Railroad Earth returned to the stage on Thursday night for the first time since the pandemic began. RRE delivered the first of three socially distanced outdoor concerts from B Chord Brewing Company in Round Hill, Virginia.
Railroad kicked things off with a bit of joyous noise making that dropped into the opening riff of a fitting first song back, “Bird In A House.” Frontman and guitarist Todd Sheaffer sang the song with passion and the emotion of playing in front of people again was palpable. The band then got into some bluegrass-tinged tunes with “Lordy, Lordy” and the instrumental “Old Dangerfield” which saw the band throwing solos around over the steady shuffle of drummer Carey Harmon and trusty bassline of Andrew Altman with John Skehan taking flight on the mandolin and Tim Carbone landing the tune with some fine fiddle.
A well-jammed “Hunting Song” kicked off a segued segment that also included “Only By The Light” which headed into “Fisherman’s Blues.” RRE kicked it up a notch with “Crossing The Gap” which saw some more smokin’ mandolin from Skehan ahead of “Storms.” Railroad would end the first frame just as they started it, with a fitting favorite in “Long Way To Go.”
The band eased into the second set with the funky “Walk Beside Me” which saw Matt Slocum unleash a cookin’ Fender Rhodes solo. “Saddle Of The Sun” and “Chains” followed before Sheaffer then addressed the crowd, remarking, “We haven’t played since March. Sure is fun.” The band then slid into the crowd participatory, “Came Up Smilin,’” on which Sheaffer joked that the audience was a “little rusty” in their singing. “Potter’s Field” popped up next after which the band jammed their way into “Lonecroft Farewell.” Following “Just So You Know,” RRE delivered a set-closing section beginning with the bluegrass instrumental “Farewell To Isinglass” which headed into a cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” draped in some tasty pedal steel from Mike Robinson. RRE closed out the set with a well-jammed “Chasin’ A Rainbow.” ahead of the encore, the classic “Cold Water.”
Listen to Railroad Earth’s entire October 1 show from B Chord Brewing below via Keith Litzenberger:
Setlist via RRE Facebook
Set One: Bird in a House, Lordy, Lordy, Old Dangerfield, Hunting Song > Only By The Light > Fisherman’s Blues, Crossing the Gap, Storms, Long Way To Go
Set Two: Walk Beside Me, Saddle of the Sun, Chains, Came Up Smilin’, Potter’s Field, Lonecroft Farewell, Just So You Know, Farewell to Isinglass > Harvest Moon > Chasin’ A Rainbow
Encore: Cold Water
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