It’s been a few years since I’ve seen Railroad Earth live. Not from lack of interest, mind you. We just kept missing each other. The last time was probably 3 years ago at Humphrey’s By the Bay in San Diego where they shared a bill with Bruce Hornsby. That was a great time that was so, when I heard the they’d be playing at the Teragram in Los Angeles, CA with Tom Hamilton’s American Babies I knew I had to go see them again.
First up was Tom Hamilton’s American Babies. You might know Tom from performing with Phil Lesh & Friends, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead and Billy & the Kids. A very tasty warm up to Railroad Earth they busted out some great originals along with an excellent rockin’ version of the Grateful Dead tune, Mississippi Half Step. If you haven’t seen these guys (and gal) yet, go check them out when they’re in your neighborhood.
By the time Railroad Earth was ready to start, the Teragram Ballroom was nearly busting at it’s seams. There were a few empty spots in the building but you wouldn’t want to stand there anyway. I’ve been a “fan” of RRE since about 2008 and I knew that they’d bring the heat and they certainly did. Enough that I failed to keep a setlist of any kind. What I do know is that they gave LA two full sets of Jamgrass with long extended fiddle jams from Tim Carbone (which makes this writer very happy).
I did manage to grab a video of one of the above mentioned jams…
Railroad Earth is just one of those bands that you’d have a really hard time having a bad time at their show. Todd Sheaffer’s vocals, Tim Carbone’s fiddle…it’s all just comes together into something way beyond what the pioneers of bluegrass could have imagined. Next level jamgrass courtesy of Railroad Earth.
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