Lynval Golding and Contra Coup

Lynval Golding (born 24 July 1951, Saint Catherine, Jamaica) is a British musician. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist and vocalist with the British 2 Tone Records band, The Specials.
He went on to co-found the Fun Boy Three with Terry Hall and Neville Staple. Recently he was touring with the English Beat, a reunion version of another second wave ska band, and started a newer band, Stiff Upper Lips, which played more frequently in the Seattle, Washington area U.S..
In 2007 he appeared live at the Glastonbury Festival, on the Pyramid Stage with Lily Allen (and fellow Specials / Fun Boy Three band member Terry Hall). He also played on the Park Stage, once again with Terry Hall and also Blur frontman Damon Albarn and beatboxer Shlomo, playing a version of Specials, "A Message To You, Rudy".
On 28 July 2007 Golding appeared with his current band, Pama International, at the Dunstaffnage music festival near Oban, Scotland.
Golding regularly tours the UK with Pama International, who have recorded three albums with his input on guitar and vocals. This band is signed to www.rockersrevolt.com, an independent record label.
In 2009 The Specials reunited and have been playing to huge sold out venues. In May of 2010, Lynval played a string of shows with Billy Geoghegan and Mark Wilson, of the band Contra Coup. It worked well and they have continued ever since.  In September of 2016, the collaboration released it's debut E.P. "Know Your Rights",  featuring a cover of the 1982 Clash song.  Golding chose this song due to it's current relevance, and to pay tribute to his own experience, in late 70s England.   

Contra Coup - The foundation of this eight-piece group is heavy drum and bass rhythms topped with sweet melodies and harmonies, all fusing with with the same bold originality that defined the 1977 punk scene. While embracing roots reggae music, this band is by no means shy about expressing itself and its own experiences through the music. Contra Coup formed as a band in November 2006 after several members of a temporary backing band, The Lonestar Rockers, completed a tour of the Southern United States with reggae legend Clinton Fearon (Studio One, The Gladiators, Black Ark Studio). Inspired by Fearon’s authentic and original style, these musicians – former members of The Stingers ATX, Five Ton Chicken, Burning Spear’s Burning Band, DJ Kane of the Kumbia Kings, and many others – gathered in a recording studio three months later to record On Time, their first full-length album, which was produced by Fearon. Four of the sixteen tracks are dub versions by Victor Rice, who has produced and mixed records for acts such as The Slackers, The Toasters, Rocker-T, and many more. This collection of songs covers many types of reggae music, while adding a specifically original touch. While being a very cohesive unit in the studio, Contra Coup has evolved into a very dynamic live act as well. Contra Coup is featured on the "Love I Can Feel - A Groove For The Cure" benefit record along with such artists as Doreen Shaffer, Clinton Fearon, General Smiley and many more. Contra Coup played the backing tracks for the record, as well as performed the title track. A second European tour proved very successful, in May '09, taking the band to more than a dozen new cities.
In early 2010, the band released their sophomore record, a double L.P. titled "Run For The Moon". This record featured many guest artists that the band has worked with from all over the world. After a fairly quiet release of the record, due to health issues experienced by one of the band, they immediately started work on the next one, due to be released in March of 2011. Though there were limited live performances in 2010, Contra Coup has teamed up with Lynval Golding (The Specials, Fun Boy Three) to work on two new records and to perform together in Winter/Spring of 2011.
In 2012 and part of 2013 (with Lynval on tour with The Specials), the band concentrated on recording a new record and immediately came up with the "Radiotherapy" E.P. (Mossburg 2013). With 2014 coming fast, Contra Coup is planning on supporting the E.P. with an E.U. tour and several U.S. shows.