WEBVTT 00:00:17.739 --> 00:00:20.859 Welcome back to Shecky's Jam Band. I'm Shecky. 00:00:21.179 --> 00:00:23.960 In the last episode, if you caught it, we talked 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:27.879 about From Good Homes, beloved New Jersey band, 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:31.780 broke into a bar to play a song, got their name 00:00:31.780 --> 00:00:35.060 from a judge, and had Dave Matthews open for 00:00:35.060 --> 00:00:38.840 them, and said a tearful goodbye to Waterloo 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:43.380 Village in 1999 in front of 5 ,000 broken -hearted 00:00:43.380 --> 00:00:48.359 fans. I ended that episode by saying FGH story 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:51.859 wasn't over. The fans refused to accept the ending 00:00:51.859 --> 00:00:55.679 and the band came back. But here's the part I 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:58.700 left out, because I was saving it for today. 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:02.560 When From Good Homes walked off the Waterloo 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:06.939 stage in 1999, frontman Todd Schaeffer didn't 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:10.519 go home and wait. He went to a party at a friend's 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:14.140 house in northwestern New Jersey and at that 00:01:14.140 --> 00:01:17.659 party, some musicians started picking bluegrass 00:01:17.659 --> 00:01:20.980 and something happened that nobody saw coming. 00:01:21.859 --> 00:01:25.879 Today's episode is what came next. Today, we're 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:30.120 talking about Railroad Earth. If you listen to 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:33.379 the From Good Home episode, you already know 00:01:33.379 --> 00:01:35.939 that Todd Schaefer is one of the finest songwriters 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:39.000 New Jersey has ever produced. He spent a decade 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:42.340 with FGH writing the kind of songs that made 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:46.379 people drive four hours to a show and cry at 00:01:46.379 --> 00:01:50.560 the encore. When that band ended in 1999, he 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:54.280 put out a solo record and was figuring out what 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:58.459 came next. And then Andy Gosling, a veteran of 00:01:58.459 --> 00:02:02.299 Northwest New Jersey music scene, who had been 00:02:02.299 --> 00:02:05.780 in a band called the Blue Sparks from Hell, threw 00:02:05.780 --> 00:02:10.000 a party at his house. an informal bluegrass get 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.680 -together. Schaefer showed up. Tim Carbone, who 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:17.520 played violin and had been in the blue sparks 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:21.259 with Gosling, was there too. They started picking 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:25.300 bluegrass tunes, old standards, fiddle songs, 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:29.259 whatever came up. Schaefer has described it exactly 00:02:29.259 --> 00:02:33.479 as it was. Not a band he started, not a deliberate 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:37.080 plan, just a party, a porch, some instruments, 00:02:37.310 --> 00:02:41.090 and chemistry. He told interviewers years later, 00:02:41.409 --> 00:02:44.550 they invited me to join in the project and it 00:02:44.550 --> 00:02:47.750 sounded interesting. I said, sure, sounds like 00:02:47.750 --> 00:02:52.409 fun. The informal sessions moved to Gosling's 00:02:52.409 --> 00:02:57.150 house and kept growing. Mandolinist John Skihan 00:02:57.150 --> 00:03:01.050 joined in. Other players came and went. Eventually, 00:03:01.069 --> 00:03:04.689 as Skihan recalled, they had played every bluegrass 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:08.069 standard and fiddle tune they knew. And that's 00:03:08.069 --> 00:03:10.930 when they started working on Schaeffer's original 00:03:10.930 --> 00:03:13.430 material. And that's when everyone in the room 00:03:13.430 --> 00:03:16.009 realized something different was happening. By 00:03:16.009 --> 00:03:20.370 January 2001, the informal jams had become real 00:03:20.370 --> 00:03:23.889 rehearsals. Drummer Carrie Harmon and bassist 00:03:23.889 --> 00:03:28.289 Dave Von Dolan completed the lineup. And this 00:03:28.289 --> 00:03:32.150 brand new band of six people, who have been playing 00:03:32.150 --> 00:03:35.169 together for only a matter of weeks, christened 00:03:35.169 --> 00:03:40.280 themselves Railroad Earth, the name comes from 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:43.659 a poem titled October in the Railroad Earth. 