Railroad Earth

The name Railroad Earth originates in a poem by Jack Kerouac. It took shape after the dissolution of From Good Homes, one of New Jersey’s most popular acts. Todd Sheaffer, the band’s chief songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist, steers a sound that fuses technical mastery and poetic craft with sharp improvisational instincts. The result is a signature mixture of progressive bluegrass, folk, rock, country, jazz, Celtic, and Americana. Railroad Earth entered the scene in 2001 with The Black Bear Sessions and has held a leading place in American roots music for more than two decades through such widely praised releases as The Good Life (2004), Railroad Earth (2010), Last of the Outlaws (2014), and All for the Song (2022), while consistently captivating listeners with their lively, inventive concerts.

The project’s beginnings reach back to 1998, when violinist Timothy Carbone (Blue Sparks from Hell, Kings in Disguise) crossed paths with film music supervisor Brian Ross, a former Family Tree Agency booking agent, at the since-closed Wetlands club in New York City. The pair fell into a discussion about bluegrass during a pause in the night’s performances. After staying in contact for several months, they decided to assemble professional New Jersey musicians for informal bluegrass sessions. Ross separately engaged Carbone and Andy Goessling (also of Blue Sparks from Hell and Kings in Disguise) to record for the film Big Eden. In fall 2000 Sheaffer arrived at the sessions with new material that the musicians arranged as bluegrass pieces.

The musicians soon began meeting at Shindig, the open-mike night run by the Pocono Bluegrass Society. Additional jams took place at Goessling’s home, where multi-instrumentalist John Skehan (Bobby Syvarth Band) joined the others. Ross eventually urged the players to form a working band under the name Railroad Earth. The core lineup locked in with Sheaffer on vocals and acoustic guitar, Goessling on acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, penny whistle, and saxophone, Carbone on violin and acoustic guitar, and Skehan on mandolin, guitar, and piano. In January 2001 drummer and percussionist Carey Harmon (formerly of the Hour and Bobby Syvarth Band) and upright and electric bassist Dave Von Dollen completed the group.

One month after assembling, the bluegrass-rock ensemble tracked a five-song demo at Mixolydian Studios in Lafayette, New Jersey. Four of those songs—“Head,” “Black Bear,” “Stillwater Getaway,” and “Cold Water”—were paired with six newer tracks cut in April 2001 to create the debut album The Black Bear Sessions, issued in June on BOS Music. For the remainder of 2001 Railroad Earth broadened its songwriting approach, carrying forward the improvisational, cross-genre approach associated with the Grateful Dead, String Cheese Incident, Phish, and Leftover Salmon. The group balanced traditional bluegrass with jam-band practices to shape an eclectic blend of folk, Celtic, jazz, and rock heard through a bluegrass lens. Their second album, and first for Sugar Hill, Bird in a House, appeared in 2002. Producer Stewart Lerman joined the band to record The Good Life in 2004, an album that coincided with the departure of bassist Von Dollen and the arrival of Johnny Grub. After an extensive national tour the band released the live album Elko.

Although Railroad Earth maintained a heavy touring schedule, the members continued to return regularly to the studio. Amen Corner, their fourth studio album, arrived in 2008 and marked the final recording with bassist Johnny Grubb. Andrew Altman replaced him, and the revised lineup recorded the self-titled Railroad Earth in 2010, the first of the band’s studio albums to include electric guitars. Following extended tours and periods of rest, the group issued the critically acclaimed Last of the Outlaws in 2014, which contained an ambitious 21-minute suite. In 2017 the John Denver Estate invited Railroad Earth to set music to lyrics written by the late country-folk artist. The resulting EP, The John Denver Letters, was released on Earth Day the following year. Also in 2018 founding member Andy Goessling died of cancer. Railroad Earth traveled to New Orleans to work with producer Anders Osbourne on their next album. Released in 2022, All for the Song featured the single “The Great Divide,” a moving tribute to Goessling written by Sheaffer.