Railroad Earth

Railroad Earth
Railroad Earth playing in May 2010
Background information
Origin	Stillwater, New Jersey, United States
Genres	Americana, progressive bluegrass, jam band
Years active	2001–present
Labels	SCI Fidelity, Black Bear Records, One Haven Music
Associated acts	The Revivalists,
Website	http://railroad.earth
Members	Todd Sheaffer Tim Carbone John Skehan Andy Goessling Carey Harmon Andrew Altman
Past members	Dave Von Dollen Johnny Grubb

Railroad Earth is a roots and Americana-based newgrass jam band from Stillwater, New Jersey. Their name was borrowed from the Jack Kerouac short story "October in the Railroad Earth." The band also has a song by the same name written by Todd Sheaffer. 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.

The six band members came together for the first time 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.Things kicked off with the six musicians working on a handful of original songs, mostly written by Sheaffer, the former From Good Homes songwriter, and began to realize that something musically unique was happening. After three weeks of rehearsing, they went 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 landed a slot at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, an appearance that was only 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 and a couple of support slots for regional bands. Realizing immediately how strong the initial five song demo was, the band decided to return to the same studio to cut another five tracks to complete an album for release in time to debut at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. In early April 2001, the band tracked another five songs, and The Black Bear Sessions was completed. It was released to the public in June 2001, just one week before their appearance at Telluride. That 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." Prior to their Telluride appearance, the band was approached by Sugar Hill Records after they watched the band's performance at Telluride. Right after their show, Railroad Earth was offered a record deal on the spot.