Railroad Earth - The Intersection, Grand Rapids, MI (11.6.2010)

I had a conversation with a friend this past weekend about documenting the live music experience and how best to approach it. What do you do when you run out of words to express your cognitive response to music? Discover new ones? Create new ones? I think the question should be less about how to approach the documentation of the experience, and more about how you perceive it when it is happening. You are seeing your favorite band for the 100^th time. Are you picking up on the subtle differences that separate this show from the last, or this era from the last? Are you picking up on the subtle vibrations? The little things that make this particular experience unique? I personally have never approached it with this kind of attention to detail. Or maybe I have and just never realized it. Maybe this is the reason why music makes me feel the need to write. Which begs the question, what are you doing here? What are YOUR reasons for going to see live music? Maybe you like to dance or maybe you just like being with your friends. Maybe you like the way it sounds, or the way it feels in your body. Or maybe it runs deeper than that. Maybe without music, your life lacks substance. Whatever the reason, one thing is for certain; the music is the reason why, that on this particular evening and in this particular place, so many of us gather together… which is a powerful and beautiful thing.

Railroad Earth is one of those magical bands. They walk onto the stage and they just have this presence. This presence that says “we are going to lift you off the ground tonight”. All smiles. You could just feel the energy they were emitting from the stage. As soon as the band got going, I closed my eyes and began to soak it all in. They began with “Carrying Coal to Newcastle” which brought the Celtic sounds that Railroad fans have come to know and love. Tim Carbone has total control over his instrument. Like a wizard, Tim has this air of enlightenment to him. With long, grey hair, his violin speaks words of wisdom and experience. After the opening number, lead vocalist and guitarist Todd Schaeffer steps up and starts belting the words to “Mighty River”. Todd’s voice is difficult to explain. He sings with such charisma. His words seem to roll off his tongue with both power as well as finesse. Todd’s voice serves as a medium through which this music escapes. It is the medium through which his emotions and ideas fall upon the ears of his listeners. “River” was a pure joy and as I would come to realize after the show, it was one of the few songs that I recognized throughout the entire performance. Having just released a brand new album, most of this material was falling upon my ears for the first time.

I had limited time in the photo pit, so I snapped as many shots as I could as I moved from left to right across the front of the stage. Being that close to these musicians was amazing. Their energy was just radiating from the stage and each of them seemed so connected to each other. As John Skehan tore into the strings of his mandolin, I moved in for a closer look. John also has this air of enlightenment to him. With glasses and a long, grey pony-tail pulled back behind his head, John closes his eyes and let’s his instrument begin to take over. The mandolin has such a unique sound with all of these high-pitched notes oozing and soaring out of the instrument’s small body. As the evening progressed, I began to realize how absolutely tasteful each of these musicians were. Often times you see a jam band that has just gone off the deep end with never-ending guitar solos and an over-the-top or an in-your-face type of approach. With Railroad, who I really don’t consider to be a “jam band” by any means, less is more. This band adheres to the structure of the music and really does a great job keeping everything in perspective. Todd Schaeffer’s songwriting is the focus here… not the UNGODLY skill of each and every one of the musicians on stage. And I think that is one thing that separates them from other bands. Often times with musicians of this caliber, you can feel their eagerness to take off on some mind-blowing solo as if the band or the music revolves around them. With Railroad, instrumentation comes with timing and precision. If the song lends itself to more of an exploratory or improvisational structure, than the band lets the music evolve that way. But if the song was meant to be a series of structured sections, i.e., a collection of verses and choruses for example, than that’s as far as it will go. The result is a focused and tasteful blend of music and words that are crafted so beautifully that it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up. Sonically perfect. There isn’t much more that needs to be said about this band, about this performance. Railroad Earth gave me one of those natural music highs that have become the reason why I am unable to resist live music. Sonically perfect.