Railroad Earth’s 2015 Horn O’ Plenty Getaway in Stroudsburg, PA Impresses With Jams & Tunes (SHOW REVIEW)

On Saturday November 28th, Railroad Earth hosted the second night of their annual “Horn-O-Plenty” celebration at The Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, PA. Stroudsburg holds a special significance to Railroad Earth, as they formed right across the border in Stillwater, NJ.

Railroad Earth kicked off the night with “Like A Buddha”, off their 2002 release Bird In A House. The song featured a strong opening solo by multi-instrumentalist, Andy Goessling on the pennywhistle, that gave way for the rest of the band. You could feel the energy between the band and crowd heighten throughout the 10+ minute song. Not skipping a beat, the sextet kicked it into high gear with the instrumental “Stillwater Getaway”, highlighting John Skehan’s masterful mandolin skills. The fast-paced bluegrass number “New Camptown Races”, written by Frank Wakefield, gave the chance for frontman Todd Sheaffer to spotlight his guitar work, as Skehan and fiddle player, Tim Carbone, traded off solos. Sheaffer then invited up the special guest for the evening, Danny Louis, keyboardist from Gov’t Mule.

Railroad Earth collaborated with Gov’t Mule guitarist Warren Haynes, on Ashes & Dust, hitting the road in the spring and summer in support of the release. The time spent on tour together, also gave the group time to bond with Louis. Walking onstage, the keyboardist and band greeted each other with hugs and fist bumps. Hanging out in the background, drummer Carey Harmon began “Seven Story Mountain, a staple in the Railroad Earth catalog with a standard backbeat, which allowed each band member to share in the limelight when it was their turn to solo. Hiding in the back, Louis added a nice touch to the tune with a riveting keyboard solo. Bringing the first set to a close was an upbeat rendition of The Waterboys, “Fisherman’s Blues”.

“Elko”, the title track of the band’s double album, got the second set off to a fast start. As the band’s frontman, Sheaffer, sang the lyrics, “I need a card, I need a card, hit me Lord, not too hard. Mama I need a winning hand” the crowd tossed playing cards throughout the theater. As the cards hit the floor, you could see a child, weaving his way through the audience, picking up the cards as they hit the ground. The energy from the audience dwindled as the band showed a mellower side during “Mourning Flies”. The band let Louis lead them in a debut of the organ driven “96 Tears”, written by ? & The Mysterians and a hit in 1966.

Unfortunately, during “Black Bear” fans started to get restless as the song turned into a long drawn out spacey jam. Through the chatter Andrew Altman delivered a great solo on the tune. The band roped the audience back in quickly with favorites, “Mighty River” & “Head”, which was highlighted by a trombone solo by Danny Louis. “My Sisters & Brothers”, made famous by Jerry Garcia Band, was a beautiful way to close the second night of the annual “Horn-O-Plenty” celebration. Railroad Earth is known for their strong knit music community and this Stroudsburg get-together proved to be quite the occasion.