Godfathers’ founder members Peter Coyne & Chris Coyne accused guitarist Del Bartell & drummer Grant Nicholas of being “musical whores whose only motivation is money & with no sense of responsibility toward their fans” after the guitarist & drummer announced they were leaving the band just days before 2 concerts in London & Brighton with no time for the group to find any suitable replacements.
The Coyne brothers promised a return to the classic two guitar line-up of The Godfathers with this recent message on Facebook:
“The Godfathers require TWO rocking guitarists & ONE rocking drummer!! Any serious musicians with a knowledge & genuine love of The Godfathers' music & rock & roll music in general should please contact The Godfathers' founder members Peter Coyne & Chris Coyne via petercoyne77@gmail.com & also christopher.coyne@virginmedia.com Del Bartell & Grant Nicholas announced yesterday they have left The Godfathers, so therefore unfortunately the concerts this weekend at The Underworld in London on Saturday May 3rd & The Prince Albert in Brighton on Sunday May 4th are CANCELLED!! Ticket refunds for both concerts are available from point of purchase...The Godfathers apologise for this situation - we shall return BIGGER, STRONGER & BETTER than before!!! PS Please share this post with friends/anyone who might be interested...”
Peter & Chris Coyne also commented “Bartell & Nicholas threatened to walk out of the group before, during & toward the end of our recent UK tour with Stiff Little Fingers & also before 2 recent concerts in Ireland. The London & Brighton shows were originally cancelled in November last year due to Bartell’s health problems & we all agreed to reschedule those concerts & also take a massive reduction in our fee so as not to disappoint any fans who’d bought tickets & also to compensate promoters who were left out of pocket. Now our former guitarist & drummer have gone back on that agreement leaving The Godfathers, their fans & promoters high & dry. We certainly had no complaints from them when they made some great money performing concerts with the band all round the world in the past 5 years. In the long run we will be better off without their negative, destructive input, we want to work with talented people who are seriously passionate about working with The Godfathers. The Godfathers are like Doctor Who – we regenerate every few years to survive. Long live The Godfathers.”
The Godfathers’ brothers Peter & Chris Coyne are currently writing songs & tunes for their follow-up album to the critically acclaimed 'Jukebox Fury’. The (as yet untitled) new studio album is expected to be released sometime in 2015, which (coincidentally) will be 30 years since the formation of the band.
