Though I could easily go on and on with the bluegrass instrumental cuts, in the interests of keeping the Ultimate Playlist a little more exciting (I know you are having the BEST time reading this right now), I'm going to shift gears a little bit with the next few tracks. So I hope you enjoy this Memorial Day track, and coming soon to a pretentious music blog near you: various artists covering Bob Dylan songs.
I first introduced Railroad Earth to the Ultimate Playlist with Track 19 "Seven Story Mountain." I did a handful of stories on them during my freelance days and they are hands-down my favorite band that my hand-to-mouth writing days introduced me to. The New Jersey sextet (one of the few bright spots in NJ's history) is just fantastic--mixing bluegrass, folk and rock with some worldly influences (Celtic, Indian), and the improvisational nature of a jam band. Think of them as The Band meets "American Beauty"-era Grateful Dead meets Bob Dylan meets a pile of bluegrass instruments.
The presence of a drummer immediately makes Railroad a little atypical for a bluegrass band, but the band can absolutely pick. And Todd Sheaffer's lyrics and knack for writing catchy songs are nothing less than superb (see Track 19 for concrete evidence). But the collective band just has such a keen sense of melody.
So, to close out the bluegrass instrumental portion of this program(for now), I present "Lois Ann." A really pretty song, and if the melody doesn't get stuck in your head, just know that you are making some barely-read blogger very upset.
--Music good.
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