Search - Railroad Earth :: The Black Bear Sessions

Be Amazed. Be VERY Amazed

John Corcoran | SoCal, USA | 05/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In a world of cookie cutter music, copycat art, and been-there, done-that overfamiliarity, this band is more than a breath of fresh air-it's a hit of 100% oxygen. I owned the second Railroad Earth CD, "Bird in a House" for three months before ordering "The Black Bear Sessions." I was waiting to grow tired of the former before sending for reinforcements. Then I realized I might never get tired of it.(I haven't). I'm writing a review of this two year old album to explain what I believe makes Railroad Earth unique and worthy. I know CDs are expensive, and buying anything unfamiliar is a risk. Many with limited budgets stay with the tried and true. But don't worry about future schock. RRE is not so much a band that's ahead of itself, as one that blends great musical elements of the past into a new, intoxicating brew. Critics have struggled to describe RRE. The most frequent comments include "jamgrass" or "kinda like the Grateful Dead during their American Beauty period." Try this one: "Railroad Earth is like a seventies psychodelic band with Southern rock attitude that's been put in the 21st Century and given acoustic instruments."Let's analyze just two of the songs on The Black Bear Sessions, which give you a hint at the breadth and skills of these six musicians. The opening number "Head" sets the quality bar near the top right out of the gate. Before you even have your headset adjusted, a banjo drops in to say howdy. This is quickly followed by a high powered vocally-wailed series of "Ohhhhhs" to get your attention, before the rest of the instruments jump in with a fast paced bluegrass groove. Rick-a-tick drums,thumping base, banjo, guitar and a fiddle soon join the vocals. But it isn't until the third minute of the song that Railroad Earth puts its stamp on the music.I mentioned Southern Rock, which too often featured coke-fueled 10-12 minute instrumental breaks--but no worry about self- indulgence here. What follows is a three minute chunk of spot-on instrumntal virtuosity that will have your head bobbing and toes tapping. While many bluegrass bands use their instrumental breaks for individual bursts of virtuosity while the rest of the band plays rhythm and waits their turn, RRE unleashes a full palate of intertwined, now-dueling, now-harmonic instrumental thrusts and parries. Nobody rests on a Railroad Earth song. The result is what might have happened if Wall of Sound pioneer Phil Spector had gone country.
On "head," it's mostly a fiddle and Mandolin pas de deux, calling and responding, challenging each other to even greater moments, before finally joining forces in a co-ordinated, precision picked assault. Each time you listen, you discover new subtlies and genius throughout the tune--and the album, for that matter.But RRE is nothing if not unpredictable. The third cut on the album, an extraordinary workout called "Seven Story Mountain" will hit you with a rhythmic curve ball that rekindles thoughts of musical legends ranging from Ravi Shankar to Bo Diddley to the Byrds.It starts with a smidge of arhythmic psychodelia, but before you have a chance to say, "whazzat?" a clean acoustic guitar picks up the rhythm, joined quickly by a fiddle riff that hooks you and holds you throughout. Soon tom-tom drums reminiscent of Mr. Diddleys' jungle-based rhythms-tho not the Bo Diddley Beat itself--join in. A Dobro provides accents and fills, and voices rise in sweet sweet harmony. Too soon the instruments depart one-by-one, as mysteriously as they arrived-but as the man once said-the melody lingers on. You won't believe it was six minutes long. The song is so powerful musically the lyrics may sneak past you. Don't let that happen.Lead singer and the songwriter on the majority of RRE's music is Todd Shaeffer, blessed with envigorating ability to blend the familiar with the unexpected. His and other tunes sound precise and improvisational simultaneously, drawing from many influences. Shaeffer may be the SpongeTodd Unsquarepants of modern songwriting. He's absorbed it much music, filtered out the bad and given back extrordinary, hook filled music that wears better than a $$$$ suit. But he can't do it alone, and everyone else is up to the challenge.
I am no spring chicken. I was raised on rock and roll, came to country late, and moved to bluegrass almost fulltime when the charlatans took over Nashville. So I've heard and seen-if not all of it, most of it. And I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of bands that have flat out blown me away like RRE."

