Every once in a rare while, a group of musicians will come together and everything just clicks instantly, from the first note to the final crescendo. Railroad Earth is one of those bands. Made up of some of the best players from other popular Pennsylvania and Western New Jersey bands, these guys had known of each other and played the same circuit for several years before finally falling together.

Lead singer / guitarist Todd Sheaffer was a founding member, front man and primary songwriter for RCA Records’ band From Good Homes. Tim Carbone and Andy Goessling were both founding members of underground faves The Blue Sparks from Hell, who toured the Eastern Seaboard for years to packed houses. John Skehan played, toured and recorded with a number of bluegrass and rock bands over the past few years. Our resident New Yorker, Carey Harmon played drums and percussion with the regional touring band The Hour, and Dave Von Dollen, our 22 year old wunderkind upright bass player, was tapped right out of the New School where he was studying jazz.

It took only one rehearsal with the full band for Railroad Earth to realize they had touched upon something special, so they immediately began writing songs and experimenting with sound textures. After just a few weeks, they decided to book a couple of days in a local recording studio and lay down a few songs. The idea was to capture a live feel in the studio, with all the jams intact. So everything was recorded live with no overdubs…even the lead vocals. Only backing vocals were overdubbed later. The result was a startlingly original sounding collection of songs that truly crackle with energy.

It didn’t take long for people to get on board either. Immediately after hearing the tracks, their manager sent some CD’s out to agents, festivals, instrument companies and record companies. Within two weeks, Railroad Earth had an agent on board to book their tours, performances at several high profile bluegrass and music festivals, including Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and High Sierra Music Festival, a full endorsement from LR Baggs pick-up systems and even their first record company offer, all on the strength of that first demo. Overall reaction to the demo was so strong that their manager and several friends suggested using the tracks as part of the first album. The idea was to go back in the studio and record a few more songs in exactly the same way, and those would be added to the first ones to create a full length album. It took a bit of convincing, but in the end Railroad Earth decided to do just that. The debut album was release on June 18, 2001, and it features the very tracks first recorded for the original demo.

With everything falling into place, the band plans to spend the rest of 2001 on the road supporting the new album and reaching out to a new group of fans. Fortunately, word is spreading fast, and emails have been flooding in from people who’ve heard the music and want to help spread the word. So keep your eyes out and listen for Railroad Earth, because they’ll be rolling through your town very soon.

The Band

Todd Sheaffer
Lead vocals, acoustic guitar

Tim Carbone
Violin, acoustic guitar, vocals

John Skehan
Acoustic mandolin, acoustic guitar

Andy Goessling
Acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, dobro, pennywhistle, saxophones and more!

Carey Harmon
Drums, hand percussion, vocals

Dave Von Dollen
Upright acoustic bass