You mentioned a lot of the older band touchstones that you and Tom are influenced by. Can you talk about some of the more modern influences that you felt influenced the album, your songwriting and your working relationship with Tom?

Yeah I mean, people think that when you’re in an acoustic band that you’re just a huge bluegrass fan and listen to all that stuff—and I listen to my share of bluegrass stuff—but when you do that all the time, the things that inspire you become the things outside of your world. Probably [at] the time I was writing a lot of these songs five years ago, I was listening to a lot of My Morning Jacket, Wilco—and I’ve known Ryan Adams for a long time. That kind of stuff. So that theme was really what was influencing these songs. And then [Tom] has definitely been in that sort of listening mode for more of his adult life, too. His thing was, back when Radiohead came out, it was like “This is something totally different,” and that’s what he was kind of going for. So we connected, but I wasn’t as big of a Radiohead fan as him. But it’s certainly that mentality where he will be listening to the jam stuff and then put it away. That stuff inspires you because you don’t do it, you know? I don’t play in a rock band like My Morning Jacket, so it’s like really cool to listen to, and really inspiring. So we share that kind of listening to things in that world.

In your work with Railroad Earth, you have written songs for them and in group settings. Was there ever a point where you brought these songs to the band, or did they all feel like something separate and different that you wanted to keep for yourself?

Actually, it’s kind of a bit of both. Some of these—before I even recorded them—I presented to the band when we were talking about material, and they didn’t really come to together for a bit during rehearsal time. But at the same time, we did one of my songs, which is on The Last of The Outlaws record. It was very much the same thing. I did not write it for the band, but I just like writing and challenging myself and having fun creating things, which I do when I am at home.

So the band is jamming or doing something in a rehearsal and it sounds like something I already have, and I go, “Oh is this my work?” And they try to get other people to try to contribute. So it then becomes a Railroad Earth thing, and that’s always the goal. Now that there’s final versions of these tunes, there are a couple that would work well with the band. I want to go to them and be like, “Hey check this out,” but then ask, “Is this something that we can add to, do it different and make for the band, so it’s relevant to the band?” And not like, “Okay, just taking break from our regular Railroad programming so our bass player can do a song, and now back to doing what we do.” No, the goal is always to have everything sound like the band.

What has playing in Railroad Earth taught you about songwriting and being a songwriter in general?

Oh man, that’s been great, of course because that’s Todd’s thing. He comes from the background of being a songwriter first and foremost, and I feel like he is really growing into his own as a lead guitar player. I’m always pushing him to do that, because I love his lead sounds, but I don’t think it’s something he’ll do. Some guys were maybe guitar players first and then kind of learned how to sing, like me with the bass—I was always a bass player first and I’m learning this other side of it. So yeah, it’s a great influence on me, because Todd has a good knack for taking a personal sentiment and putting it away to universal, which the Dead did well. And all the great songwriting that there is always, I feel, does that—takes a personal thing and makes it so anyone can go, “Oh yeah, me too. I get that.”

I think it’s cool that Railroad Earth has become his vehicle as the band has evolved over ten years now. It has become all these different voices within the whole idea.

Yeah, for sure. So it’s been a great influence to be around that, to be in a group where a lot of things do start with a song, and then everyone can contribute what they do to it to make it sound better and the way we want it. If Todd has a really great song with a specific focused thing, sometimes we’ll just stay out of the way with that one. Let’s just play our parts and not get cute with it, because it’s going to stand on its own.

I saw you recently perform with Warren Haynes at Sleep No More at The McKittrick Hotel. That was a great performance. It was cool to see the band with Warren, him doing a solo and then you guys coming on stage, and at the end it’s Railroad Earth and him blending and previewing some stuff from the new album, which was pretty awesome.

Yeah, that was a really fun thing. I heard that there’s going to be more of that. We’re working on it right now to put together some shows. It’s just working out the logistics, and of course everyone’s schedule and things. Warren Haynes: the hardest working man in the business. [Laughs] You got to catch him while you can.

Was your first time playing with him at the Capitol Theatre a few years ago, or was it at DelFest?

I think the first time for any of us was at DelFest. It was me, Tim and Andy. Yeah, just a few of us played at DelFest and it’s kind of grown slowly from there. I guess he had a good time with it, so then we did the Capitol Theatre gig. It turned into what it is now when he said he was looking to do a record. We have been in the studio with him, and he’s been trying to do this record for five years and wanted to do it with Levon and a lot of these other heavy luminaries, so it’s pretty funny to see him and say, “How did I end up here?” [Laughs]

The songs that I heard at that one show kind of reminded me of that Appalachian music from near where Warren grew up in North Carolina. It’s kind of funny how, in his new hometown of New York, playing with a band based in the Northeast, he came back and revisited the music that was part of his youth.

Yeah, that’s one of the weirdest things about Railroad Earth in general. [Laughs] Like, everywhere we go, people would be like, “Ah man, you guys are from Colorado right?” Then I say, “Uh…no?” Then they’re like, “Oh yeah, so then Northern California right?” “Still no.” Then they might ask, “Oh then you definitely have to be from Georgia.” Then I say again, “No.”

In terms of your solo work, are you planning on doing any dates under your own name or, like you said, showcasing these songs through Railroad Earth and your other projects?

Yeah, I mean I have been doing small things here and there, but I definitely want to get into more of a thing where I can do short runs, something that’s worth a little bit more notoriety, getting out a little bit and playing with some other artists from other bands who do projects of their own and that kind of thing. I don’t have anything planned right now, because the biggest problem in Railroad Earth is that it’s a super full-time thing. We play at least between 70 to 90 shows a year, so it’s a bit tricky to find dates. Then all my friends that I like to play with outside the band are in very busy working bands, too. When you get one weekend off at the same time it’s kind of a miracle, so you work around that. So we’ll see.

I’m trying to get my head around the best way to sort of get there, but for now, like I said, putting out the record and doing the songs are just to document and challenge myself, because it’s fun to do. Eventually there will be more shows and stuff, but the kind of music I like to make is heavy on improvisation, so taking these songs and developing them really requires a rapport. You can’t really just throw it together, so that’s the other hard part—figuring out and doing this sort of thing. Where if I am trying to replicate the record live exactly, that would be a lot easier. You could call people up and play it exactly. But when you’re trying to improvise a bit and stretch things out, it requires a bit more time and trust. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to do that with everyone being so busy. [laughs]

I saw a video clip that where you guys were playing in a cool setting with violinists and like a whole string section. Where was that recorded, and how did it come about?

Oh yeah! Well actually the genesis for that was really from you guys, Relix. You guys do the in-the-office or on-the-roof sessions/video thing, and we’ve done them before. We thought maybe we could do something a little bit different with this. We thought we could do one on a roof at night, but there were sound issues and all those things. So we decided to try and do this thing where we play our songs in front of a sort of non-live audience. So we did this at the Castle Inn, which is this abandoned hotel thing or something like that. Tim would know more about that, because he lives in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, where it is. We went there at night, had some lights set up, and we brought in a string quartet. We just did a few takes of some of the new stuff. It really sounded good with strings. So, again, I got to credit Relix for inspiring the idea to do this, while looking to do something different with it. Eventually it is going to be premiered through Relix, but we’re in the editing process right now.

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