Photo by Vernon Webb
Tim Carbone (fiddle, electric guitar, vocals) is a big Jack Kerouac fan. He’s read nearly all his stuff, and even owns audio of the writer reading his own work. In fact, it was Kerouac’s poem, “October in the Railroad Earth” that inspired the name of his band. The railroad is important for Kerouac, but also for Railroad Earth —a motif spun intricately throughout Todd Shaeffer’s (guitar, lead vocals) lyrics or, occasionally, the songs they choose to cover. It’s an idea that has led devout fans to call themselves “hobos,” wanderers who follow the train’s tracks. The literary roots of their name are further testament to the band’s psyche, for the stories in Railroad Earth’s music are tales of America, and the lyrics are poetry unto themselves.
Railroad Earth formed in northwestern New Jersey, where the majority of the band’s members kept finding themselves in the same musical circles. They would mostly pick at multi-instrumentalist Andy Goessling’s house, a lot of bluegrass and covers, until Todd brought in his own songs and provided the band with their first true framework. In 2001 they knocked out a fast demo, and were booked at the famed Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s main stage before they even had their first show. Railroad Earth has been a bluegrass band on tour ever since, though Carey Harmon plays percussion and drums, allowing the group to resist being typecast into that one genre. To any fan, Railroad Earth is American rock and roll.
We caught up with Tim Carbone during the southeastern leg of the band’s tour. His many interests also range from philosophy to politics, to production. Buddy Cage (New Riders of the Purple Sage) once remarked, “Tim knows how to serve the song,” and ultimately, that’s at the heart of what he and Railroad Earth do.
How have your shows been since New Year’s. Any particular highlights?
Well, just after New Year’s we did a little run from through the West to the Midwest and then took a week or ten days down and now we’re on a little run through the southeast. The highlight so far for me, is we’ve done really good as far as crowds. Last night, it didn’t sell out, but other than that, the first three shows of this portion of the tour have all sold-out.
Where are you now?
We are in Birmingham, Alabama and we have a couple days off.
What do you think you’ll do on your days off?
Right now I’m working on writing a storyboard for a video I’m going to shoot for a friend in L.A. later on this month. I’m doing that today and tomorrow, and also listening to mixes of the new Railroad Earth record and see what else there is remaining to do. We’re getting very close.
How did you guys approach this upcoming album differently, and what can we expect?
This album has got a little bit more variety on it, it’s kind of hard to predict whether fans will like it or not like it. There are a couple more tunes with electric guitar on it and our mandolin player John Skehan is also an excellent keyboard player, so there’s more piano on it, and he’s playing some Hammond organ. So there’s a little bit more variety, so hopefully we’ll go along with our vision.
Are you playing electric guitar on the new album?
No, not a lot. I’m playing electric guitar on three songs, but I’m also playing fiddle on those songs too.
I hear Andrew Altman (bass) has more of an influence on it.
Well, he has no more influence than anybody else. The song that he has on the record is actually a song that is married to a fiddle tune that John Skehan wrote, so it’s kind of a two-parter. That’s how we work a lot of the time.
Did you produce this latest album?
No, I did not produce this record. That wouldn’t be something that I would do—producing Railroad Earth—it’s not something that I would like to do. It’s kind of an odd thing, because there’s a kind of mutual vision that goes on in the band and so I think that we’ll either have an outside producer or the whole band will produce it.
Does being a producer make you approach your own music differently?
It makes me approach recording differently, that’s for sure. I kind of have more of a vision in my mind of what things can sound like further down the line, as opposed to exactly when you’re recording it. And other things, it’s sort of hard to explain. I’m kind of ruined for listening to music in a way, because I can’t just listen to a song anymore, now I’m listening to it, “Oh! What does that snare drum sound like? And how did they do that?” [Laughs]
A general Americana feel—the theme of the railroad, tales of early American history, inter-generational songs—runs through a lot of your music. The band, or at least Todd in his songs, seem to draw on a certain period of American history. Why do you think that is?
I think he totally finds inspiration there. I think also, he’s a very avid reader—his mojo gets set into motion by the things he reads. He reads a lot stuff that is either set in that period or has something to do with that period of time, various periods. I can’t speak for him and say that’s what influences him, but I know from knowing him that he’s a voracious reader. I mostly know he’s been reading older material. I think it definitely does have an effect on his writing.
What is Todd’s “singwriting” and the bands songwriting process in general like?
This would be better answered by Todd, but he explains it as “singwriting,” because what he’ll do is come up with a melody and a series of chord changes that he’ll start mumbling, for lack of a better word, words to it—he’ll capture the essence of what the song is about. And he may already have an idea what the song’s about and just fill in the spaces. He’s developing the melody through the use of nonsense words, so to speak, to fill in the spaces and then he’ll fill in the gap; it’ll occur to him what the song is actually about. It’ll come to him. That’s just the way it comes out; that’s the best I can describe it.
The band in general?
What usually happens is Todd will come in with a song, and we will basically enter it and fill in what is our sound. We’ll help arrangements—the song is the song pretty much when it comes in. The collaboration comes in with how the song is arranged and the kind of little vibe the song hits after we give it that kind of treatment.
I’m curious how the band’s sound has been influenced by the members’ varied tastes, and even by influences that aren’t necessarily musicians.
That’s a great question. For me—I can mostly speak for myself—I’m influenced by thinkers as well as songwriters and musicians. For instance, I’m influenced by Leonardo da Vinci, by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, also by Buddhist thinkers like the Dalai Lama or Thich Nhat Hanh, Shantideva of India and his thinking; lots of different things, not just musicians. I don’t know that I could speak for the rest of the band but that’s me.
