Todd Sheaffer, Lead Vocals, Accoustic Guitars
Andrew Altman, Bass; Tim Carbone, Violin and Vocals
Carey Harmon, Drums and Vocals
John Skehan, Mandolin and Vocals
Plugged InRailroad…station. Terrapin…Station? Earth = Terrapin? Railroad Earth.
Terrapin - I can't figure out
Terrapin - if it's an end or the beginning
Terrapin - but the train's got its brakes on
and the whistle is screaming: TERRAPIN
--from Terrapin Station, Grateful Dead
Seems to me the roots of Railroad Earth are closely aligned with Grateful Dead bluegrass roots, and it was fun to see a band that got everybody dancing.
I hear people complain all the time, “Young people listen to such garbage!” or “No one under 30 has good taste in music!” and I beg to differ. Youth may not be completely wasted on the young! There is a movement where 20-somethings actually care a LOT about great writing, musicianship, and melody. I witnessed this first-hand at the Showbox in Seattle, with Railroad Earth. Next to me was a 20-year old fan from Minnesota who had traveled to Seattle to hear her favorite band, singing along, knowing all the words.
There is definitely a following of loyal young fans. RR Earth does a good job communicating with their 25,000+ fans via Facebook. Touring professionals, the band members had all first mastered their acoustic instruments before going electric (“Bob Dylan, how could you?!”) And you can see an almost reluctant plugging-in of hollow-body guitars. I especially enjoyed the electric hollow-body bass (not a Hoffner, but sweet) and banjo. Nice mandolin playing, great classical guitar picking, the treat of an acoustic bass, and a monster violinist, all melded to make memorable, danceable music. The crowd got the old wooden trampoline-of-a-dance-floor bouncing pretty good!
One of the challenges for this band is properly mic’ing the lead singer; if it weren’t so hard to distinguish the words we might have had the benefit of experiencing the lyrics along with the music, and it would certainly have been more meaningful. From YouTube I know they do some good writing. A few more years on the road, perfecting their sound, honing their writing, and you never know…
Terrapin - I can't figure out
Terrapin - if it's an end or the beginning
Terrapin - but the train's got its brakes on
and the whistle is screaming: TERRAPIN
--from Terrapin Station, Grateful Dead
Seems to me the roots of Railroad Earth are closely aligned with Grateful Dead bluegrass roots, and it was fun to see a band that got everybody dancing.
I hear people complain all the time, “Young people listen to such garbage!” or “No one under 30 has good taste in music!” and I beg to differ. Youth may not be completely wasted on the young! There is a movement where 20-somethings actually care a LOT about great writing, musicianship, and melody. I witnessed this first-hand at the Showbox in Seattle, with Railroad Earth. Next to me was a 20-year old fan from Minnesota who had traveled to Seattle to hear her favorite band, singing along, knowing all the words.
There is definitely a following of loyal young fans. RR Earth does a good job communicating with their 25,000+ fans via Facebook. Touring professionals, the band members had all first mastered their acoustic instruments before going electric (“Bob Dylan, how could you?!”) And you can see an almost reluctant plugging-in of hollow-body guitars. I especially enjoyed the electric hollow-body bass (not a Hoffner, but sweet) and banjo. Nice mandolin playing, great classical guitar picking, the treat of an acoustic bass, and a monster violinist, all melded to make memorable, danceable music. The crowd got the old wooden trampoline-of-a-dance-floor bouncing pretty good!
One of the challenges for this band is properly mic’ing the lead singer; if it weren’t so hard to distinguish the words we might have had the benefit of experiencing the lyrics along with the music, and it would certainly have been more meaningful. From YouTube I know they do some good writing. A few more years on the road, perfecting their sound, honing their writing, and you never know…
No comments:
Post a Comment