The Making of “Ghosts of the Old West”

There were more than 20 people camped out at Mick Coates’ house during the Maldon Folk Festival, George among them, and each night would end around Mick’s kitchen table, slowly growing more crowded as folk dribbled in from town. Some went to bed, while others settled in for a late-night session. At some point late in one of those evenings, Mick and George got to talking about recording, and the idea of this album began to take shape.

“I thought the contrast of our voices, alternating lead vocals on the songs, would be an interesting blend, and we both love the kind of story-songs that we feature on this album,” George said. When the title “Ghosts of the Old West” came to him, George suggested to Mick that they each write a song with that title, though for clarity, Mick’s song is called “The Ghosts of the Old West.”

They began talking about and planning for the album, and Mick had friends he wanted to visit in the United States. A plan was conceived, and over 4 days at Will Russell’s lovely and loving Electric Wilburland studios, most of the album was recorded. “This was a more than worthwhile and unexpected experience for an old cowboy singer riding the twilight trail,” Mick said. “I loved the idea and am glad that we were able to see it through.”

While sonically the album has a strong country/western feel to it, there are also acoustic cuts and some fine singing and musicianship throughout, with hints of both the old West of the US and the ghosts of Australia’s past.

George Mann:

George Mann (US) is a songwriter’s singer who would just as soon share stories and songs from the long history of folk music as sing his own songs! He has produced albums featuring such folk music legends as Utah Phillips, Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton, and produced national tours of the US and Australia in honor of The Almanac Singers (2013) and Joe Hill (2015). George released his CD “This Chain” in October 2023, and in September 2024 he released a CD of Si Kahn’s songs, “Labor Day,” to honor Si on his 80th birthday. He is producing a new album with Mick Coates for September 2025 release, “Ghosts of the Old West,” and will be featuring songs from this album on his 2025 Australian tour, running through late November.

Mick Coates:

Mick Coates (Australia) settled in the quaint old goldmining town of Maldon back in late 2000 just before he reached the ripe old age of 50. Already a regular folk festival fan it wasn’t long before he tapped into the rich vein of local Central Victorian musicians, bought a cheap guitar, a capo, and, armed with 3 chords, started annoying anyone who was polite enough to listen! Things progressed and his bass/baritone voice saw him out front with a couple of fine bands belting out close-to-the-bone Johnny Cash covers, old folk and cowboy songs at festivals stretching from the remote Northern Territory to all over SE Australia. His proudest achievement is the self-titled 2022 album “Mick Coates & the Shallow Gravediggers,” featuring 14 uniquely Australian songs mostly penned by Mick, his fellow band members and friends.