Railroad Earth steams right ahead

It’s a true understatement to say that Railroad Earth has picked up steam with its self-titled October release. Not only did the album become the band’s first ever Billboard 200 chart debut and a No. 5 spot on the magazine’s Heatseekers list equaling the best first week sales of the band’s career thanks to what critics call “gritty guitars,” “Tom-Petty harmonies” and Wilco-tinged spirit.

“We are playing all the stuff on the album,” lead vocalist and songwriter Todd Sheaffer said. “This album is the first for our new record label and the first time [debuting] so we are focused on [those songs].”

Some would rightfully call this a new phase for the New Jersey-based band that developed as a result of informal jams before they began to write original material and formally joined forces as a band almost a decade ago. Some predicted the Railroad would hit some bumps when bass player Johnny Grubbe left to spend more time with family but new bass player Andrew Altman has not only made the transition seamless, but brought a newfound energy to the group.

“We were lucky to find him,” Sheaffer said. “When he auditioned he was incredibly well prepared. He knew about 80 songs, everything for [the band’s newer] studio version to a variety of live versions we’ve done throughout the years. He’s just very good.”

Much like the Jack Kerouac poem that inspired the band’s name that means the band’s creativity is multilayered. In the band’s case, that’s because of the members’ eclectic influences that range from bluegrass to rock to even Baroque.

The mix has always been gratifying but bringing in Angelo Montrone — who has worked with everyone from Matisyahu to Natalie Cole — as co-producer for the new album made a significant difference, said Sheaffer. He urged the band to focus carefully on arrangements and bring out more rock elements in the music, moving them further away from their bluegrass roots although there’s plenty of lap steel included on songs. Vocals are also more prominent.

“We have some great singers in this band, and we’ve always had a lot of background singing and harmonizing,” Sheaffer said. “This time we wanted to push it further and utilize that instrument more fully, so we spent a lot of time on the backing vocals. … We’ve got all cylinders firing now.”