A good kind vibe

John S. Ryan | Silver Lake, OH | 10/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having reviewed _Bird In A House_ and mentioned this CD, I hadn't planned to review it separately. I changed my mind because (a) _The Black Bear Sessions_ is just too good not to review, and (b) I saw that nobody else had reviewed it yet.Some of the songs on this CD (five, I think) were originally recorded as demos. They were so good that the band recorded another five and turned the demo into its debut release.Even more obviously than its successor, this CD is driven by the songwriting of Todd Sheaffer (formerly of From Good Homes). I can't say enough about his remarkable talents, not only as a songwriter but also as a singer and guitarist. If you want to hear what he sounds like by himself, check out his solo live CD _Dream of Love_, where you'll also hear a solo version of "Head," the opening song on this collection. (You'll also hear a solo version of "Came Up Smilin'" from _Bird In A House_. "Head" was also released on the From Good Homes CD _Open Up The Sky_, on which there's also an earlier version of "Walk On By.")His songs have reminded lots of listeners, including me, of _Workingman's Dead_/_American Beauty_-era Grateful Dead (especially the numerous Garcia-Hunter collaborations but also, e.g., the Lesh-Hunter masterpiece "Box of Rain"). It's no wonder, really.First of all, Sheaffer is a lyricist with several Hunter-like qualities. Not least of these are economy of language, a sort of Dreamtime evocativeness, and a strong sense of what most of us would probably call "spirituality" even though few of his songs call any overt attention to religious/spiritual matters.Then, too, his Railroad Earth music tends to draw so heavily on "old-timey," American-heartland sources that a very casual listener could possibly mistake this stuff for traditional bluegrass -- which it isn't, any more than _Workingman's Dead_ was really as traditional as _it_ sounded upon superficial hearing.His musicianship is excellent too, especially as a vocalist. His delivery is engaging and earnest, with more than a hint of Uncle Jerry in the occasional cracking of his voice.As in my other review, I may seem to be slighting the rest of the band. That's not my intent; John Skehan (mandolin), Carey Harmon (drums/percussion), Dave Von Dollen (bass), Tim Carbone (violin), and Andy Goessling (several sorts of guitar, banjo, and other instruments as needed) are all terrific at what they do too. (And comparing RRE to Sheaffer's solo release is also an excellent way to check out what _these_ guys brought to the party -- which is quite a lot.) And they do some of the songwriting as well, not to mention some singing.It's just that this project so clearly takes its initial inspiration from Sheaffer's tunes. (And even the occasional cover tune -- Tom Waits's "Cold Water" on this CD and Neal Casal's "Dandelion Wine" on _Bird In A House_ -- has Sheaffer's stamp on it.) What we have here is a group of six tremendously talented acoustic musicians applying those talents to music and lyrics largely written by this creative and charismatic fellow. The resulting whole is, as they say, more than the sum of its parts.But it's not traditional bluegrass. This is barefoot-hippie jamband music that draws on traditionally bluegrassy sources but is not in any way limited to/by them. If, as I do, you like Leftover Salmon, the Yonder Mountain String Band, and the String Cheese Incident (I especially like SCI), you'll be blown away by these guys.A great group and a great pair of CDs; I can't recommend them highly enough. I don't remember the last time I was this excited about a new band."

Like nothing I've heard before!

Muzik 4 Life | United States | 11/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to thank the previous reviewer for the words on this amazing album! I bought "Bird in a House" in the store and was checking around out here. I love the new one but still never heard "The Black Bear Sessions." If I hadn't read the previous review I might not have gotten it immediately. This album is completely fantastic!! Sorry I'm no writer and don't know what else I can say except that it's a must have for any CD collection. For me it's up there with "American Beauty!" And that's saying a lot for this old Deadhead!"