How do you draw inspiration in your music from people that aren’t musicians?
For me, lyrically—I don’t really write a whole lot of songs for Railroad Earth, but I have a whole side project that I write music for called The Contribution, and lyrically I’ll be influenced by the people I mentioned. I’ll get influence from people like Thich Nhat Hanh, or the Dalai Lama or Buddhist thought in general. It’s more so in how I think about things with Leonardo da Vinci, Frank Lloyd Wright, people like that, not so much with what my music is. It’s all involved, it’s all involved; it’s all a piece.
I love The Contribution. Are you guys going to be playing any shows this year?
We’re actually playing a show coming up this April in Denver. We’re also going to be working on a new record; we have two songs that are ready for it and we’re going record another three songs out in Denver when we are there.
You’ve said before the bands that influenced you the most are The Beatles, the Grateful Dead, and The Band. In Railroad Earth would you say that the influence of these bands, apart from covers, is apparent? In what ways?
I would say yes, and it would be mostly in the way we approach our arrangement, instrumentation and our melodicism, and not all from the same source. Our melodicism has a lot to do with the Beatles, not that we’re copying the Beatles or anything like that. You can see evidence of the melodic; just the idea that our music is pretty melodic, it’s basically music based on melody. You know “Americana”—there would be no Railroad Earth, more than likely, if it wasn’t for The Band. That’s pretty much it, flat out, simple as that. With the way we approach improvisation and the way that we treat each song live, as if we were trying to create it anew, that has a lot to do with the Grateful Dead.
You’ve travelled extensively in India, and I know that the way the country approaches music is completely different. I know you’re also writing a book about your travels there…
[Laughs] Still working on it.
How has being exposed to that culture has affected you as a musician.
Well, it changed my life in its total. As a violinist it’s changed how I approach the instrument, because of my note selection and how I approach the notes above or below. In places, not all the time and not everywhere, but there’s a special connection to my playing in India. Many people who have been to India and know a little bit about Indian music have come up to me and said, “Hey, I noticed that.”
Do your travels in general, even outside of India, influence your music?
I would say yes, but not as profound as that.
Anywhere particular in America?
Yes, the South. Obviously.
When did you realize that you were going to be a musician and that was going to be your life path?
I think the very moment was when I first saw The Beatles perform on Ed Sullivan. I even remember the song, it was “All My Lovin’.”
You just knew?
Oh yeah.
Were you playing violin then?
At that point I was playing drums, I was in a Drum and Bugle Corps and I had my little drum set.
How old were you?
I think I was probably seven years old.
You’ve know a long time.
Oh yeah.
You’ve said before the idea of a jamband is more in the audience than in the band. What does the idea of a musical family mean to you and Railroad Earth?
Well it’s part of our scene. The people that come to see us feel as if they are part of our family, so it’s part of the reason why they come. It’s a huge part of the whole deal I think.
Do you ever choose songs or places with this family in mind?
We try not to repeat the same set in the same place. If we’ve been there before, we’ll look at that set and say, “Okay, let’s not do that.” So that kind of stuff, we also try not to repeat night to night.
Who writes the bands setlists each night?
Setlists these days are being put together by John Skehan and we come back and we all tweak it together.
The Hangtown Halloween Ball in Placerville, CA is going on its third year and the first Camp Railroad is set for this summer in the Catskills, NY. Can you talk about these two Railroad Earth festivals?
Well, Hangtown is freaking awesome and we love that. We’ve had a great time putting that together. The thing we’re doing up in the Catskills is pretty new, so we’re not exactly sure how that’s going to go.
What’s the idea so far?
It’s kind of like a teaching experience for people and we’ll also do a bunch of performances. We’re still designing a situation where we’ll have master classes for people to come play or learn their instruments, and other things that we can offer. I would say, “Stay tuned!”
If I don’t play an instrument am I still going to have a great time?
I think that you will have a great time if you don’t play an instrument, but I think that your will learn more if you are a musician and you were looking for direction. It’s going to be a learning experience as well. You’re not going to get a greater opportunity to have an intimate look at the band.
I heard a couple of the members were affected by Hurricane Sandy?
Well, everybody lost power. The biggest extent was that people lost power, nobody in the band had property damage or anything really awful happen to them. I was without power for eight days; our multi-instrumentalist Andy [Goessling] was without power for almost a little more than two-weeks. It was not a great time, but we didn’t lose anything compared to those people that lost everything.
I also know the band takes a clear stance on climate change. On your website you have the environmental section called ‘The Forecast.’ As public figures what role do you and Railroad Earth play involving social or political issues?
The band, as you can tell from our website—we do something with what we have. As a band we try to find various causes or organizations that we can work with or work for. I myself have been advocating for the Delaware River for thirty years. I’m on the board of directors of a nonprofit that I helped start. Basically it’s more of a local thing for me to help keeping where I live serene and as undeveloped as possible without preventing people as much as possible from doing with their property what they want. There’s a fine line. As far as the band, we’re probably as much as you imagine a band would be—we’re not like Radiohead or anything. There are varying opinions or causes in the band. In other words, I’m not going to get up on stage and start making speeches or anything like that. We approach our activism in a subtle way.
The band has said repeatedly in past interviews that Railroad Earth is not a bluegrass band but rather uses bluegrass elements. What would you say to people who simply “don’t like bluegrass”?
Well, saying that you don’t like bluegrass is saying that you don’t like people, so I don’t know what the hell that’s all about. There’s no way getting around the fact that part of what we do is bluegrass. But I would encourage them to come [see us] anyways because of all the other cool stuff we do. [Laughter]
One more. People are dying to know—is your bow made out of unicorn hair?
[Laughter] Yes, definitely.
