of The Sound. 

Vedanta is one of the world’s most ancient religious philosophies and one of its broadest. Based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India, Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions. Vedanta is the philosophical foundation of Hinduism; but while Hinduism includes aspects of Indian culture, Vedanta is universal in its application and is equally relevant to all countries, all cultures, and all religious backgrounds.

A closer look at the word “Vedanta” is revealing: “Vedanta” is a combination of two words: “Veda” which means “knowledge” and “anta” which means “the end of” or “the goal of.” In this context the goal of knowledge isn’t intellectual—the limited knowledge we acquire by reading books. “Knowledge” here means the knowledge of God as well as the knowledge of our own divine nature. Vedanta, then, is the search for Self-knowledge as well as the search for God.

What do we mean when we say God? According to Vedanta, God is infinite existence, infinite consciousness, and infinite bliss. The term for this impersonal, transcendent reality is Brahman, the divine ground of being. Yet Vedanta also maintains that God can be personal as well, assuming human form in every age.

Most importantly, God dwells within our own hearts as the divine Self or Atman. The Atman is never born nor will it ever die. Neither stained by our failings nor affected by the fluctuations of the body or mind, the Atman is not subject to our grief or despair or disease or ignorance. Pure, perfect, free from limitations, the Atman, Vedanta declares, is one with Brahman. The greatest temple of God lies within the human heart.

Vedanta further asserts that the goal of human life is to realize and manifest our divinity. Not only is this possible, it is inevitable. Our real nature is divine; God-realization is our birthright. Sooner or later, we will all manifest our divinity—either in this or in future lives—for the greatest truth of our existence is our own divine nature.

Finally, Vedanta affirms that all religions teach the same basic truths about God, the world, and our relationship to one another. Thousands of years ago the Rig Veda declared: “Truth is one, sages call it by various names.” The world’s religions offer varying approaches to God, each one true and valid, each religion offering the world a unique and irreplaceable path to God-realization. The conflicting messages we find among religions are due more to doctrine and dogma than to the reality of spiritual experience. While dissimilarities exist in the external observances of the world religions, the internals bear remarkable similarities.


Some of these here tunes on this Soundcloud aren't necessarily "typical" of Crayola Lectern's oeuvre, but recent additions do include some of the more approved "proper" recordings. I'll leave you to decide which are improvisations, hastily recorded home demos or opportunistic moments which happen to have been captured in studios. The quality control on this site is not indicative of the more anal approach to making the killer records that you will come to love from Crayola Lectern. 

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