Show Review

The cozy and euphoric Eclipse Theater in Waitsfield, VT, far out of harms ways in the postcard-scenic Mad River Valley, provided a “just amongst friends” vibe in the first billing of the three night Great Grass Harvest Festival. An evening of non-stop music featuring Railroad Earth, The Demolition String Band, The Jessica Lurie Ensemble and The Jazz Mandolin Project; a mini/indoor festival scene was cast upon the recent movie theater turned live music venue.

Label it bluegrass, jamgrass or new-grass, Railroad Earth painted many pictures with their rural sound and provided the evening’s most “gathering” vibe in honor of the autumns harvest…. you know the corn, squash and pumpkins. However, inside the Eclipse, it was harvest time for a group of select Vermont microbrews that were flowing from the theater’s grand welcoming drinking quarters. An almost rec-room turned bar/lounge, the Eclipse features a big-screen television simulcasting the main stage activities, along with the evening’s “in between acts” of Jessica Lurie and The Demolition String Band, which both earned favorable responses from the crowd on their humble floor level stages in the lounge.

Although they were “opening” for the Jazz Mandolin Project, Railroad Earth was the co-headliner, playing a generous two set show of original and traditional music. The Willie Nelson meets Jerry Garcia voice of Todd Sheaffer laid a dose of immediacy and sincerity to his vocals about Americana themes. A tight knit supporting cast, proved Railroad Earth are indeed top notch musicians, rightfully earning their place in the country’s most prominent music festivals, including Merlefest and Telluride.

On the far end of each stage are the aching and moaning vintage musicanship of John Skeehan on mandolin and band co-founder Tim Carbone on violin that would have David Grisman smirk in rapture. Carbone, the band’s less read about co-founder, proved to be the improvisational glue in the lineup, often stepping up and turning each song into a tale of adventure and risk. Sheaffer and multi-instrumentalist Andy Goessling, both sporting handcrafted guitars, made electric sounding nuances that had you thinking to yourself – “where exactly is that riff coming from?” Celebrating autumn in Vermont, songs like “Peace On Earth,” with symbolic lines “went to the valley on harvest time” proved a Woolworth type leeway into the weekend Friday night, soon to be followed by a delicate bass solo by Johnny Grubb.

The second set journeyed in Grateful Dead style psychedelic picking with Garcia sounding harmonics ranging through the beginning of the set. Oddly enough, the band steered its way into a cover of the Dead’s “The Wheel” which was done up in Railroad Earth mountain boy splendor. As the band paved into their signature tune, “The Mighty River” they stretched the song into textured territory, before bringing it back home.

After playing at the Eclipse numerous times in the venue’s short history, Railroad Earth can be summoned as the theater’s own home venue, more or less gaining house band status. What’s becoming common-fare at the Eclipse and Railroad Earth show’s, the performance represented a quaint and joyous evening of good music, good beer and “chill” folks.