00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:47.159 This piece is about a nomadic spirit, the pull 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:51.060 of the horizon, the feeling of always being in 00:03:51.060 --> 00:03:54.639 motion towards something just out of reach. The 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:58.060 band also has a song called Railroad Earth, a 00:03:58.060 --> 00:04:01.060 full circle tribute to the name and philosophy 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:04.830 behind it. It's one of the most consistent crowd 00:04:04.830 --> 00:04:08.870 favorites in their live sets When they play it 00:04:08.870 --> 00:04:12.129 the title isn't just a name anymore. It becomes 00:04:12.129 --> 00:04:14.710 a feeling Here's the story. I really want to 00:04:14.710 --> 00:04:17.470 tell you today Because one of the most it's one 00:04:17.470 --> 00:04:20.569 of the greater origin stories in the history 00:04:20.569 --> 00:04:24.350 of American Jam music Railroad Earth has been 00:04:24.350 --> 00:04:28.660 together for three weeks Three that's it They've 00:04:28.660 --> 00:04:31.620 barely memorized each other's names, let alone 00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:36.319 full sets of songs. They go into a local recording 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:40.319 studio and cut five song demos, recorded live 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:44.019 with almost no overdubs, just the six of them 00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:48.579 in a room playing together. Raw, direct, completely 00:04:48.579 --> 00:04:51.639 honest. The album would eventually be called 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:54.920 The Black Bear Sessions. Their manager hears 00:04:54.920 --> 00:04:58.300 the demo and does something bold. he starts sending 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:02.120 it not to small -scale local venues, not to regional 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:05.100 promoters, but to some of the country's most 00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:08.740 prestigious music festivals. And the response, 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:13.660 mandolinist John Skihan later recalled, the demo 00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:17.899 was so well received by everyone who heard it, 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:20.939 that before they knew what was happening, we 00:05:20.939 --> 00:05:23.860 found ourselves facing a full national tour, 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:28.800 including Tellaride and High Sierra. Telluride, 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:31.579 the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado, 00:05:32.139 --> 00:05:35.439 one of the crown jewels of America roots music 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:39.399 scene. That was their 10th gig, their 10th show 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:43.139 ever. They had been a band for weeks and they 00:05:43.139 --> 00:05:45.360 were playing at one of the most storied outdoor 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:49.339 stages in the country. They played and right 00:05:49.339 --> 00:05:53.680 after the set, reportedly before the dust had 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:56.779 even settled on the stage, Someone from Sugar 00:05:56.779 --> 00:06:00.680 Hill Records walked up to them. Sugar Hill, the 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:03.680 legendary Nashville -based bluegrass and roots 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:07.819 label, home to some of the most respected artists 00:06:07.819 --> 00:06:11.379 in the genre. And they were offered a record 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:16.180 deal on the spot at their 10th show. Skihand's 00:06:16.180 --> 00:06:18.959 quote about the moment captures it perfectly. 00:06:19.699 --> 00:06:21.779 None of us could believe how quickly things were 00:06:21.779 --> 00:06:24.569 happening at that point. We all knew we were 00:06:24.569 --> 00:06:27.850 going to have to work really fast to keep up. 00:06:28.009 --> 00:06:31.009 From a backyard picking party to a major roots 00:06:31.009 --> 00:06:34.610 label record deal in a matter of months, that's 00:06:34.610 --> 00:06:37.410 not a normal trajectory. This is a band that 00:06:37.410 --> 00:06:40.569 arrived already knowing who they were. Alright, 00:06:40.689 --> 00:06:44.550 if I have to pick one song for Railroad Earth, 00:06:45.569 --> 00:06:48.750 it's Seven Story Mountain from their Black Bear 00:06:48.750 --> 00:06:54.089 Sessions, their debut album in 2001. This is 00:06:54.089 --> 00:06:57.069 a six plus minute journey that tells you immediately 00:06:57.069 --> 00:07:01.589 what Railroad Earth is and what they are not. 00:07:02.389 --> 00:07:06.750 It opens with a Raga inspired introduction, Tim 00:07:06.750 --> 00:07:10.230 Carbone's violin doing something that feels simultaneously 00:07:10.230 --> 00:07:14.689 Indian classical and Appalachian folk, a combination 00:07:14.689 --> 00:07:18.230 that should be jarring but instead feels inevitable. 