AMG Review of Railroad Earth

James Christopher Monger
All Music Guide

Railroad Earth's fifth full-length outing finds the New Jersey-based progressive folk-rockers in fine form, tastefully building organic, sonic backdrops around lead vocalist Todd Sheaffer's rich, Americana-influenced narratives. Both classic and forward-thinking, the band may be steeped in common jam band trappings (the nearly 12-minute instrumental “Spring-Heeled Jack” would be far more interesting in a live setting), but between the epic steel-rail journey of “The Jupiter & the 119,” the mournful Celtic-inspired balladry of “On the Banks,” and the Liege & Lief-era Fairport Convention swing of “Lone Croft Farewell,” Railroad Earth have both the chops and the amiable gait of a group of musicians who know each other inside out, coming off as authentic enough for traditionalists and noodly enough for die-hard Phish phans and Deadheads.