The story
From the
coalfield.
A collier is a coal miner. We took the name from the men who worked the seams under South Yorkshire — because that's where our music comes from, and that's the story we're still telling.
The Colliers formed in the pit villages south of Doncaster, out where the old collieries left their mark on the landscape and the language. It's an area that's always sung — brass bands, working songs, folk clubs in the back rooms of pubs — and that's the water we grew up in.
We plug that heritage into American roots music: the swing and grit of Americana, the storytelling of folk, and a rhythm section that drives like a shift change. Acoustic guitars sit at the heart of it, but there's always an electric riff pushing underneath and a bassline that refuses to stand still. Foot-tapping, feel-good, honest music — that's the brief.
Our first EP, “Who Forgot the Parachute”, arrived in 2014 on Riverjuke and opened with “Ellers Lane” — a song named after a real lane out in Auckley, and still the one people shout for. We played it up and down the country, from hometown launches to nights like Sound Control in Manchester.
Then life happened, as it does. Now — over a decade on — the band is back in the studio cutting a brand-new EP. Same coalfield roots, same driving sound, sharper than ever.
The practice room
The sound
Acoustic at heart. Never quiet.
Driving riffs
Electric hooks that push the song forward — the part that gets a room moving.
Solid basslines
The engine room. Low, warm and relentless, holding the whole thing together.
Big harmonies
Folk-club voices stacked up over the top — the coalfield choir, basically.
The line-up
The Colliers
Mitchell Russon
Vocals
Chris Garbutt
Guitar
Luke Goodall
Keys
Harry Bullas
Bass
The Colliers
Drums
“Times are dull and pockets are empty — but in the eyes of the Colliers, the sun is shining.”The Colliers
Hear the music