00:07:19.050 --> 00:07:22.110 Todd Schaeffer's lyrics trace a spiritual journey 00:07:22.509 --> 00:07:25.290 up the mountain, through the clouds, towards 00:07:25.290 --> 00:07:28.370 something you can sense but never quite name. 00:07:29.589 --> 00:07:33.050 Live, Seven Story Mountain is even more extraordinary. 00:07:33.670 --> 00:07:36.490 Concert reviewers consistently describe it as 00:07:36.490 --> 00:07:39.569 a song that builds and builds and builds. The 00:07:39.569 --> 00:07:42.850 improvised sections stretch the song well beyond 00:07:42.850 --> 00:07:45.889 its studio length, with each instrument taking 00:07:45.889 --> 00:07:50.410 the wheel in turn before the whole ensemble converges 00:07:50.410 --> 00:07:54.560 on the melody. The Capitol Theater in Portchester 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:58.519 once described a live version as reaching something 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:04.079 that topped 15 minutes during an extended improvisational 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:08.360 run. 15 minutes from a song that's six minutes 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:12.439 in the studio. That is the Railroad Earth difference. 00:08:12.980 --> 00:08:15.120 The songs that are strong enough to stand on 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:18.600 their own and they're also sturdy enough to hold 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:21.930 that whole lot of improvised weight. on top of 00:08:21.930 --> 00:08:25.709 them. Start here, you'll know immediately whether 00:08:25.709 --> 00:08:29.350 Railroad Earth is for you. And if it is, you're 00:08:29.350 --> 00:08:33.909 about to go on a very long, beautiful ride. When 00:08:33.909 --> 00:08:36.629 I think about Railroad Earth's show that lives 00:08:36.629 --> 00:08:39.950 permanently in the collective memory of their 00:08:39.950 --> 00:08:43.129 hobo fan community, the show that gets passed 00:08:43.129 --> 00:08:46.309 around, the recording that people press into 00:08:46.309 --> 00:08:51.330 other people's hands and say, start here, I keep 00:08:51.330 --> 00:08:56.590 coming back to September 5, 2009 Red Rocks Amphitheater, 00:08:56.950 --> 00:09:00.370 Morrison, Colorado. This night had a particular 00:09:00.370 --> 00:09:03.889 weight to it. Railroad Earth was the opening 00:09:03.889 --> 00:09:07.149 act for the Allman Brothers. The Allman Brothers, 00:09:07.409 --> 00:09:10.070 one of the founding pillars of Southern rock 00:09:10.070 --> 00:09:14.529 improvisational American music. Playing Red Rocks 00:09:14.529 --> 00:09:18.809 and the New Jersey Jam Grass Band from a backyard 00:09:18.809 --> 00:09:22.860 picking party was asked to set the stage. They 00:09:22.860 --> 00:09:26.000 opened with Long Way to Go and if you know Railroad 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.879 Earth, you know that that is a statement. Long 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:32.379 Way to Go is one of the great audience sing -along 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:36.820 anthems in their catalog. It's a song about endurance, 00:09:37.100 --> 00:09:40.080 about the road, about how far you've come and 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:43.259 how much further you're willing to go. Opening 00:09:43.259 --> 00:09:46.460 a Red Rock show with that song in front of an 00:09:46.460 --> 00:09:49.809 Allman Brothers crowd on a friday night in colorado 00:09:49.809 --> 00:09:52.909 with the red sandstone catching the last of the 00:09:52.909 --> 00:09:56.710 september light this is a choice that says we 00:09:56.710 --> 00:10:00.710 know exactly who we are all right some facts 00:10:00.710 --> 00:10:04.429 that will surprise you about railroad earth andy 00:10:04.429 --> 00:10:07.830 gosling played everything founding member andy 00:10:07.830 --> 00:10:11.309 gosling played acoustic guitar electric guitar 00:10:11.309 --> 00:10:15.590 banjo dobro i don't even know what that is mandolin 00:10:15.590 --> 00:10:19.700 flute penny whistle bass clarinet, lap steel, 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:24.840 soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, and baritone 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:29.919 saxophone. 