Sci Fidelity Records
2006
Elko
About This Album
Railroad Earth, the string band from New Jersey that has amassed a following in the Rocky Mountains, has made three studio albums. But the real test of a jam band, of course, is its live work, and Elko, Railroad Earth's fourth release, is the inevitable double-CD concert album. The sextet has an instrumentation that suggests bluegrass -- an acoustic guitarist, a violinist, a mandolin player, a multi-instrumentalist who plays banjo and Dobro among other things, and a rhythm section of acoustic bass and drums. But it is not shy about using amplification so that the stringed instruments can be heard over the drums, or effects more typical of an electrified ensemble. Thus, the guitar solos that decorate "The Hunting Song," "Head," and "Warhead Boogie" may be played on an acoustic instrument in the technical sense, but they sure sound electric, and the music makes use of echo and other forms of sound manipulation. Still, the overall effect retains a modified acoustic feel. It isn't hard to imagine what records these musicians have on their shelves, say Workingman's Dead and American Beauty by the Grateful Dead, Rubber Soul by the Beatles, John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan, and Music from Big Pink and The Band by the Band, and throw in recordings by New Grass Revival and the Rowan Brothers, plus, perhaps, the Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 3 and 5)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 3 and 5)

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