Railroad Earth

All Music Guide:

Railroad Earth emerged from the breakup of one of New Jersey's most popular bands, From Good Homes, in early 2001. Later that year, with appearances at some of the major summer festivals on the bluegrass circuit under their belt -- including the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, and High Sierra Music Festival -- Railroad Earth showed that their music could go well beyond the realm of traditional bluegrass to incorporate folk, Celtic, jazz, and rock music. Todd Sheaffer, the group's main songwriter and former lead singer of From Good Homes, stood at the forefront of the group's vision, and Railroad Earth began releasing albums within six months of the band's formation.

Railroad Earth's seeds were planted as far back as 1998, when violinist Timothy Carbone (Blue Sparks from Hell, Kings in Disguise) met film music supervisor Brian Ross, a former booking agent with Family Tree Agency, at the now-defunct Wetlands club in New York City. The two started a conversation about bluegrass music during a break in the evening's lineup. After keeping in touch for several months, the two hatched an idea to gather together professional musicians in New Jersey to play bluegrass at informal jam sessions. Meanwhile, Ross hired Carbone and Andy Goessling (also in Blue Sparks from Hell, Kings in Disguise) to play music for the film Big Eden. Sheaffer arrived at the bluegrass sessions in the fall of 2000 with some new songs, which the musicians rendered as bluegrass numbers.

All the musicians started to gather at the Shindig, an open-mike event sponsored by the Pocono Bluegrass Society. Informal jam sessions continued at Goessling's house, with multi-instrumentalist John Skehan (Bobby Syvarth Band) joining the other three musicians. Eventually, Ross approached the musicians about forming a band and performing as Railroad Earth. The new group secured its core members in Sheaffer (who handled vocals and acoustic guitar), Goessling (acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, penny whistle, saxophone), Carbone (violin, acoustic guitar), and session player John Skehan (mandolin, guitar, piano). Drummer/percussionist Carey Harmon (formerly with the Hour and Bobby Syvarth Band) and upright/electric bassist Dave Von Dollen completed the lineup in January 2001.

One month after forming, the bluegrass-rock group recorded a five-song demo at Mixolydian Studios in Lafayette, NJ. Four of those songs ("Head," "Black Bear," "Stillwater Getaway," and "Cold Water") were combined with six new songs recorded in April 2001 to form the band's debut CD, The Black Bear Sessions, which was released in June by BOS Music. Railroad Earth broadened their songwriting style during the remainder of 2001, carrying on the improvisational, multiple-genre tradition started by the Grateful Dead, String Cheese Incident, Phish, and Leftover Salmon. The group skated the edge of traditional bluegrass and the jam band tradition to produce an eclectic blend of folk, Celtic, jazz, and rock filtered through a bluegrass lens. A second album (and the band's first release for Sugar Hill), Bird in a House, followed in 2002, and producer Stewart Lerman joined Railroad Earth in the studio to record 2004's The Good Life. A live album named Elko followed in early 2006.

Railroad Earth toured heavily, but the band also found time to regularly return to the studio. In 2008, the guys released their fourth studio effort, Amen Corner, which doubled as their last recording with bassist Johnny Grubb, who had replaced Dave Von Dollen five years prior. The group drafted Andrew Altman as his replacement and hit the studio once again, this time to record 2010's self-titled Railroad Earth.

Wikipedia:

Railroad Earth is a roots and Americana-based newgrass band from Stillwater, New Jersey. Their name was borrowed from the Jack Kerouac short story "October in the Railroad Earth," to which the band also has a song by the same name. Railroad Earth's music combines elements of bluegrass, rock and roll, jazz, celtic and more, and the group is also known for its extensive live improvisation and lyrical songwriting within an acoustic base.

History

The six band members first came together in January 2001. Originally composed of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Todd Sheaffer, violinist/vocalist Tim Carbone, mandolinist John Skehan, multi-instrumentalist Andy Goessling, drummer/vocalist Carey Harmon, and bassist Dave Von Dollen, the group kicked off by rehearsing a handful of original songs, mostly written by Sheaffer, the former From Good Homes songwriter, just to get together, hang out and play some music. But after just three weeks of rehearsing, they decided to go into a local recording studio to track a five song demo. Recorded live with no overdubs except backing vocals, this untitled demo set Railroad Earth's career in motion. Within a week they had manager Brian Ross on board, who sent their demo out to several festival promoters...quickly landing them a slot at the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival. That appearance was the new band's tenth as Railroad Earth. The previous nine gigs had been little more than warm-ups at small North Jersey bars and Elks lodges. In early April 2001, the band returned to the same local studio and tracked another five songs to complete an album. The Black Bear Sessions was released to the public in June 2001, one week before their appearance at Telluride. The album contains what are still some of the most popular songs in Railroad Earth's repertoire, including "Seven Story Mountain," "Head" and, of course, "Railroad Earth." Immediately following their appearance at Telluride, Sugar Hill Records approached the band and offered them a record deal.

In June 2002, Railroad Earth released its follow-up album on Sugar Hill titled Bird In A House, featuring songs such as "Like A Buddha," "Mighty River," and the album's title track. Throughout that year Railroad Earth's touring schedule increased dramatically and their growing fanbase began to emerge as something tangible to promoters, radio stations and other media. They were garnering raves for their unique sound and exciting live shows and had become a staple act on the line-up of any Roots, Folk or jam-band festival. Their fans, who were now calling themselves "Hobos," began to grow quickly in size, and the venues were getting larger along with them.

In late March 2003, Dave Von Dollen was replaced by Atlanta-based bassist Johnny Grubb. The following year, the band released its third studio effort, The Good Life, featuring "Storms," Mourning Flies," and "Goat." The band continued to tour throughout the country, and its first live album, "Elko," was issued in late January 2006. They performed at the Austin City Limits Music Festival on September 15, 2007.

The band's fourth studio album, titled Amen Corner, was released on June 10, 2008. The album features songs such as "Been Down This Road," "Hard Livin'," "Waggin' The Dog," and "Lovin' You."

On November 11, 2009, Grubb announced his departure from the band after Railroad Earth's New Year's Eve run of shows in Portland, OR. In February 2010, Andrew Altman of the Codetalkers and Blueground Undergrass was named as his successor.

The band's self-titled fifth album was released on Oct 12, 2010. The album featured Andy Goessling, for the first time playing electric guitar, and new songs from Todd Sheaffer including "Jupiter and the 119" and " Too much information" plus a 11-minute instrumental, written by John Skehan, "Spring-Heeled Jack." SHJ is John Skehan's initials backwards. It is the longest studio track to date for the band.

The band was announced to perform the self-titled album in its entirety and video tape it to send to the fans.

Members

Current members

Past members

Image gallery

The current lineup of Railroad Earth playing Friday Cheers on May 21, 2010 in Richmond, Virginia.

The current lineup of Railroad Earth playing Friday Cheers on May 21, 2010 in Richmond, Virginia.