14 instruments in one band. He is 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:33.059 the sonic swiss army knife of railroad earth 00:10:33.059 --> 00:10:36.500 until his passing, unfortunately, from cancer 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:41.299 in October 2018. His absence left a permanent 00:10:41.299 --> 00:10:44.440 mark on the band's soul. The second fact that 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:47.139 you might not know is they wrote songs with John 00:10:47.139 --> 00:10:51.159 Denver. In 2018, the John Denver estate approached 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:54.480 Railroad Earth about a unique project. Denver 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.159 had left behind unfinished lyrics that were never 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:02.019 set to music. Todd Schaeffer composed the music, 00:11:02.419 --> 00:11:06.620 and Railroad Earth recorded the songs as a vinyl 00:11:06.620 --> 00:11:10.299 EP called Railroad Earth, The John Denver Letters, 00:11:10.740 --> 00:11:14.080 released on Earth Day with a portion of the proceeds 00:11:14.429 --> 00:11:18.889 going to youth climate strike. Two artists separated 00:11:18.889 --> 00:11:22.370 by generations collaborating across time. Third 00:11:22.370 --> 00:11:27.070 fact, Warren Hayes and Phil Lesh called. Railroad 00:11:27.070 --> 00:11:30.830 Earth has toured and recorded with Warren Hayes, 00:11:30.970 --> 00:11:33.350 a longtime Allman Brothers and government mule 00:11:33.350 --> 00:11:36.610 guitarist, and has performed with Phil Lesh, 00:11:36.830 --> 00:11:40.269 the Grateful Dead's bassist. When the pillars 00:11:40.269 --> 00:11:43.809 of those two institutions come calling, you are 00:11:43.809 --> 00:11:46.570 operating at the highest level of the genre. 00:11:48.149 --> 00:11:50.509 Last fact that you might not know, the fans call 00:11:50.509 --> 00:11:53.950 themselves Hobos. Railroad Earth's dedicated 00:11:53.950 --> 00:11:57.769 fan base gave themselves a name, The Hobos. It 00:11:57.769 --> 00:12:02.309 fits perfectly. Nomadic, train -loving, following 00:12:02.309 --> 00:12:05.509 the music wherever it leads, the Hobo community 00:12:05.509 --> 00:12:08.669 has sustained this band through lineup changes 00:12:08.669 --> 00:12:11.690 and the loss of a founding member. and keep showing 00:12:11.690 --> 00:12:14.610 up in extraordinary numbers. Here's my verdict. 00:12:15.029 --> 00:12:17.769 I want to come back to where we started. That 00:12:17.769 --> 00:12:20.990 party at Andy Gosling's house, Todd Schaefer 00:12:20.990 --> 00:12:24.690 fresh off the end of his Good 4 Homes, showing 00:12:24.690 --> 00:12:28.049 up with a guitar, Tim Carbone with his violin, 00:12:28.610 --> 00:12:31.470 a group of musicians who knew each other but 00:12:31.470 --> 00:12:34.730 had never played together, passing around a bottle, 00:12:35.149 --> 00:12:38.330 running through old fiddle tunes on a New Jersey 00:12:38.330 --> 00:12:42.259 porch. Nobody planned it. Nobody called a meeting 00:12:42.259 --> 00:12:45.240 and said let's start a band. It just happened. 00:12:45.779 --> 00:12:48.879 The music happened. And the music was so undeniable 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:53.460 that within weeks it had become rehearsals. Within 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:56.240 months it had become a demo. And then within 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.700 a year it became Tellaride, Sugar Hill Records, 00:13:00.179 --> 00:13:04.639 and a band with a name taken from a poem from 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:08.309 a fan base called Hobos. That is... through the 00:13:08.309 --> 00:13:10.730 line of this whole New Jersey story, from good 00:13:10.730 --> 00:13:14.110 homes, railroad earth, different trains, same 00:13:14.110 --> 00:13:17.070 track. The music finds a way to keep moving. 00:13:17.750 --> 00:13:20.129 Todd Schaefer loses one vehicle, climbs aboard 00:13:20.129 --> 00:13:23.649 another. The song changes shape, but the heart 00:13:23.649 --> 00:13:27.830 of them stays the same. Honest, earthy, rooted 00:13:27.830 --> 00:13:30.190 in the land of the people of the Northwest New 00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:33.269 Jersey, reaching out towards something larger. 00:13:33.830 --> 00:13:36.659 Railroad Earth. has been rolling over for two 00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:39.480 decades now. They've lost Andy Gosling, one of 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:42.639 the most remarkable multi -instrumentalists any 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:45.980 of us will ever hear. They've rebuilt. They've 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:49.100 kept going because the music demands it, because 00:13:49.100 --> 00:13:52.419 the hobos need it, because Todd Schaeffer has 00:13:52.419 --> 00:13:56.600 more songs in him, and Tim Carbone's fiddle still 00:13:56.600 --> 00:14:00.379 has things to say. Start with Seven Story Mountain, 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:04.600 then find Red Rock's 2009 on the internet archive. 00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:08.019 Then, if you can, find a Railroad Earth show 00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:11.539 near you and go stand in the night air and let 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:13.960 the fiddle do what the fiddle does. You won't 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:17.919 regret it. That's Railroad Earth and that's Shecky's 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:20.740 Jam Bands for this episode. Thank you for riding 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:22.659 along. See you next time.